Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: kaiserfrazerlibrary on December 02, 2009, 10:10:19 PM
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I have been informed by Mike Barker that mailing of the new QUARTERLY issue is taking place. He also informed me that some club members have already received theirs, but owing to the lag time for deliveries (Mike uses a lower-level postage rate to save money) it could be 6 to 8 weeks before they reach everyone.
This is worth noting because included in the QUARTERLY is KFOCI HANDBOOK VERSION 4.0 on a CD. The various information files are .pdf, the same type files that Barbara uses for the e-mail version of the MONTHLY BULLETIN. There are 698 pages of information covering cars, production facilities, and other neat things. According to printer quotes, to run this off in hard-copy, black & white and punched for a 3-ring binder (but not bound) would run between $65.00-75.00 each; to do the files on CD cost the club less than $1.00, including soft plastic case and shipping to Mike for the insertion. Unless we did this on a CD, the KFOCI could not afford to supply this document.
If your computer is equipped with Adobe Reader of a recent release level (I understand 7.0 or higher is OK) you can easily set it up so your computer will read you the text of the various files. If you want to see something enlarged, you can also do this with Adobe. If you do not have Adobe Reader, it can be downloaded off the Adobe website free of charge, no strings attached or any purchase required (of course, they do suggest you buy stuff from them, but it's not needed to get Adobe Reader). Instructions for opening files are in the QUARTERLY mailing.
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Thanks Jack, this will really be exciting and the best thing ever offered by the club. We owe you big time for this!!! I know it has been a tremendous amount of work.
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This is really good news indeed! Kudos to all those who put in the hard work of getting this done.
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This took 2 years of hard work on my part, and almost didn't make deadline because my laptop crashed and a number of items had to be re-created. As a result, the astute will note a few typos, etc, here and there which will be corrected on the next release which, if all goes well, will be somewhere around 2014. It will either be version 4.1 with corrections and some additional information, or 5.0 which will open to a welcome page when put into the computer drive. This welcome page will also have a link to a master index that in turn will hook into the individual files so you will just have to click on a subject...now you will have to open folders yourself. I couldn't get a macro to work for these functions.
Mike Barker, Larry Hinrichs and a few others were very helpful in allowing me access to their collections of photos and factory information to fill some of the gaps. However, I know there is still information missing, such as Confidential Bulletins with dealer ordering information from the last months of 1950 (which may include some significant 1951 HJ information), the spring of 1949 and the 1954 model year (all makes/models). If people are willing to share, they can e-mail me a list of what they have and I can e-mail back my list to see about trading good photocopies so both sides can expand their information base. I am also looking for copies of certain pages found within Kaiser-Frazer Corporation Operating Reports for 1949, 1951, 1952 and into 1953.
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FANTASTIC!! Can't wait!!
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Wonderful!!!
Thanks to all that got this put together and distributed...
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Looking forward to it!
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The staff of 3 people--me myself and I--who typed up the material, created the master CD, set up duplication (at a commercial facility) and got it out to Mike Barker for insertion into the Quarterly thank you all. I hope you enjoy it.
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Great News! I got the chance to review the draft of the new KF Handbook and it was fantastic. Loads of great information and filled with lots of interesting photographs.
Congratulations to Jack and his team.
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Later versions of Adobe Reader have been criticized for being bloated and subject to hackers (I guess that last part is if you open a .pdf on line using Adobe as a plug-in for your browser.) If you want a simple alternative, you can try Sumatra PDF at http://portableapps.com/apps Look under the "Office" category.
What is a "Portable App?" One definition is a program that does not write anything to the registry in Windows. You install it to a folder, run it from that folder, and if you don't like it, you just delete the folder. Another definition is a program that can be installed on a USB flash drive (thumb drive) and run from the flash drive. You could place Jack's new Edition of the Club Handbook on a flash drive along with Sumatra USB and take it and view it on most any Windows computer - your son's or the computer at the library.
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Just when I thought I was going to die clutching the (now previous) 1993 Edition of the Handbook!!!
Awesome job Jack, can't wait to receive it! Thank you so much for taking over this long needed project and for spending many, many hours of labor and love bringing us current on the great history of these cars. I certainly appreciate the work both you and Barbara do every day. Thanks!!
