Return-Path: Received: from rly-me07.mx.aol.com (rly-me07.mail.aol.com [172.20.83.41]) by air-me01.mail.aol.com (v121.5) with ESMTP id MAILINME013-9c74880ea90e; Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:10:26 -0400 Received: from post.thorcom.com (post.thorcom.com [193.82.116.20]) by rly-me07.mx.aol.com (v121.5) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINME073-9c74880ea90e; Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:10:11 -0400 Received: from majordom by post.thorcom.com with local (Exim 4.14) id 1KJvKa-0005Fl-66 for rs_out_1@blacksheep.org; Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:09:28 +0100 Received: from [83.244.159.144] (helo=relay3.thorcom.net) by post.thorcom.com with esmtp (Exim 4.14) id 1KJvKZ-0005Fc-4D for rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org; Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:09:27 +0100 Received: from imo-m24.mx.aol.com ([64.12.137.5]) by relay3.thorcom.net with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1KJvKX-0002cI-3z for rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org; Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:09:27 +0100 Received: from G0MRF@aol.com by imo-m24.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r9.4.) id l.c27.3f55d7bb (42807); Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:09:06 -0400 (EDT) From: G0MRF@aol.com Message-ID: Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:09:05 EDT To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org CC: jwgould@iee.org.uk, g3wkl@btinternet.com MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: 9.0 SE for Windows sub 5014 X-Spam-Flag:NO X-Spam-Score: 1.5 (+) X-Spam-Report: autolearn=disabled,HTML_10_20=0.945,HTML_MESSAGE=0.001,NO_REAL_NAME=0.55 Subject: LF: Rad Com / critical mass etc Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="-----------------------------1216408145" X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on post.thorcom.com X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.3 required=5.0 tests=HTML_MESSAGE,NO_REAL_NAME autolearn=no version=2.63 X-SA-Exim-Scanned: Yes Sender: owner-rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org X-Listname: rsgb_lf_group X-SA-Exim-Rcpt-To: rs_out_1@blacksheep.org X-SA-Exim-Scanned: No; SAEximRunCond expanded to false X-AOL-IP: 193.82.116.20 X-AOL-SCOLL-AUTHENTICATION: listenair ; SPF_helo : n X-AOL-SCOLL-AUTHENTICATION: listenair ; SPF_822_from : + -------------------------------1216408145 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable =20 Hello John, WKL, and group. =20 I think it may have been me who picked up Mal's expression "fizzled out"=20 and applied it to the technical content, in particular construction article= s,=20 in Rad Com. =20 Trying a little more seriously to look at the lack of activity on 500k and =20 the content of Rad Com, I would say that the two are related. I can understand how the change in content in our magazine reflects similar= =20 unfortunate changes in other publications. I suspect this is primarily driv= en=20 by the desire to cut costs, after all changing to a news based format allow= s=20 the editor/s to simply cut and paste articles from one source into the blan= k=20 pages which will become a future Rad Com. As a good example of cut and=20 paste journalism, take a look at the 'announcement' of Tent Speakers from a= =20 company called 'Blacks' on page 10 of the August edition. You don't have t= o read=20 very far into that article to immediately see that it has been lifted from=20 some piece of advertising junk mail that's arrived at the office. Heavily a= nd=20 badly edited, it's reduced size leaves out more facts than it conveys. What= =20 for example is an EVA shell? Or come to that NXT speakers? We'll never know= ,=20 because that information didn't make it into the space the editor had to fi= ll.=20 - A really good example of poor editing and production. It's complete tat. =20 So, what's the link to 500k activity? Well, this group largely consists of= =20 very capable individuals who can use a soldering iron and many of those can= =20 actively design equipment of some sort for 500k. The thing we all lack is t= ime=20 and frequently we like to save those long designing tasks for something =20 that's right at the top of our interest agenda. There would undoubtedly be m= ore =20 500k operators if tested and widely published designs were available. But we= =20 need more than that. To really kick start 500k, someone needs to produce eit= her=20 kits or finished modules and that is where RadCom can be vital. In the =20 past I have produced designs and kits for 136kHz. The 300W amplifier kit was= =20 one, and the completed ready to go 136kHz preamp, designed by Dave G3YXM, wa= s =20 another. I was really surprised that although the preamp was only a handful=20= of =20 components, people would choose to buy it assembled and tested rather than=20 build it themselves. Somewhere out there are 150 preamps and 50 300W=20 transmitter kits which must have had some effect on 136k activity. Unfortunately, it costs quite a lot to make a kit available. You need =20 minimum order quantities for PCBs to make it cost effective, and a kit that=20= =20 contains a few inches of say, 28 SWG wire means you have to buy a reel......= and so=20 on and so on. Having an article published in RadCom was key to making a kit viable. But=20 now, there are no significant articles being published. If, I submit an =20 article am I going to be told, we don't do that any more, or we like most m= agazines=20 commission articles? =20 Basically, last year I looked at 500k as a possible opportunity for =20 designing a DDS driven transmitter. 100W out, little 2 line LCD, PIC microc= ontroller=20 running a DDS. - All fairly straightforward and if run from 12V, a project=20 that would attract people onto 500k. But the single reason why that didn't=20 happen was because at the time when I had the idea, Rad Com hadn't publishe= d a=20 single significant construction article in the previous 12 months. =20 It takes about 300 - =A3400 to get something like this started. With no mean= s =20 of promoting it, those components just sit around selling one or two every 6= =20 months. The people who buy them arrive at an uninhabited 500k and mostly gi= ve=20 up. It needs a certain momentum to get it started. If 30 people arrive on =20 the band in a short space of time, others think, that sounds like fun, I'll=20= join=20 them and you have sustained interest. Of course you can just put a design on the web, but then you lose the=20 ability to get a 'critical mass' of people on the band. With RadCom going to a newspaper format with almost zero 'freelance' =20 technical content, small kit suppliers and individuals are simply unwilling=20= to take=20 the risk. =20 Hope that helps =20 David G0MRF =20 =20 =20 =20 =20 =20 In a message dated 17/07/2008 08:22:10 GMT Standard Time, jwgould@iee.org =20 writes: To me the important point that I tried to make in my posting, which has drawn no comment, is the one I made about getting people to write up their experimental work for publication, and specifically that concerning 500kHz. To maintain progress on gaining a long-term allocation around 500kHz we wil= l need to raise the profile nationally and internationally of work undertaken on 500kHz. One way of doing this is to get a few good technical articles written, not just sharing knowledge but encouraging others and providing suitable designs to enable them to join in; good construction articles can do just that.=20 73 John, G3WKL =20 =20 -------------------------------1216408145 Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hello John, WKL, and group.
 
