BAMA edebris reflector

[WQ9E]

Has anyone successfully used the edebris mirror site for BAMA lately?  For me it is usually much faster than BAMA but lately file downloads result in an empty file and opening directly does not work either.  I have tried both Firefox and IE with the same results.  The regular BAMA site is working but it is painfully slow compared to what I was used to with the mirror site.

Rodger WQ9E

[w8khk]

Rodger, I experienced the same problem, the mirror instantly saves a zero-length file.  I have been able to download a few files from the main BAMA site, but it takes forever if you can get a connection.  Most time I try, the user limit is already exceeded.  I was able to get connected after midnight last night and download three HP manuals, now it is at limit and will not allow any more connections.

[Jim/WA2MER]

Dunno, just tried edebris now and got a successful download.

[WQ9E]

Jim,

Which file did you download so I can try the same file?

Thanks!
Rodger

[w3jn]

One note of caution - the edebris site doesn't have ALL of the manuals that the main bama site has - particularly mil radio manuals. 

All of use owe a huge debt of gratitude to K4XL for this extraordinarily valuable resource!

[W1UJR]

I thought the "edebris" site was a mirror to the BAMA site?


From http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/

The Boat Anchor Manual Archive
Mirror: /

Downloads are now available again. (2/16/2008 8:40pm EST)

This is a mirror of the manuals available at the BAMA archive. These manuals are available for download and free of charge.

[Jim, W5JO]

I downloaded a Weller soldering station from the mirror site about 30 minutes ago and it worked fine.  The format was PDF.  Was the manual you were trying to get a DjVu?  They sometime look like they don't have anything in them unless you have a viewer that will decode them.

[w3jn]

It is a mirror, Bruce, but there are a few discontinuities.  I had to download a R-392 manual from the bama.sbc.edu.  The only mil manual on edebris is a ARC-5.  The KG7BZ manual set is missing, although the directory is there.

[K1ZJH]

I had the same problem for months!  One minute it worked, and then I was downloading "empty" files, with 0 bytes from Edebris.  Both with FireFox and IE.  Others have posted about the same problem. It is a Windows issue. I think I ended up reloading Windows XP, and that didn't fix the problem. One other trick did, but I don't recall exactly what it was that I ended up doing. Let me go back and peak around in Windows to see what I reset...

pete

This is one of things I did that night.. I had some major issues, and when the dust settled the downloads worked.
I won't swear this was the fix..

Method to follow if you have Internet Explorer 7
If you have Internet Explorer 7, you can repair damaged files or missing registration information in Internet Explorer 7. To do this, follow these steps:1. Start Internet Explorer 7.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. On the Advanced tab, click Reset.
4. In the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog box

[W1UJR]

Well, glad I found that one out John.
I rely on BAMA for info quite often.
But have bookmarked the "edebris" site rather than BAMA itself as I have had problems in the past with logging into BAMA.
Guess I need to check both places now, just to be certain.

[WQ9E]

Well,

Edebris worked fine from my Windows Vista computer at work so apparently there is either a problem with my home ISP or a conflict with Windows XP.  I do recall I first noticed this problem shortly after one of the XP security patches so perhaps that is the problem.  Basically if I try to right click and save a file (either PDF or DJVU) it saves an empty file.  If I try to directly open a PDF file Adobe reports the file is damaged or the file type is incorrect.  Direct opening a djvu file results in nothing happening (including no error message).  The behavior is the same using either the current version of IE or Firefox.  So I guess for now I will use BAMA at home.  I am getting ready to upgrade home computers soon anyway as the 20+ megabyte RAW image files from my Canon digital SLR are really slowing down my three year old Dell (which was the fastest PC they sold at the time).  Technology marches on...

Rodger WQ9E

[K1ZJH]

Yeah, something hoses up inside Windows and causes that problem!! A lot of folks have posted concerning the same issue, even over on QRZ.com. I was downloading fine one day, and then later that night I was getting the dreaded empty files!!  The only reason I recovered was that I reloaded Windows, and did a "fix" to IE, to cure some other major problems I was having with the operating system. All of a sudden the downloads worked again.  XP can do some weird stuff.  I hate computers! Linear forever.

pete

[WD8BIL]

My XP is up to date and I have had no problems. Just used it this morning.