I think companies are all over the map in this area. I've given out
schematics on a need to know basis, but most people really don't need to
know this info.
I've worked for several pro audio and consumer audio companies, and if the
company is small and does't have a repair network, then all defective
products must come back to the factory for repair anyway and in that case,
what's the point in releasing schematics?
I personally like to have them for things so I can fix them, but when there
is custom programmable logic involved, I can't do repairs on that anyway.
Maybe when I retire, all this stuff will be released in the public domain.
In the meantime, I'm here to fix anything that may break. (Which is less
than 0.20%)
Tony
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mark@... [mailto:mark@...]
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 8:56 AM
> To: J. Larry Hendry
> Cc: MOTM List
> Subject: [motm] supplying schematics (was: Lord of the Ring Mod)
>
>
> At 4:06 PM -0600 01/19/02, J. Larry Hendry wrote:
> >
> >Bingo and Cha-ching. Kudos to Paul and John Blacet for supplying
> >schematics.
> >
> >While I am not critical of the business model that supplies only
> a finished
> >product without schematics, I must say I prefer what John and Paul do. I
> >feel like I am getting something extra for my money when I assemble these
> >kits as I learn something from each. No, I'm not interesting in
> soldering
> >SMD. But, I would be interested in sticking my nose into learning more
> >about how my stuff ticks.
>
> The funny thing is, that in the pro-audio world, schematics are readily
> available. This goes double for broadcast equipment. For example, if you
> buy an Aphex Dominator, schematics and parts lists are automatically
> included. When I bought my Drawmer 1960, it came with a service manual
> that not only included schematics and calibration procedures for
> the unit I
> bought, but for every other revision up to that point. I would be more
> than shocked if I called dBx or Crown, and they told me they couldn't send
> me the service docs. Although some companies charge their customers a
> nominal fee, many companies will gladly send you schematics for evaluation
> purposes before you decide to buy their product.
>
> Of course, this isn't true for consumer audio. I remember Harmon-Kardon
> telling me "it's only available for their authorized service
> dealers". I'm
> not going to type my reply, because I know many of you have kids who might
> be watching :)
>
> Synth companies are somewhere in the middle. I have the service docs for
> all my Roland gear (which I bought for $15-20 each), but I remember I
> couldn't get the schematics for my MAM VF11 or Niche ACM. At
> first glance,
> it seems that smaller companies don't make their schematics available and
> larger companies do, because larger companies could always hire an army of
> lawyers if someone tried to steal their designs. Then again, Synthesis
> Technology and Blacet Research are very small companies. Yes, I know
> including schematics is necessary because they sell kits, but it's also
> unlikely that a competitor could offer a "clone" for less money without
> making significant sacrifices in quality. The same applies to people
> cloning gear for their own use -- by the time they bought all of
> the parts,
> and had the panel and PCB fabricated, it would cost more than the kit.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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