[mikethedruid]

A few years ago I was lucky enough to acquire an original set of the Atwater-Kent service data bulletins in an original binder. Morzh  thread on restoring a model 82 prompted me to begin scanning first the whole bulletin which included that model along with several others, but now, and going forward, the whole set in high resolution to preserve it for others to be able to use in the future. I am scanning each page and saving as a JPG, either black and white, or greyscale depending on whether the page has just text and line art or includes a half-tone picture. I will save them all on a thumb drive. What I will do with therm after that, I am not sure. Each JPG bears the title of the page number. Perhaps, to keep the best resolution, leaving them as is, as JPGs, may be the best course. What do others think?

[mikethedruid]

I am moving right along with the scanning. It takes about 4 - 5 minutes a page to scan and process and save as a JPG. Today I did 64 pages. I found 4 pages missing from the book. They had been cut out at some point. I copied the information on the missing models from Rider's and made substitute pages.

For those wondering, my scanner is an Epson Perfection V550 Photo. It will scan slides and negatives as well as the usual flatbed stuff, so it can take the place of an enlarger to make prints from old negatives, and can digitize them and old color slides. All of my scans of the manual are being done at 600 DPI, and that is giving very good, clear results, allowing easy reading of even the tiny print.

[Eliot Ness]

Mike, have you checked to make sure the manuals aren't already available at:

http://www.atwaterkentradio.com/

Just hate to see you duplicating efforts.

[mikethedruid]

The stuff I have is earlier, runs from model 10 on... I do have the later stuff too... I'm not really a fan of how that person has organized things, so I will keep scanning my own resources. I will end up with the complete manual page by page rather than broken up as he has, although I am scanning the individual releases into separate folders, and will make an index of it. When I am done, I may send a copy of my files to him so he can make PDFs for the stuff he is missing. I don't have a way of making PDFs, nor the expertise. I'm not doing this to make money, although I may sell my scans on a DVD eventually. Since they are totally independent of his, I won't have any legal liability to him.

[Eliot Ness]

Mike, I'm pretty sure that guy has passed away, but his family is keeping the site active for collectors.

It's pretty easy to convert to PDF by just printing:

https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/how-to/print-to-pdf.html

[radiorich]

Hello mike,
Sounds good to me good luck and I have years ago converted some National radio learning books into PDF and on CD's and offered them to members.

Sincerely Richard

[mikethedruid]

Yeah, Richard, that's the sad thing about this hobby; it seems that few young people are interested in collecting and restoring these antiques. I will turn 70 this Fall. I really have nobody near me I know to whom to leave all my electronics gear. The same is true of hands on electronics engineers coming out of schools. Far too many are whiz kids with a computer; and are OK working with CAD; they can program in C++; and even have a pretty good grasp of the formulae and theory; but give them an Amphenol connector with the little solder cups on the back of the sockets or pins and they are out of their depth. Kinda sux to be a dinosaur and see your species dying out.

[radiorich]

Hello mike,
I Agree that is why I enjoy my job where working with teens at public school teaching them the one classroom where I get to show them is woodshop the other classroom is Beginning stem where they use these lego educational kits to build various projects like today they had to build a kart that would roll up hill easily but had to have some kind of a brake to keep it from rolling back down.
I was using a cad program designing something to print on our 3d printer!

Sincerely Richard
P.S. a month ago I was teaching the kids to solder these were advanced kids in our stem group .

[mikethedruid]

WHEW ! Tonight I finished scanning the Atwater Kent factory service manuals. There are a total of 484 files, one for each page scanned. I have the parts list book from 1928 as well as a price list from 1933, which are NOT available on that website. The parts list book is really interesting because it has many, many half tone pictures of the various models open so you can see the insides, as well as of the chassis out of cabinets, and the undersides of chassis. It also has many, very detailed line drawings. All of the scans are in 600 DPI, so the half tone pictures came out very well, and the line drawings and text are sharp and clear, even the very small print. Because of this, just the scan files come to a total of 1.62 Gigs, and these are all just black and white or grayscale, depending on whether the page is just text and / or line drawings, or has halftones which required it to be scanned in grayscale. If you've done much scanning, you know that the things which make the difference in file size are level if detail (DPI), and whether it is black and white line art or text, or grayscale, or color. Now I have to make an index showing on which pages each model has information. That should keep me amused for another week or two.

[MrFixr55]

Great Thread. Our generation built the foundation for the new "Whiz Kids", just as our Parents' generation was the foundation of our knowledge, and so on...

I was self-taught in electronics using the Navy Basic Electricity and Electronics (Van Valkenberg, Nooger, Neville, published by Rider), given to me by Dad; and the NRI Radio Course, CA 1948, given to me by his boss at Grumman, Mr. Whitney; and various radios, some still with me, some whose guts are scattered in various landfills, given to me by neighbors, and some just taken from landfills or the street (including my first Color TV, 2 Fisher Tube receivers, veraios Heathkit Williamsons, etc. some of which will be posted on e-Bay, partially offsetting my addiction to - oops, investment in this hobby). The work of people like Mike the Druid, Ron Ramirez and so many others in the Phorum and other hobbyists pay great respect to the previous generations in keeping this history alive and working so the Kids can see the history of what the current science is built on.

Commercial Communications radio is now 117 years old. Commercial Broadcast radio is now 102 years old. The Transistor is now 75 years old, the Linear Planar Process IC is 63 years old, the 8080 Processor is 48 years old, and the IBM PC is 40 years old. These milestones are the building blocks of modern technology, just as these milestones are the offspring of the experiments of Franklin, Volta, Ampere, Hertz, Maxwell, Edison and so many others.

It is important for all to learn from History. To hold a working example of an antique radio or textbooks, manuals, etc., that survived even after the passing away of their inventors, builders and original consumers is to hold history on one's hands. I aways think of this and say a prayer for those who have designed, built and purchased these products.

[mikethedruid]

MrFixr55, your reply reminded me of another item in my collection. My parents, especially my mother, were avid antique collectors. One of the things they bought was an Edison Opera model phonograph, along with about 120 cylinder records. It was mad in 1910. It is 112 years old now, and still works fine. Every once in a while, if one of my neighbors comes by, especially when they have a child with them, I crank it up and play some music for them. None of them have ever actually seen one up close and working, most have never seen one at all.

[Image: https://64.media.tumblr.com/716ff1efff38...1_1280.jpg]

[GarySP]

Mike, that phonograph is a museum piece! In fact, that is the only place I've seen one operating - Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary

[mikethedruid]

I have spent about 4 hours this evening beginning to compile the index of the information contained in the service data book. It seemed like it might be daunting, but I decided to just begin at the beginning, from page one, and progress from there, filling in the subjects in alphabetical order, with the associated pages that refer to that subject. It is working out well, actually easier than I expected. I am, at present, up through Model 75, the radio / phonograph, and page 253.

[radiorich]

Hello mike,
Nice it sounds like you have been busy !

Sincerely Richard

[RodB]

Hello Mike, yesterday I received an Atwater Kent Type L-1 chassis and Type N speaker to repair. The fellow said he got it from a friend for nothing. The cabinet is either a 76 or a 70. I retrieved the documents from the AK website and they are barely readable. Are yours going to be available to us?