Outsider's View Re: [Lowfer] Lowfer Survey...
Don Davis
[email protected]
Fri, 25 Oct 2002 11:32:01 -0700
Just my 2 cents worth on Bill's lack of response about QRSS interest in
other groups and the nature of posts to this list.
I DX longwave beacons (have done so since the '60s), and have only mild
interest in the Lowfer beacon side of things, but do read the mail once in a
while to see if it could get me interested. My experience with digital
modes, in general, has been very bad. When I ask for help, I get comments
like (and I'm not joking or exagerating) "...just get on the web and use the
freeware - it's really simple..." or "...configure your sound card to
process xyz, and connect the output....". When it comes time to actually
try this stuff out, the freeware is 10 years old, it doesn't work, it's not
documented, and when I ask for more help, I get nothing useful. The
documentation for my computer is even worse - there is no documentation.
Have tried RTTY, WXFAX, SSTV, and a dozen other modes with no luck. Have
tried Kantronics, MFJ, RigBlaster, and others with zero luck. The ARRL
books all seem out of date, and any of the NGs seem to require a very high
level of knowledge - so much so that the beginner is left out. I thought
that this NG would be a help in that regard, but the discussions seem to be
several levels above where I am, and are in context only to those who are
already intimately involved.
The discussion of wheat vs chaff on this NG hit home with me. It seems (to
me at least) that there are 10 to 15 very active members who have a great,
close working relationship with each other. It seems that they know exactly
what they are talking about, and can express a world of thought with a
couple of breezy lines of wit. I understand some of it, but it clearly is a
closed society that does not lend itself to discussion placed in context for
the "outsider". There was a protracted thread a week or so ago about
"buying" frequencies (or something like it?). I figured out it was
tongue-in-cheek after the first dozen or so replies, but then it continued
for days, as if this were not a NG, but a general purpose chat room. I'm
sure it has relevance for the active guys, but what does it do to further
the interests of the other 300 or so members?
So, I guess I'm not terribly surprised that a discussion of QRSS on a
general purpose Icom R75 group would receive no attention. Since I didn't
read his post I have no idea of it's style or content, but, if it's anything
like the typical post on the Lowfer NG it's probably right over their heads.
To an experienced Lowfer, I'm sure that the term "QRSS" means something, and
has an instant attraction. What does it mean to the average guy who turns
on his radio twice a week to chat? Why should he care? My experience on
the radio leads me to believe that most ops have 1 or 2 main modes of
activity and don't stray very far afield unless enticed pretty hard. After
trying a number of digital modes with no success, the equipment sits in a
nice, expensive pile and gathers dust while I work my normal CW and phone.
I'm not criticizing anyone, nor am I looking for any arguments / flames etc.
I won't respond to them. Just giving an opinion from an "outsider's" point
of view.
Best 73s,
Don AD6PB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Ashlock" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Lowfer] Lowfer Survey...
> All,
>
> Mike R and John Ds comments on Lowfer types and who is listening to our
> beacon signals got me to wondering how to spread the word to non-Lowfer,
> electronics-related groups, about the simplicity of tuning in and viewing
> our QRSS signals. I figure that the more signal reports from differing
> locations, the merrier - and maybe some might even take on transmitting as
> well. Read on...
>
> I subscribe to [email protected], an active group interested in
> discussing various aspects of their Icom R75s and I figured this would be
a
> good starting point since the R75 receiver meets all the requirements for
a
> good Lowfer receiver. I composed what I thought was a good introduction to
> QRSSing, covering the use of using ARGO, the need to set up more than a
> long-wire antenna, and gave the URL to Mitch's site which has the nifty
> sixpack of signals that he captured earlier in the week. I asked for
return
> questions on details for setting this up, figuring there would be quite a
> few interested, but guess what? 24 hours later - no replies!
>
> I'd appreciate any thoughts on this or other ideas on how to 'spread the
> word'. Is it possible that most of the SWLs all ready know all about
> available digital receiving techniques for copying Lowfer signals and just
> aren't interested?
>
> Bill (In an evangelistic mode)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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