[Lowfer] Publicity and new blood

[Warren Ziegler]

Eddy,

   Your point is well taken but on the other hand QRSS/WOLF has pushed
the boundaries of LF DX and opened up new possibilities.

Perhaps a bigger problem is the predominance of HF transceivers which
in theory tune down to dc but are in fact deaf as post below the
broadcast band. The hams who spent big bucks on them think that there
is nothing on LF and that's the end of it.

I run 4W ERP on LF and some hams in New England can't hear me at all
with their rice-boxes and assume that my station is at fault (after
all they spent enough money on their rig that they are sure that it
must work fine).

If they can't hear a 4W ERP station what are the odds that they will
hear a 1mW ERP Part 15 station?

-- 
73 Warren K2ORS
                WD2XGJ
                WD2XSH/23
                WE2XEB/2
                WE2XGR/1




On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:52 PM, Edward Swynar <gswynar at durham.net> wrote:
> Good Day All,
>
> Well, this is just one VERY small opinion to be sure, but you know what the
> experts say: for every person who might dare to raise a question, odds are
> that at least four others in the audience were thinking the very same thing!
>
> I'm personally VERY turned off by the near universal computer useage in the
> band by the Lowfer crowd: stuff like WOLF(?) and QRSS may well be the
> leading-edge ideal marriage between technology & being heard far, far away,
> but somehow I do NOT think it's conducive to attracting the
> casual-listener-cum-low-band addict whose interest  may---or may not---be
> piqued by what he/she might hear...
>
> It reminds me a lot of Ham radio CW contesting: if every hot-shot big gun
> contestor left his keyer set at 40 wpm and refused to patiently slow things
> down for benefit of a part time, casual  "weekend warrior", how many newbies
> to this niche of the hobby would stick around for more...? Probably very
> few...
>
> Ditto high-tech Lowfer operation. I think this niche of the hobby has really
> & truly marginalized itself through its exclusion of "...the lowest common
> denominator", i.e. newcomers who might be sampling the low frequencies for
> the very first time. There's still magic in being able to hear that 10 wpm
> automated CW beacon---too bad that so many seem to have forgotten this fact
> (after all, what was it that first attracted YOU to Lowfer activities in the
> first place, if not just that...?!).
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> ********************************
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Warren Ziegler" <wd2xgj at gmail.com>
> To: <k5wms at centurytel.net>; "Discussion of the Lowfer (US, European,
> &amp,UK) and MedFer bands" <lowfer at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [Lowfer] Publicity and new blood
>
>
>> Paul,
>>
>>     Communications Quarterly went out of business in 2000 and was
>> merged into QEX. There have been several LF/MF articles in QEX over
>> recent years.
>>      Peter Dodd G3LDO wrote the "LF Experimenter's Handbook" published
>> by RSGB and available from the ARRL, there is also "LF Today
>> a guide to success on 136 and 500kHz" 2nd Edition by Mike Dennison,
>> G3XDV and Jim Moritz , M0BMU also available from ARRL.
>>
>>    The problem is not due to a lack of publicity or books, its mostly
>> the nature of ham radio which has become a hobby of appliance
>> operators.
>>
>> --
>> 73 Warren K2ORS
>>                 WD2XGJ
>>                 WD2XSH/23
>>                 WE2XEB/2
>>                 WE2XGR/1
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:24 AM, Paul Daulton <k5wms at centurytel.net>
> wrote:
>> > I became aware of the part 15 lowfer activity back in Dec 1971 by way of
> an article in Popular Electronics.
>> > Last article I can find in a major publication about part15 operation is
> an excellent article by Steve Ford in QST back in 1994. I think it is time
> to recruit some new blood . Only way to do that is publicity. We can start
> by emailing Steve Ford at QST and update him on what we are doing now.
> Perhaps CQ and Communications quarterly would be interested.
>> >
>> > QST has a very long lead time on articles, CQ I dont know but I think it
> is less than six months. 73 could publish in less than 4 months but thats
> gone now. Mfj publishes a lot of special interest books like Pivinichys book
> on xtal filters and Drew Diamonds "QRP projects from downunder". May be we
> could assemble a lowfer handbook from internet articles. I have the RSGB low
> freq handbook but that is all about 137khz.
>> >
>> > I only have limited experience with publication( two articles in 73) so
> I would like to hear from Jay and other who have more insight.
>> >
>> > Off topic but mondays local paper the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had an
> article about the government
>> > granting power companies the ok to install digital power meters and send
> the data over power lines.
>> > I wonder if this has any bearing on the FCC reluctance to allow 137
> alocations in this country. The gov is pouring in money to "update the
> nations power grid" according to the article. I could use some stimulus
> money myself.
>> > Paul Daulton K5WMS
>> > beacon WMS 187.492 khz qrss30/slow 24/7
>> > Jacksonville,Ar 72076
>> > em34wu