[QuadList] Quad Manuals Scanned/Digitized In A Swap

[Dennis Ray Wingo]

On May 15, 2012, at 1:17 PM, Ted Langdell wrote:

> One of the functions of the Quad Videotape Group is to foster preservation of Quad VTR and related manuals' content so that it can be used now and in the future.
> 
> We'll be putting a number of things on line in the next 30 days, including a batch of AVR-2 material from QuadList members Ken Zin, Chris Hill, and Kenneth Johnson.
> 
> Need for standardized scanning methods:
> 
> 
> What to do with the paper manuals after scanning:
> 

I would add to this the following

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Someone, after scanning, needs to look at each and every page to insure that they were scanned correctly.  Also, after a large pdf document of a manual is put together, verification that ALL of the pages have been scanned needs to occur.  I have listened to Ken Zin cuss and discuss many occasions were a critical page in a manual or corpus of schematics was missing.

QA is the under appreciated yet absolutely necessary part of this preservation process.

ALSO

I would recommend something that the people in Huntsville Alabama did for the Apollo program veterans.

A series of audio and or video oral histories should be done.  This needs to be done now.  It does not matter how small you think your contribution was, it is important and in 100 years people WILL be interested in what you had to say, and what your observations were about this business and the technology, and how it was developed.

I will give you a concrete example of this.

I did an interview with Von Braun Rocket Team member Konrad Dannenberg about ten years ago (he has since passed away).  Besides a lot of interesting personal history and history of the rocket team he had this gem.

He was talking about the development of the engine for the V2 missile.  His degree was in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on diesel engines.  The fundamental equations for the design of rocket engine combustion chambers was derived from the equations used by German industry for the development of a diesel engine combustion chamber.  

In all of my years associated with space, I had never heard this.  It turns out it is a critical link, aka "Connections" between rocket science and the automobile.  Without that oral interview and that offhand comment, this critical piece of information would have died to history.  Now others may have been able to infer or develop this thesis, but with Konrad we have a concrete, first person historical fact.

I have not heard of any of you guys thinking about doing this but I strongly urge you to do so, not only for the technology, but for the general history of Quads.

The Quad list is a gold mine of historical information as well but you guys really really (let me say it again) REALLY should do the oral histories.  They can then go to the Stanford archives or be placed on the internet on a youtube channel.

Just my thoughts as Ampex and this technology was a vital part of our technical heritage.

Dennis Wingo
LOIRP Project Co-Lead


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