Barry,
Can you tell us techno impaired folks where to go to buy the book, download the book (step by step) and if we can print it out?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OGR Webmaster,

CLICK HERE. This is an Adobe PDF file, so you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get here.

Printing it is just like printing any document. If you can print on both sides of the paper, you'll have a much better looking book and use half the paper.

There are several threads about this book in the DCS Forum.

Rich,

Thanks for the assist!

Step-by-step...

• Click here to see the book on the MTH web store site.
• Next, click on either the book's name or its number (60-1264) and on the next screen click on "ADD TO CART".
• You'll now see it in your shopping cart. Click on "PROCEED TO CHECKOUT" on the lower left side of the screen.
• On the next screen, enter your E-mail address. Be sure to get it right. Then, if you have a Shopatron account, click "I'm a returning customer". If not, click on "I'm a new customer". Either way, then click "CONTINUE".
• If you're a new customer, on the next screen, enter the requested information and click "CONTINUE".
• On the next screen, click "CONTINUE".
• Complete the billing info on the next screen and click "CONTINUE".
• Follow any additional prompts.
• At some point you'll get an E-mail that will contain a link. Click on that link, and then sign in with your E-mail address and password that you entered on the billing screen.
• You'll now see a page that shows your purchase. On this page, at the top there are 4 orange columns. Click on the "Digital Content" link at the bottom of the "My Profile column to download the book.
• Once downloaded, double-click on the book's icon to open it in any version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. When it opens, enter your Shopatron password and the book will display.

You may now also print it.

Hey guys. Keep in mind that it is password protected. Should you take it to a Staples or Kinko's to have it printed you will need to remember your password. Should you decide to cheat and give your disc to someone the password is also for your account with Shopatron. Anyone can now charge to your account. Don't do it.

Download was as smooth as silk.
Barry, this book is a work of art.
I commend you on the quality of it. I can't imagine how you ever found the time to gain this amount of know how. I offer you a sincere thank you.

John,

To you, a heartfelt "you're welcome!"

Barry, again, a work of art.

Effective this afternoon, the copy of the DCS O Gauge Companion on MTH's web store site has been updated. The new copy has the following changes:
• Added a statement on page 2 to allow 3rd party printers to print a copy of the book for the purchaser's use only;
• Corrected errors in Figure 12 Star-Home Run Wiring and Figure 30 Subway and Trolley Routes;
• Corrected 11 additional typos.

The page numbers have not changed nor has any content moved from one page to another. Those who have printed the book need only print and replace the following 12 pages: 2, 15, 20, 21, 53, 54, 55, 62, 67, 93, 97, 113

If you've already purchased and downloaded the book, you can download a revised copy at no charge.

Barry does this version have working bookmarks?

Unfortunately, not yet. Shopatron has been a bit tardy addressing the issue.

Barry,

Where do I download my update from MTH or Shopatron?

Owen,

quote:

Where do I download my update from MTH or Shopatron?

You download the updated copy the same way you downloaded the book in the first place. Proceed as follows:
• When you first purchased the book, you received an E-mail that contained a link. Click on that link, and then sign in with your E-mail address and Shopatron password.
• You'll now see a page that shows your purchase. On this page, at the top there are 4 orange columns. Click on the "Digital Content" link at the bottom of the "My Profile" column to download the updated book.
• Once downloaded, double-click on the book's icon to open it in any version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. When it opens, enter your Shopatron password and the book will display.

Hello Barry will this book come out as a hard copy in the future? as you`ll have two customers here in the UK
James

James,

quote:

ill this book come out as a hard copy in the future? as you`ll have two customers here in the UK

It's a possibility, however, it may be a while before that decision's made.

I have choices of which printer to use. Should I use a color printer, or does that not matter?

quote:

I have choices of which printer to use. Should I use a color printer, or does that not matter?

The cover and some of the figures are in color. The choice is yours.

Thanks for all your hard work Barry. It's a great publication.

Barry,

Once I downloaded the book I deleted the email. Cleaned up my email for the first time in six months Wednesday, just in time to hear there is an update. It is gone. Does thet mean I have to purchase it all over again?

