What ever happened to the SDA Compendium?

kcoc321

Heard back from Ray (Darque Knight) and he said:

The Compendium has been out of print for over two years. There are no plans for a reprint or future edition.

Ray

I appreciate the response, bummer though that those of us who missed it are just SOL..

TNTsTunes

Did he say if someone could copy theirs into PDF for us???? He won't do it but will he allow a fellow Polkie to make it available to ClubPolk members?

heiney9

kcoc321 wrote: »

Hmmmm, well, I see Raife posted yesterday and yet he has not responded here nor to my email request.
Is there some issue about him publishing these? Or some other complication that is going on? Maybe he is just busy.............

Is there any stipulation about someone reselling one? Stu, wanna sell one of your?

It's been covered about a doz times before. He owns the rights to the actual copies..........he's not making a PDF version nor does he have any plans to make a 3rd edition. This was as of last time this subject came up about 6-9 mos. ago.

His full answer is....................................you guessed it, in one of the threads about the compendium you can find by using the search function.

H9

heiney9

TNTsTunes wrote: »

Did he say if someone could copy theirs into PDF for us???? He won't do it but will he allow a fellow Polkie to make it available to ClubPolk members?

Doubtful as it's been asked and answered before.

Personally I wish he would do it, but if search the archives you'll see a printing of the magnitide he did in the last edition is quite expensive and very, very time consuming.

I respect his decision not to do it at this time, but I hope in the future he can update it and make another run.

Of course I have mine both in hard copy and I made my own personal PDF.

H9

heiney9

kcoc321 wrote: »

I have emailed Raife asking about this.

I too think it would be great to have an e-copy. It would make it way easier for him as well, as with paper copy he needs to copy it ($$) and mail it (more $$)
I expect/ would have no problem compensating him for the time he has put in to compile this. It is of his creation, just like any other book. How much were they, money wise?

I think it would also be okay to make a copy, with Raife's permision, and then send him whatever he wants for the use-rights $$. This would make it easier on him as well.

I do think we can trust each other here, to honor Raife's author rights. Heck, if we could do this in the next couple of weeks, we could sell copies at the NW "Polka-zula" GTG on Feb 21st.

Nice idea but once it goes electronic the author looses all rights to it distribution.

The 2nd Ed. hard copy was $30 shipped, IIRC.

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote: »

Nice idea but once it goes electronic the author looses all rights to it distribution.

The 2nd Ed. hard copy was $30 shipped, IIRC.

Thirty-five but lets not qubble over a few bucks for a magnifiant work.

kcoc321

heiney9 wrote: »

Nice idea but once it goes electronic the author looses all rights to it distribution.

The 2nd Ed. hard copy was $30 shipped, IIRC.

Technically, yes once it is e-copied it would be alittle harder to control, but then it is not too much harder than controlling the e-copy you have. Anyone can scan it and convert to pdf easily. It would be more a matter of personal integrity to honor Ray's efforts by paying him. Just like it is with any authored document or book, today in the digital age.

Heck, I'd GLADDLY pay him $15 bucks for a e-copy on CD. I can only imagine it was a bunch of work and attached headache to make up the 'hundreds' (IDK) of Hardback copies and pack and mail ect.... ..but I am sure, just from what I have seen of his contributions here, it was a labor of love.

mopar paul

nevermind...

DarqueKnight

dorokusai wrote: »

I use one of mine as a cushion for a plant and another to roll up and smack my dog with....then there's the one in my goody box and....oh I'll just stop.

Doro is not kidding about ordering multiple copies of the 2nd edition. His puppy chewed up his 1st edition. I thought one of the new copies was going to be sacrificial for the dog to chew on...not for obedience training...ouch.:(

I printed far more copies of the 2nd edition than the 1st. I even set aside a certain percentage as replacement stock for those who copies got lost or damaged. I sold out of everything quickly because I did not anticipate people ordering 3 or 4 or 5 copies.

cnh wrote: »

Obviously I know what a 'compendium' is as a dictionary definition....but just what does an SDA compendium have in it....what kinds of information....a short description will do. And why does Sal look like he's ready to kill for his? lol

The table of contents for the Compendium 2E can be found at the end of the 1st post in this thread.

