For anyone that needs it, you can download the latest RetroVideo manual here (http://www.atariusa.com/RetroVideo/docs). (Version 1.1.2 just went up today.) :bomb:
Get that hair out of the electrical tape photo :P
Stray hair not included. 8)
Honestly, if it didn't mean putting off the VCCI-type manual and a lot of stuff for customers, I'd re-shoot it and add it in, but that is more work that most people would expect: I need to shoot and edit another photo, then add it into the source docs, then reprocess them as a PDF, and finally re-do the chapter links. When I finish the VCCI (HV/HC) manual, I'll replace it, assuming my half-senile brain remembers. (At least i remembered to add the bloody chapter links this time.) :pow:
Other than that, is there any non-satisfactory content that warrants further explanation? I think i covered the procedurals rather thoroughly, and the VCCI manual is getting along well-enough. The main issue there is that I may require a special step for users that have the less-common GPM Famicom with a full-shield over the RF/Power board; otherwise, it's very clean and neat and sits nicely inside the units with the factory holes in the shield.
There is a third place in the case to use if the user has one of those models with the full-shield too, so it won't require cutting, but it's a completely different placement and a large extra step to the manual, with yet another full set of wire-routing photos and instructions; it's essentially two sets of instructions in-one. :bomb:
I'd dare say that even a technologicly retarded person like me could pull off this mod with these instructions!
Very well done. :star:
One thing is missing; An explanation for what a RetrVideo kit is. :crazy:
Although it could be in the forward, I didn't ass a product description to the user guide. It just seemed superfluous, considering that anybody that orders one will already know what it is and does, generally by reading the RetroVideo Product Page (http://www.atariusa.com/RetroVideo) or via other means (e.g. phone orders, forum posts, etc.).
As manual assumes at least marginal experience with working on electronics projects (i.e. soldering), the nature of the product should be clearly evident, and its functions are all outlined in the illustrations for clarity. What I do need to add us a final Connecting to TV chapter; essentially an explanation of the wire colour codes for the RCA connections on different versions of the kit. I ran into a problem with a customer that tried plugging her video wire into the red jack on her TV, as the video wire is coded as red by default on standard two-line kits, but red input on modern appliances is audio, so naturally she didn't have any signal going to video at all.
I'd like to be able to get the yellow/white RCA leads, but my distributor doesn't carry them unless I but the three-wire sets, which are a great deal more than the two-wire sets, and I'd end up with a tonne of unused red RCA connections. Thus, I should add in the manual that on two-line (video+single-monaural audio) kits, the red connector is always video, and on three-line (video +dual-line monaural) kits, the yellow line is video. I should probably add a line to the troubleshooting section on this as well.
Anyhow, I printed a run of this updated manual that will ship out with all current orders. If anyone needs an updated printed manual that previously ordered a RetroVideoAV, I can send you, providing you cover postage costs.
The manual for installation VCCI Famicom systems (with Serials starting with HC or HV) should be available by mid-next-week. :bomb: