[600MRG] Upcoming changes to NJDTechnologies 630 meter daily reports and the site as a whole

[John Langridge]

Good afternoon:

It pains me to report that January 31 will be my last daily report
published on NJDTechnologies.net after nearly six and a half years of
providing public content.

My web host is preparing to make software upgrades that will conflict
with my site. Because there are nearly 2100 posts (about 40000 8.5 X
11 pages if you printed them all out), estimates suggest that it will
cost multi-kilobucks to upgrade the site to functionality and a normal
presentation after the upgrade is complete in February. I’m not going
to do that.

Currently a test system is being built to determine the full impact of
the upgrade. Because the backup files are so large, the clock is at 48
hours and counting to unzip the archive files. We are certain that the
process is still running because we can see files populating the
directories. Once completed, we will replicate the coming updates and
see what remains.

Best case scenario is that once the update occurs, the site will be
accessible as an archive but may not look right to the viewer. Some
links may not work but posts may remain visible in one capacity of
another. There are no guarantees. I will fix what I can. I am a
content creator and not a web developer. Worst case scenario is that
the site will be completely inaccessible. Either way, it may take some
time to restore any level of access.

If there are posts that you wish to preserve, for whatever reason, it
is advisable that you PDF those posts immediately. You can use a site
like this one to do it: https://cloudconvert.com/save-website-pdf.

You can also do a "Save As" for a post but just remember to do a
complete save if prompted as online media objects may not be available
later.  While I will retain complete final backups, its unclear
whether I will be able to view or present from these archive in the
future.

If I had the time I would PDF everything but I’ve not found a utility
that does the level of automation that I require so I am leaving that
up to the viewer. I do have PDF back ups of daily reports for a couple
of months back into 2020, however. I’m kicking myself now for not
making a PDF process part of my standard operating procedure with each
post. Hindsight.

I am currently working with those who have files hosted on my site to
ensure a clean transition to other host sites. I may also ask those
with sites to host some critical files like the “band plan” file, the
links” file and the “Hall of Flame”. W5EST has a great collection of
PDF’s that are based on operator accounts and activity that he has
compiled over the years and I will need to find a home for the Table
of contents. Some of those PDF files are located on the site and
others are located on the Google cloud.

My activity here really won’t change much. I’ll continue to be active
on 630 meter CW each morning and night as seasonal darkness allows.
Because I continue to write the quarterly column in CQ Magazine, I
would appreciate the continued high level of communication between
active operators.

Just because I won’t have a website to publicly distribute content
does not mean that I won’t be taking notes for future print
content.Thanks again to all that have supported the site by providing
content and activity as well as to all of the viewers over the years.

73,

John KB5NJD..