Kryten wrote:
I can see HP's point in that if someone puts poor-quality scans of
their
manuals up, some people might think it reflects HP quality in
documentation.
I'd argue anyone smart enough to need and buy HP kit would not blame
HP/Ag.

HP made a good name for good kit that did a good job and price took
second
place.
They were an American icon, like Harley Davison or Maglite or
Leatherman.

Then some pointy haired bunch threw away the old name, diversified
into new
areas, and promptly turned a steady business into instability.

Hmph.

Perhaps one could ask HP to provide the better versions, maybe donate
mint
condition manuals for scanning or even original files.

It's dramatically counter-productive to
their own business interests

On one hand they pressure people to buy new products by doing so, but
as a
customer I'd be put off buying kit from a company that was so petty
as to
begrudge manuals to a old customers.

Making manuals free in electronic form reduces the waste of paper and
office
space, which helps everyone.

I'd like to be a bit of a contrarian here for once.

rant
The instrument manual the OP is seeking is available from several
sources. It's a little pricey, but is still a good value, and only a
small fraction of the price of a reconditioned HP 5370B.

Much of the value of an instrument is contained in its usability and
serviceability. A lot of the effort that goes into making a good
instrument _should_ be spent on the operating and service manuals. To
my experience, HP/Agilent has _always_ produced easily readable,
logically written manuals that are eminently helpful in using the
instrument.

An important point that's being neglected here is that these manuals
are intellectual property which has been copyrighted to make sure the
fruits of that work goes to the owners. This forum has many
well-respected engineers who depend, at least in part, on the residual
value of the intellectual property they have created in order to make a
living, through patents, non-disclosure agreements, and copyrights,
allowing them to sell the same art to more than one customer. I don't
believe they would be happy if the owners of the fruits of their labor
decided to bypass those patents and non-disclosure agreements in order
to swipe some of that value for themselves.

If a certain universally respected textbook of Electronics Engineering
went out of print (may that day never arrive) but was still under
copyright (under current law there will be many years to go), a teacher
who owned one text wouldn't have the right to make copies and sell them
to students. Copyright laws still apply. And whether that certain
universally respected textbook of Electronics Engineering was out of
print or not wouldn't have anything to do with implied warranties of
merchantability. The book would still have the same value.

Some thought should be given to the perceived value of making a really
excellent manual to the manufacturer as well. I'm sure one of the
reasons the engineers at HP were allowed by the bean counters to spend
so much time making top quality manuals was the expected return for
selling copies of those manuals after the sale. I've seen CDs for sale
which have scans of HP/Agilent instruments which are currently
supported or even in production, as well as the obsolete ones. If the
rules are changed to permit copying of manuals, the MBAs will have
another idiotic justification to cut the labor hours spent on making
the manual. I want and need good documentation when I specify an
instrument, so I can get the quality results I want and get the full
value of the meter. If everyone is making poor quality, minimalist
manuals (and those manufacturers know who they are -- so do we), none
of the instrument buyers are going to be happy.

Look at it this way. Let's assume the authors of that universally
respected textbook of Electronics Engineering knew that within several
years of publishing the 2nd edition, everyone would be using Xeroxes of
their text. Would they have taken the time to make the second edition
as great as it is? Or support it in s.e.d.? Would it have remained in
print as long as it has? And would they have enough motivation to
publish a 3rd edition (please -- just give me 30 seconds to cut the
check!).

Agilent has a webpage which recommends a number of resellers of
manuals, several of which have the one the OP is talking about. At
some time, Agilent may also be willing to look at selling the
documentation for obsolete and unsupported instruments in electronic
form, once good digital protection is available which prevents
unauthorized copying. When that happens, A of E will undoubtedly also
be in digital form, too. But either way, the intellectual property
belongs to the author, and should be respected whether the authors are
respected professors or a corporation.

Sorry for the loss of self-control. I've got my asbestos suit on --
let the flames begin.
/rant

Chris