[Elecraft] Separate Groups Would be a Mistake

[Stephen W. Kercel]

For what its worth, I'm with Eric on this one.

(Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in Elecraft, and do not currently 
even own any Elecraft products. However, I am presently in the process of 
putting together the capability (i.e., acquiring test equipment and tools, 
setting up an undisturbed construction space, et cetera) to build a K2.)

I do think that the emergence of Elecraft is a significant development in 
the ham community, essentially putting the "amateur" back into amateur 
radio. This list is a community exploring the not-always-separable nuances 
of participation in the Elecraft tribe, as well as other "beyond appliance 
operating" aspects of ham radio. I often gain insights (as I'm sure others 
do) from the juxtaposition of seemingly irrelevant and disconnected posts. 
That synergy would be destroyed by some arbitrary fractioning of the list 
into disjoint parts.

73,

Steve Kercel
AA4AK


At 09:36 AM 3/20/2005 -0800, you wrote:
>  I think it would be a mistake to pull out an Elecraft technical forum. I'm
>involved with intranet design (not the technical side, the conceptual side).
>Many corporate customers want to include forums for their group to discuss
>common interests and problems. Very briefly, the more compartmentalized they
>become, the less successful the forums. The pressure initially is for more
>specialized forums. The trend is towards fewer or one "general" forum with a
>broader focus.
>
>Here's why. A successful forum is a community. It isn't just the occasional
>interesting topics and posts that hold the group together. It is also the
>"chatter". Far from being off-topic, most chatter serves to bind the group
>into a community. There are lulls  between really interesting completely
>on-topic posts, and the chatter keeps the community together so that it is
>there for the next "new thing".
>
>It's the same in other facets of our lives. We don't just talk about
>religion at church functions. We don't just talk about ham radio at club
>meetings. What a boring world if every group limited their discussions in
>that way. Sure, you have to keep things mostly on topic, but you have to let
>things stray a little (this group is very even-handedly moderated)
>
>Something as specialized as a pure technical forum on Elecraft equipment is
>going to attract a relative few. My guess is it wouldn't even attract many
>of those on here who are very technically competent. It will not attract the
>great majority of Elecraft owners who want to know how their rig works, but
>mainly just want to enjoy their radios. There will be the occasional "hot"
>technical topic (e.g. phase noise), but chances are good there will be
>relatively long periods of time when nothing is happening and members will
>drift on to other interests. The few remaining will not be involved in
>heated technical discussions because it will be the same small group that
>already knows what the others are interested in.
>
>I say keep it together. Sometimes I have an interest in what the geeks are
>saying. I understand the highlights and maybe learn something I can use.
>Some I delete when I see the call sign. I learn most from guys like Don
>(W3FPR) and Ron (AC7AC) and many others in their offers of troubleshooting
>help. Not that I have always experienced the problem or expect to, but by
>getting insights into how the rig works when it is working like it was
>designed. I learn from just about everyone.
>
>I also learned that there is a delete button. With only a couple of dozen
>posts a day, it is not much of a burden.
>
>Eric
>KE6US
>
>----- Original Message -----
>Here is the polite question to Wayne and Eric and others from Elecraft to
>maybe open another forum with pure technical stuff because deletting all the
>messages wich are not of my interests is very time consuming for me and i am
>shure my writing for the others is also.
>Hope the voice will be suported and heard :) .
>
>CU!
>
>S55M-Adi
>
>----- Original Message -----
> > You and your European friends are exactly correct that most of the stuff
>on
> > the Elecraft site is not really technical nor about specs etc. ...
> > I, like you and a few others, would rather exchange information about how
> > the radio can be made better in handling big signals etc.
> >
>
> >
> > Anyhow, I hope you all are successful in coming up with another reflector
> > for technical discussions on the K2. Please let me know, as I would like
>To subscribe.
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
>Post to: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
>Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>
>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
>Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com