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Speaking of Adobe Reader, I just uninstalled version 8....something. It was crashing my computer. Anyone else have a problem with that version?
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We have Adobe Reader version 8 and have had no problems with it. I do know, however, that there can be problems depending on the CPU set up some computers have and the level of Windows operating software being run.
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I have just received mine in the mail, the handbook, the Quarterly and the calendar. This is truly the best Christmas present I could have received! Now I have even more determination to finish the Kaiser I started, even if it takes ten more years. Thank you!
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I did a bit more investigation on the Adobe issue raised by a couple of members....
The current version offered by Adobe for Adobe Reader is Version 9. I have version 9 on the laptop with Windows Vista and it works fine. Version 8 is on the regular home computer and it also works well...that machine has Windows XP.
It is important that anyone looking at adding any software to your computer these days carefully read the system requirements for operating the stuff before putting it on your computer. A lot of the new and recent stuff will not work on any Windows system earlier than XP, and some of the newest upgrades do not work on XP....only Vista or Windows 7. You also need to make sure that the working memory size in your computer exceeds the minimum requirements of the software (as well as type of processor).
Microsoft and other companies are starting to abandon even XP in an effort to get people to buy new versions of software only for the buyer to find that his or her computer does not have the ability to use the new stuff (so they have to go out and buy a new computer as well). Kinda like this HGTV thing.
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The Calendar, Quarterly and CD arrived here in Texas today.
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The Calendar, Quarterly and CD arrived here in Arizona yesterday.
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Not in Benson, AZ
Have received mail for today and they did not arrive.
waiting anxiously!
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Got mine today, here in Minneapolis.
GREAT STUFF!
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Arrived in Yakima, WA yesterday --- great great work --- Jack et al
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Quarterly, calendar, and handbook arrived in north Alabama today. What a prize to find in the mailbox.
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Arrived in Benson, AZ today. Thanks...
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I hope that someday soon they will get to CA.
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Received mine in the Twin Cities last week. Good reading on a cold day! I'm surprised to see so many Minnesota cars on the Calendar, especially since I see so few of them around at rallies etc. I saw the gray and blue '52 Virginian from Stillwater, MN at a rally last summer and it is quite stunning. Hope to see it more.
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Mine arrived here in the great Northwest on Monday the 14th. Love it! ('cept my car wasn't on the calender... maybe next year.... ;D )
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that big cardboard folder i got only had a calander in it---it was bent into a u--and the seal was open i guess the stuff fell out-i now find out i should have gotten a ouarterly and a CD handbook---i guess ill have to contact Mike to get what im missing rudy
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Rudy,
I would suggest that you contact Robby Markman on the CD; he got almost all (I kept 10 just in case) the extra ones.
Jack Mueller
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Mine arrived in CA yesterday, looks nice and the CD is great.
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I realize I am about a year late on this, but when I got the handbook, I just glanced through it. Recently I have had the chance to sit down and read some of the articles in detail, and I just wanted to commend Jack Mueller and all contributors for the excellent, excellent job they have done. There really is a lot of very good information in here in a user-friendly format. Thanks to club members who contribute so much and make this a great club!
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Thanks for information
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I received the calender and the quarterly early when they were first sent and the package was secure but no cd was enclosed. Were they shipped in the early packages?
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The dates on the early postings make it clear that the KFOCI HANDBOOK CD was sent in 2009, not 2010. If you did not recieve a cd in the fall of 2009 and were a member, you need to contact the club Secretary as he got the extras back then, but I understand that at the 2010 National Convention the decision was made NOT to send CD's out to members who joined since. Can someone who was there at the business meeting please confirm this?
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Unfortunately I was a few months late joining, missed the CD last year. But enjoying the Calendar for this year! Is the KFOCI Handbook in the Mfg Fund order sheet ($20 as i recall) the CD being discussed here?
thanks all
Dave
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The KFOCI HANDBOOK being discussed is NOT the item in the manufacturing fund. That is the Third Edition which was never completed by the people working on it (ask them why). Because it was never finished and the cost of printing had skyrocketed over the last 10 years, I started from scratch and, over a 2 year period, did something on almost every K-F product, assembly plants, reading the tags on cars, etc. It went out as a CD so that in future, it would be easier to do updates and could be distributed at a much lower cost.