I think it may have been me who picked up  Mal's expression "fizzl= ed=20 out" and applied it to the technical content, in particular construction=20 articles, in Rad Com.
 
Trying a little more seriously to look at the lack of activity on 500k=20= and=20 the content of Rad Com, I would say that the two are related.
I can understand how the change in content in our magazine reflect= s=20 similar unfortunate changes in other publications. I suspect this is primari= ly=20 driven by the desire to cut costs, after all changing to a news based format= =20 allows the editor/s to simply cut and paste articles from one source into th= e=20 blank pages which will become a future Rad Com.  As a good example of c= ut=20 and paste journalism, take a look at the 'announcement' of Tent Speaker= s=20 from a company called 'Blacks' on page 10 of the August edition.  You d= on't=20 have to read very far into that article to immediately see that it has=20= been=20 lifted from some piece of advertising junk mail that's arrived at the office= .=20 Heavily and badly edited, it's reduced size leaves out more facts than it=20 conveys. What for example is an EVA shell? Or come to that NXT speakers? We'= ll=20 never know, because that information didn't make it into the space the edito= r=20 had to fill. - A really good example of poor editing and productio= n.=20 It's complete tat.
 
So, what's the link to 500k activity?  Well, this group largely=20 consists of very capable individuals who can use a soldering iron and many o= f=20 those can actively design equipment of some sort for 500k. The thing we all=20= lack=20 is time and frequently we like to save those long designing tasks for someth= ing=20 that's right at the top of our interest agenda. There would undoubtedly be m= ore=20 500k operators if tested and widely published designs were available. But we= =20 need more than that. To really kick start 500k, someone needs to produce eit= her=20 kits or finished modules and that is where RadCom can be vital.  In the= =20 past I have produced designs and kits for 136kHz. The 300W amplifier kit was= =20 one, and the completed ready to go 136kHz preamp, designed by Dave G3YXM, wa= s=20 another. I was really surprised that although the preamp was only a handful=20= of=20 components, people would choose to buy it assembled and tested rather than b= uild=20 it themselves. Somewhere out there are 150 preamps and 50  300W transmi= tter=20 kits which must have had some effect on 136k activity.
Unfortunately, it costs quite a lot to make a kit available. You need=20 minimum order quantities for PCBs to make it cost effective, and a kit that=20 contains a few inches of say, 28 SWG wire means you have to buy a reel......= and=20 so on and so on.
Having an article published in RadCom was key to making a kit viable.&n= bsp;=20 But now, there are no significant articles being published. If, I submit an=20 article am I going to be told, we don't do that any more, or we like most=20 magazines commission articles?
 
Basically, last year I looked at 500k as a possible opportunity for=20 designing a DDS driven transmitter. 100W out, little 2 line LCD, PIC=20 microcontroller running a DDS. - All fairly straightforward and if run from=20= 12V,=20 a project that would attract people onto 500k. But the single reason why tha= t=20 didn't happen was because at the time when I had the idea, Rad Com hadn't=20 published a single significant construction article in the previous 12=20 months.
 
It takes about 300 - =A3400 to get something like this started. With no= means=20 of promoting it, those components just sit around selling one or two every 6= =20 months. The people who buy them arrive at an uninhabited 500k and mostl= y=20 give up. It needs a certain momentum to get it started. If 30 people arrive=20= on=20 the band in a short space of time, others think, that sounds like fun, I'll=20= join=20 them and you have sustained interest.
 Of course you can just put a design on the web, but then you= =20 lose the ability to get a 'critical mass' of people on the band.
With RadCom going to a newspaper format with almost zero 'freelance'=20 technical content, small kit suppliers and individuals are simply unwilling=20= to=20 take the risk.
 
Hope that helps
 
David G0MRF
 
 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 17/07/2008 08:22:10 GMT Standard Time, jwgould@iee.o= rg=20 writes:
To=20= me=20 the important point that I tried to make in my posting, which has
drawn= no=20 comment, is the one I made about getting people to write up=20 their
experimental work for publication, and specifically that concerni= ng=20 500kHz.


To maintain progress on gaining a long-term allocation=20 around 500kHz we will
need to raise the profile nationally and=20 internationally of work undertaken
on 500kHz.  One way of doing th= is=20 is to get a few good technical articles
written, not just sharing knowl= edge=20 but encouraging others and providing
suitable designs to enable them to= =20 join in; good construction articles can
do just that.

73 John,=20 G3WKL
 
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