[CTSARA] Sunday Night Net and Snoozeline Suspended

Fri Aug 17 06:54:57 EDT 2012

What was not mentioned is that Fred has technical problems. Very low audio listening to the newsline and recently had a problem with his microphone.

Monday nights at 8:00 pm I have been using Echolink to play the New England Echolink System net. Usually their are about 10 people that join the net and last about an hour. This is a very orderly net with 7-10 Repeaters and Links connected. Generally stations from New England but could be almost any location. Net control Jarrod k1lva, a excellent job running the net and keeps reminding stations to leave a 5 second pause between transmissions. 

This group is very dedicated to Echolink and making sure everyone abides buy the rules and everything runs smoothly. Recently I gave the group my phone number which is a contact file in case of a problem. 

Please listen and join the net every Monday at 8:00 pm! 146.655 PL-100 Hz.
You can find out much more by joining this Yahoo group: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/North_East_Echolink_System/
J/S WB1GRB
----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:14:32 -0400
> From: kb1qxr at arrl.net
> To: ctsara at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [CTSARA] Sunday Night Net and Snoozeline Suspended
>
> I think there's a few contributing factors. Sorry for the wall of text,
> first problems as I see them then a few suggestions.
>
>
> 1. Lack of content. When I last checked in (which I admit was a while ago),
> many nights had little or nothing to discuss. There'd usually be a few
> rounds of general housekeeping (events, stuff for sale, etc- the stuff we
> already discuss on the reflector/forum/website) and that was it. Many
> nights we'd be done and into the Snoozeline by 8:05. This is a
> self-catalyzing effect- the fewer people check in, the less there is to talk
> about, the fewer people check in next week.
> Now I like the Snoozeline as much as the next ham, but I'm not going to tune
> in JUST for it. If there's a good discussion I'll stay tuned and listen to
> it, but the Snoozeline by itself isn't worth tuning in for when I can read
> the text online.
>
> 2. Lack of publicity. GNARC emails out weekly reminders, and their net's
> growing. After missing a few weeks it's easy to get out of the habit of
> checking in. A weekly reminder would, I suspect, bring in some more traffic
> if only by reminding people that the net exists.
>
> 3. Lack of immediate equipment. (For me at least- not sure how much this
> applies to others). I live in an apartment and don't usually have a radio
> set up, so I'd have to set one up with a portable antenna, or use EchoLink
> (effective but somewhat clumsy due to TX/RX delays). As per the previous
> points, not worth doing just for the Snoozeline.
>
>
> That said, a few suggestions...
>
> 1. I think a weekly discussion subject is a great idea. I would tune in
> more frequently if I knew there was going to be a good discussion, not just
> 5 minutes of housekeeping and the Snoozeline. Perhaps maybe a Q&A with
> someone knowledgable on a particular subject. I'd be happy to do one if
> people want to ask computer questions.
>
> 2. Once interesting topics are planned, promote them. At least one
> announcement on the email reflector within 24hrs of the net.
>
> 3. A directed net *COULD* help, if there are 5+ people. A directed net by
> design solves the problem of high traffic, but with us it might solve the
> problem of forgetting what you wanted to say while you wait for your turn to
> come up again.
>
> 4. Consider a reschedule to when people are already in front of their radio.
> For example, drive time. A drive time net is more conducive to a friendly
> chat net (which can have a subject of discussion/debate) than a heavy
> technical net, but it could also be fun.
> I would suggest one way to build this would be to have a workshop or
> something to help people wire their radios into their car's accessory bus so
> the radio comes on automatically when you start the car. I know I'd monitor
> 10x more if my radio didn't need to be manually turned on.
>
>
> Anyway that's just my 2c.
> 73
> Chris KB1QXR
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Perelstein [mailto:jon.perelstein at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 10:30 AM
> To: Stamford Amateur Radio Association
> Subject: [CTSARA] Sunday Night Net and Snoozeline Suspended
>
> We are suspending the Sunday Night Net and the Amateur Radio Snoozeline.
>
> Simply put, there is very little participation in the Sunday night net and
> it's become something of an embarrassment. We are discussing ways in which
> we might reorganize the net so that it will get more participants. Some of
> the ideas that have been suggested so far include:
>
> o Move the net to a different night (on the theory that Sunday is not a good
> night for many people o Making the net later in the evening (on Sunday or on
> a different night) o Making it a directed net o Giving it a topic each week.
> For example one week might be a discussion of antennas or a discussion of
> ham radio field trips that people have taken. Sam in Norwalk has had some
> success in making his net more lively by posing a topic/issue each week.
> o Adding EMCOMM practice and/or digital practice before or after the net
>
> These are suggestions from individual members (those who have already spoken
> up about their concern with the low participation in the net). We would
> like additional suggestions from the membership at large -- what would you
> like to see in a SARA weekly net? Please -- any ideas will be gratefully
> received and considered.
>
> As for the Snoozeline -- the only listeners we know of are not dues paying
> members of the club. It's sort of silly for us to be stressing our
> equipment for non-members of the club, especially since the Snoozeline text
> is available from the QRZ home page and the Snoozeline's own homepage (
> http://www.arnewsline.org/), as is the audio. We would consider putting
> it back on the air if enough dues-paying members want it, but if we do it
> will not be tied to the net so that we don't have to worry about the
> Snoozeline or Desperate Housewives if we are in the middle of something
> interesting on the net.
>
> Effective immediately I am disabling the controller macros that prepare the
> controller for the net and for the Snoozeline.
>
> 73s
> Jon, WB2RYV
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