The following quote is from the production notes after the title page:

"The SDA Compendium 2nd Edition™ (© 2006) was produced on a Dell® high performance workstation using Microsoft Office®, Adobe Acrobat®, and MGI PhotoSuite® document and image processing software. It was printed on premium quality smooth textured acid-free 24 pound bright white paper stock using a high-speed full color Xerox® laser printer. Provided it is properly cared for, the Compendium should last a lifetime and beyond. A comb binding was used to facilitate laying flat for reading.

Some readers required replacement copies of the 1st Edition Compendium because their puppies really enjoyed the taste of the paper. The 2nd Edition uses paper that is even better tasting and better smelling than before. Don’t be surprised if your dog, cat, or pony finds it irresistible."

Perhaps a Doro or Patrick could be persuaded to post a sticky with the table of contents. I have put up about 90 percent of the Compendium's contents (schematics, modification tutorials, etc.) on the forum. The table of contents can be used as a guide for searching specific information. So actually, in one sense, the Compendium's information is already available in electronic form, it's just scattered throughout the forum.

The only thing I plan to do with the Compendium in the future is publish an errata sheet listing the typos that I and others have found. That's not to say that I won't change my mind about a future update/reprint, but as H9 pointed out, projects of this nature are very tedious and time consuming. Most people don't want to expend the time and effort to do a simple forum search. Imagine the time and effort required to put a reference book together.

I appreciate everyone's interest in this reference work and in SDA loudspeakers.

DarqueKnight

kcoc321 wrote: »

Anyone can scan it and convert to pdf easily.

Everything seems easy when it's someone else doing the work.;)

I, and I'm sure other long time members, will recall that people asked for years for someone else to post the schematics for the SDA and other Polk speakers on the forum. The schematics are available free of charge from Polk. I know for a fact that some of the same people who were pleading for the schematics to be posted had scanners and PDF conversion software...yet they were clamoring for someone else to do the work.

Most people don't even want to expend the time and effort to scan a backup copy of the Compendium for their personal use. That's understandable. Really, who wants to sit in front of a scanner and computer for hours and hours doing this? It's not a trivial process, particularly for full color scans: scanning, reviewing, selecting optimum resolution, selecting optimum color rendition, re-scanning, etc., etc. The time adds up considerably...even if you have a fast computer and a fast scanner...and I'm just talking about scanning pages that don't require any type of correction. If you have a slow computer and a slow scanner...well, there goes a weekend or two or three. When Doro and I received the raw SDA schematics from Polk, many of them were in poor shape and required various types of touch up and re-alignment. It was about as much "fun" as a root canal without anesthetic.:)

P.S.

After all the schematics were posted, some people were still not satisfied and gratified. I recall several people asking if all the schematics could be put in a single file and posted somewhere on the Polk website for downloading. I learned then that, not only do people dislike scanning, they also dislike the trivial, yet time consuming tasks, of downloading and merging PDF files.:eek:

dacoupedeville

Your hard work is appreciated. Thank you DK!

kcoc321

I personally want to thank you, Ray, for everything you contribute to this Forum and every one of us. I am sorry if it in any way seemed that I was 'beating a dead horse'.

I should have done a search and I would have found out the same things...didn't think to search the topic, just threw it out there.

IF you do ever want it scanned, put me on the list, I would be glad to assist in any way possible.

I can appreciate how much time it takes, as I just recently scanned a copy of our family's genealogy binder that my dad had put together over the years, and it took a couple of weekends and several nights also, and it was just 20+ pages.

nooshinjohn

Thanks for everything you have done DK!

I am also willing to help in any way I can...

DarqueKnight

kcoc321 wrote: »

I personally want to thank you, Ray, for everything you contribute to this Forum and every one of us. I am sorry if it in any way seemed that I was 'beating a dead horse'.

I didn't take it that way at all. Most people just don't realize all that's involved in this type of project.

kcoc321 wrote: »

IF you do ever want it scanned, put me on the list, I would be glad to assist in any way possible.

I appreciate the offer. However, handing off work to someone else, particularly someone else remotely located, brings in another set of issues, the main being quality control. Remember...my name goes on these things. If there is a problem with print quality, shipping or anything else...the fingers point back to me, regardless of who did the actual work. I personally packed and shipped all the Compendium copies to forum members. I used a fulfillment service to ship the other copies. I spent several weeks evaluating fulfillment services until I found one I had confidence in.

Fun with books, tape and boxes...and this is just one forum member's order. (..................................Just kidding.:))

kcoc321 wrote: »

I can appreciate how much time it takes, as I just recently scanned a copy of our family's genealogy binder that my dad had put together over the years, and it took a couple of weekends and several nights also, and it was just 20+ pages.