Paul,

This link should get you to the login page...

http://www.shopatron.com/account/log_in?e=-1

Thanks Barry,

Got it.

so for those of us that have experienced ID theft is there a way to purchase this book out right? online purchases not an option since. thanks for any information or help. $oo

quote:

so for those of us that have experienced ID theft is there a way to purchase this book out right? online purchases not an option since. thanks for any information or help. $oo

All I can suggest is to have someone else purchase it for you.

Barry, I just have downloaded the book. Noticed w/ great interest the extensive TOC. This helps to get quickly down to the relevant subject. Would be even easier if there'd be Acrobat BOOKMARKS. I'll study the manual and I might get back to you for having some chapters (those valid for ONE-Scale buffs) translated into German.
Best -Regards from Switzerland
Otto

Way to go Barry is now an internationally renown author. Great effort! Thanks, Dave G.

Otto,

quote:

Would be even easier if there'd be Acrobat BOOKMARKS.

Actually, the entire Table of Contents is bookmarked. The problem is that the Shopatron process of encrypting the book for password protection also looses the bookmarks.

Shopatron is aware of the problem and is supposed to correct it. Unfortunately, they haven't made any progress yet.

I'm not familiar with bookmarks ..... are they only useful if you access the document online? In other words, if I intend to print it, which would give me the table of contents, are the bookmarks then a moot point?

I've been waiting to download until the bookmarks were fixed, but it occurs to me that it might not matter for the hard copy. If the bookmarks come in to play in the printed copy, I think I'll wait for them to be added.

Thank you.

Bob,

Bookmarks are only a convenient way to go directly to a page in a pdf document when it's viewed online. They have no value at all if you're going to print out a copy of the book.

The alternate ways to navigate the document while viewing it online are to either scroll through the document or tell Adobe Acrobat (or Adobe Acrobat Reader) to go directly to a page number.

As it turns out, I've recently learned that Shopatron's process is not capable of creating password-protected pdf documents that contain bookmarks so there will not be a copy of the book that contains bookmarks, after all. Unfortunately, this issue is out of my or MTH's control to correct.

Thanks Barry. I followed the steps to order the book just now. When I clicked on the link in the acknowledging e-mail, I get the following from Shopatron. Since I don't have a fax machine, and I'm not sure I'm willing to provide my driver's license information and proof of address, I chose to click on the "Cancel" order button. This wasn't listed in your step-by-step 'how to order' post.

Bob,

This is the first I've heard of this after almost 500 purchases.

By any chance, did you select the option to "pay later" rather than just use a credit card? If so, this may be the source of these instructions.

If that's not it, tomorrow call MTH 410-381-2580 or Shopatron at 877-412-7467 and ask them. They should be able to sort things out for you.

No, it was a straight credit card order.

I will call Shopatron tomorrow and will post what they have to say.

Thanks for the fast response.

If I email it to myself will I be able to open it on more than one home computer? I work through several workstations at home.
Thanks

Yes. You can also download it straight from the Shopatron site on more than one pc.

quote:

Originally posted by Barry Broskowitz:
If that's not it, tomorrow call MTH 410-381-2580 or Shopatron at 877-412-7467 and ask them. They should be able to sort things out for you.

Well, I called Shopatron. They were baffled too; customer service was not familiar with the message I received. While I was on the phone they went to my account and verified that it was there ready for download (apparently when I clicked on "cancel" it didn't take effect).

I just logged on to my Shopatron account and there it was waiting for me, so I'm now a proud owner of your "Companion". Will be looking through it later tonight.

Interesting development.

Bob,

Thanks for purchasing the book. I believe that you'll find it of value.

Barry,
Purchased your book yesterday. Just got back from having it printed and bound at Staples.

The book is GREAT!!

Thanks for all your hard work. This will be of great use to me.

Ken,

Thanks!

I didn't get an e-mail, so after a few days; returned here to read all the posts. As suggested above; if you just go to the Shopatron site, log in, your download will probably be there. Then proceed as Barry says above with clicking on "digital content" and download your copy. Worked fine for me and it is at the printers right now. Just wanted to let everybody know to go on line and look, even if you don't get an e-mail response.