It should be noted that there are no macros or other copyguards on the CD. Additionally there is no violation of copyright, etc, if someone makes a copy for you. The idea was to get as much information out as possible to the members.
KFOCI HANDBOOK VERSION 4.0 is a "living document" meaning that whenever something gets added to my files that can be useful, the appropriate sections are updated so that in time, if the club can afford it (2,000 copies cost less than $1,900 including artwork, case, etc) we can either issue update 4.1 or 5.0 (the latter if I can find someone who can help with a couple macros to make access of material simpler).
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Thanks for the info - and for putting the living file store together! I'll check around the area and see if i can hook up with someone to copy their's - but any chance there are CD's left i could buy?
Or better yet, if there is a file provision to the forum or the KFOCI site why not post the files in the same organization as the CD to the net? As long as it requires membership to get to the area there would be some quid-pro-quo for the club. Several of the clubs I belong to (my interests include other vintage American cars, British bikes, and Honda bikes) do exactly that.
thanks again!
Dave
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Well here it is close to time to pay dues again and still waiting for some membership materials/package as noted in the new member information page. All is not lost I guess as I have 8 monthly, 3 quarterly, and one nice calendar for my $45. Interestingly I find my last name was omitted in the quarterly/roster issue (the first is ok) but not anywhere else. I would really like to have the new Handbook CD and I probably would be happy! So far I have sent 6 emails (about 1 a month) waited for reply before sending the next one. One reply & only one said they would mention it to someone at the next meeting last year. Did talk to a very nice gentleman on the phone who said he would leave a message. I have sent the emails to the club officials so I thought maybe someone in the forum would be of some help as they have always been in the past. Any Ideas?
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Email sent.
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I've been a member for less than 1 year, started in April 2010, and I didn't recieved the CD either. Very nice calendar and quarterly. I sure would like to get a CD.
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More people have viewed this post than we have club members; go figure!!!
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I've only been a member since Feb 2010. So I too did not get the Handbook CD.Also left out of the roster issue. That's water under the bridge at this point. I would very much like to have a CD as well. I do get the newsletter, quarterly and this years calender. Putting it up here or to a protected ftp site would be the best way for everyone to get it.
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It is not possible to post it for people to download, it is over 300MB total size. There are 698 printed pages to this version; the update may end up being closer to 800 pages when finished.
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Jack, If you want it posted I will post it for you. That would make it available for our new members, then they too can share in all your hard work and great information!
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My wife and I would be willing to help as well. Just need to decide where to post it
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Jim B I am curious how much bandwidth you isp provides you--it must be unlimited!
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It is unlimited. Only limit is how long you are willing to wait for the information to download. My attitude is that over time speeds will increase and we will all wonder why in the past, we thought a 3 MB file was huge. The Quarterly Downloads are slow now but by the time I have them all uploaded they will be fine.
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FYI in 17 days of January - circlekf.com has piped 3 Gigabytes of information down to interested KFers.
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KF Handbook Version 4.0 now online
follow the link below.
http://circlekf.com/kfhandbook/kfoci%20handbook-pdf%20files/KFOCI%20HANDBOOK%20VERSION%204.0/WELCOME%20TO%20THE%20KFOCI%20HANDBOOK.pdf (http://circlekf.com/kfhandbook/kfoci%20handbook-pdf%20files/KFOCI%20HANDBOOK%20VERSION%204.0/WELCOME%20TO%20THE%20KFOCI%20HANDBOOK.pdf)
Be aware some of the PDFs are very large. Especially the Accessory Files.
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This is great info. I already had it, but for those who don't, it's great to have it posted electronically now.
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Thanks for posting this Jim....it is a gold mine for us to have :)
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I'm glad that the information is available to people. Please note that additions to existing items as well as a few new items have already taken place (but not presented here) as part of a future first update (release date not set at this time) to the original material. Big stumbling block is not knowing how to set up an automatic program to open up a welcome page which will link to a table of contents which, in turn will have links to the files on the CD (like the software for printers do). If someone can help me with that, the next release of the CD can be really slick.
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I think this website can provide the info needed
http://www.cdmenupro.com/autorun.htm (http://www.cdmenupro.com/autorun.htm)
I will be glad to help!