That sounds about right.

kcoc321

Drool...."oh, my precious, heh, heh"..(Hobit voice)...Look at all those SC's.....j/k

dorokusai

I'm suprised we haven't seen waterfall charts, spectrum analyzer shots and a whole host of other tests to accurately measure the SDA Compendium. Without them I refuse to believe it existed, let alone that it was any good.

nooshinjohn

^^^ I am with you on that Doro. I am wondering if there are any double-blind studies showing that those compendiums in the picture serve any better purpose than what you are using them for.

DarqueKnight

In the future, when people ask about the Compendium, I'm going to head off frustrated inquiry and say that it never really existed and that it was just an inside joke among SDA cultists.

nooshinjohn

darqueknight wrote: »

in the future, when people ask about the compendium, i'm going to head off frustrated inquiry and say that it never really existed and that it was just an inside joke among sda cultists.

lol:)

inspiredsports

PolkMaster1 wrote: »

Would it be possible, with DarqueKnights Permission, to copy it into a PDF format and then have DarqueKnight distribute it electronicly? I can easly do that at work. Rumor has it that SDA lovers are environmentally concious and want electrically powered cars.

I want a compendium and want to pay whatever is fair.

I do not want an electric car. I want my 1969 426 Hemi back (also had a 440 GTX). 6 mpg was pretty much it and 8 weeks was about average for replacing the N50's on the rear wheels.

inspiredsports

dorokusai wrote: »

I'm suprised we haven't seen waterfall charts, spectrum analyzer shots and a whole host of other tests to accurately measure the SDA Compendium. Without them I refuse to believe it existed, let alone that it was any good.

We could start a new thread; "SDA Comprendium; Fact or Fiction" . . .

(yes, I know, it's compendium. some will get the joke) :D:D

BrettT1

DarqueKnight wrote: »

It never really existed

:cool:

Toolfan66

And I thought doing the SDA crossover plates was a lot of work, Dude you had your hands full.

Sure wish I would have been around here during that time.

hearingimpared

inspiredsports wrote: »

We could start a new thread; "SDA Comprendium; Fact or Fiction" . . .

(yes, I know, it's compendium. some will get the joke) :D:D

Trouble maker!:D:p

TNTsTunes

heiney9 wrote: »

Nice idea but once it goes electronic the author looses all rights to it distribution.

The 2nd Ed. hard copy was $30 shipped, IIRC.

hearingimpared wrote: »

Thirty-five but lets not qubble over a few bucks for a magnifiant work.

$50.00 shipped for a Third Edition would work for me. It would be well worth it.:)

Sell enough and you could do even more upgrades to your system.;)

treitz3

Oh, he's not worried about the money aspect.

nooshinjohn

TNTsTunes wrote: »

$50.00 shipped for a Third Edition would work for me. It would be well worth it.:)

Sell enough and you could do even more upgrades to your system.;)

I will see your $50 and raise you another $25... time to lay 'em on the table boys.:cool:

cnh

I understand 'exactly' where Darqueknight is coming from...an academic by profession I've had many occasions to scan and print various supplementary materials for courses and also turn them into PDF files for download from the college server. It takes time and is a real pain and to be honest..I often use 'student workers' to do these things.

Now that I am in China for the year and there is almost no support staff over here...I have to scan and post all of my materials for classes--every week I'm hovering over a HP printer and a Dell Laptop scanning one page after another after another....some weeks that seems like all I'm doing.

So while I'm glad to know all this material is available and much of it can be 'searched' for--I remember seeing some schematics here and there on this forum. I fully understand the hesitation and also the Lack of appreciation many show for such a large task. Someone will always complain. Been there done that.

In any case...we should thank Darqueknight and Doro for their efforts and table this discussion.


cnh

dorokusai

I'd save all your love for Raife, he's a sexy beast. I had nothing to do with the Compendium, just for the record. You can blame all that on Raife.

PolkMaster1

inspiredsports wrote: »

I want a compendium and want to pay whatever is fair.

I do not want an electric car. I want my 1969 426 Hemi back (also had a 440 GTX). 6 mpg was pretty much it and 8 weeks was about average for replacing the N50's on the rear wheels.

How about a 1969 426 Hemi back electric car? Guess you can't please everyone with electric. Sure beats paying $4.60 gallon of gas. That is why I love my Honda Civic. Can't transport SDAs though.