I downloaded Barry's book today knowing there is a wealth of information in it. However, being of the old school I would have liked the option of a bound copy either hardcover or paperback. I like to read these books in bed at night, on a trip or take them to the train room while working on a problem. Instead of burning through 168 pages worth of ink cartridges,and the time to do it, I took the CD to FedEx Kinko's. I had hoped to have the book printed in color, but the cost was over $100. Printing in B&W, the cost is still an expensive $35. I would have much rather paid the publisher the cost of a bound copy vs. the time and travel to covert to a hard copy.
Barry, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I purchased & downloaded a copy of the book a couple of weeks ago without a hitch. I've only skimmed a few pages of it so far but am impressed with the content that I see so far. Good investment.

Alan & John,

thank you for purchasing the book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I, too, would have preferred to publish a bound copy, however, none of the model railroading book publishers would take a chance on it.

Barry,

I purchased it right after it came out. Went to Staples and had it printed. Then a couple weeks later I hear about a couple pages needing updates. Instead of doing it right away I decided to wait and see if more needed to be done.
Apparently not so now I am going to update my copy.

Will you please give us the details of which pages need to be redone as I really do not want to have the whole book printed again. Also a description how I go about it from Shopatron.

Thanks,

Owen,

I posted all the changes on this thread on May 1st, however, I'm repeating them below.

Effective this afternoon, the copy of the DCS O Gauge Companion on MTH's web store site has been updated. The new copy has the following changes:
• Added a statement on page 2 to allow 3rd party printers to print a copy of the book for the purchaser's use only;
• Corrected errors in Figure 12 Star-Home Run Wiring and Figure 30 Subway and Trolley Routes;
• Corrected 11 additional typos. The page numbers have not changed nor has any content moved from one page to another. Those who have printed the book need only print and replace the following 12 pages: 2, 15, 20, 21, 53, 54, 55, 62, 67, 93, 97, 113

If you've already purchased and downloaded the book, you can download a revised copy at no charge.

To get the revised copy of the book, just go to the same place that you went to before to download the book and download it agin. The following link should work for you: http://www.shopatron.com/account/log_in?e=-1

You'll have to login using your E-mail address and Shopatron password. Then, under "My Profile", click on "Digital Content". Then click on "DCS OGauge Companion.pdf" to download the revised copy.

Barry,

FYI I too encountered the problem described by Bob Snyder. I purchased two copies about a week apart: the first for myself, the second for our model railroad club. I used my personal credit card for both purchases. I suspect the fact that the name of the registered owner was different from the name on the credit card was what triggered the problem in my case. I had a fax machine available and after faxing them the requested info, the second sale was cleared.

--chh

Barry,

Thanks for the information. I had glanced back in this thread but must have missed it.

See you in October.

I would rather just buy a book. Barry your losing sales.

Tom

quote:

I would rather just buy a book.

Please tell that to all the publishers who wouldn't print it.

Barry,
Give me the contact information for the publisher and I'll be glad to write them. The publisher, dealing in bulk, can print a book a lot cheaper than I can print a single copy at Kinko's.
Alan

Barry,

You don't have to go the traditional publisher route any more. There are a number of print-on-demand services out there like Cafe Press, where you upload a PDF, select the binding styles and other printing options, set the price and set up an online storefront to sell the book. The service handles all the rest, including shipping. With Cafe Press, the basic store front is free, you just have to publish the URL so that people can find it.

The only limitation that I see to this service is that the book interiors must be black and white (no color). I have purchased 22 books that were published through Cafe Press and the quality is pretty good. These books included B&W photos, and they turned out as well as any book from full blown publishing houses.

Andy

Alan,

quote:

Give me the contact information for the publisher and I'll be glad to write them.

No. At this time MTH has an exclusive right to publish. As for the publishers, they had no interest at the time they were offered the opportunity to publish my book and nothing has transpired to change their minds.

If you want to purchase a printed copy of the book, you'll have to print it yourself, as others have done.

Andy,

I have considered that and may be inclined to go that route in the future. For the present, I'm completely satisfied with the current publishing arrangement.