[MNham] RochHams -- a new listserv for amateur radio in SE MN

Mon, 2 Feb 2004 09:15:33 EST

RochHams - a new forum

RochHams is a new listserv that allows the free exchange of information and 
dialogue about ham radio for amateur radio operators and other interested 
persons in Southeastern Minnesota.  The list is open ONLY to those who live in 
Southeastern Minnesota or have a connection with the region (you may be asked 
before your membership is approved).

What is a listserv?

A listserv is an automatic mailing list server. People sharing an interest 
may "subscribe" to a given discussion, and other subscribers' contributions to 
the thread are distributed to the entire subscriber base via e-mail. The result 
is similar to a newsgroup or forum, except that the messages are transmitted 
as e-mail and are therefore available only to individuals on the list.

The RochHams listserv is hosted on YahooGroups, where many radio-related 
topics can be found.  By signing up for a group, you will receive e-mail from 
others subscribed to the same group.  However, you can elect to receive individual 
e-mails, receive a digest of e-mails on a regular basis or choose not to 
receive any e-mails by just logging onto the YahooGroups web site and read the 
messages on the web site at your own leisure.

What about spam?

There are tools available to the moderator that allow the reduction of spam 
to practically none whatsoever.  I have been the moderator of several groups 
and have found that by using these tools, I have kept virtually all spammers off 
my lists.  New subscribers to the list first must be approved for 
"membership" by me after they sign up, and then even new members are placed on a 
"moderated" status until they post their first message to the group.  If the message 
is deemed worthy, the person's status is changed to unmoderated.  If a person 
causes a stir in the group or the first post is borderline, they are left on 
moderated status until their postings indicate that they will not disturb the 
group's members.

So what will RochHams be?

I have elected until there is further discussion, to limit membership in the 
RochHams group to only hams and others interested in ham radio who live in or 
have some connection to Southeastern Minnesota.  Before I will approve 
requests, I will seek to identify that the person has ties to Southeastern Minnesota. 
 This serves the purpose of keeping discussion to local topics.  Surely if 
someone lives outside the area but has a genuine interest in ham radio in our 
region, they can participate.  

The list serves a couple of purposes.  

-- First, it allows the exchange of information among hams in the region in 
an easy fashion that is expedient, too.  Information can be disseminated 
quickly.  Information can pertain to repeaters being down for service, for-sale 
items (need to have marginal ham interest), net reminders, requests for technical 
assistance from others, help sought for tower parties, club meeting 
announcements, requests for on-air contacts and more.

-- The group will not be limited to members of the Rochester Amateur Radio 
Club.  There's a reason for this.  The listserv can be a tool for recruiting new 
members into the club.  If non-members see posts in the group about club 
activities, they may be interested in checking into club membership.  It will be 
important to include club information about events and meetings within this 
group to encourage others to join the Rochester Amateur Radio Club.  The same 
will apply to other clubs that have members in Southeastern Minnesota (such as 
the clubs in Winona, Austin, LaCrosse, etc.).  The group will be slanted with a 
Rochester flavor, but we won't rule out others in the region from 
participating in as much as we usually operate on each other groups' repeaters, too.

How do I sign up?

Point your web browser to this URL: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RochHams/join

In order to sign up via the web, you will need a Yahoo account.  Many already 
have one because they subscribe to other YahooGroups.  If you don't have one, 
it's easy.  Most hams use their call sign for their member name on Yahoo.  If 
you don't want the e-mail coming to your regular e-mail account, you can use 
the Yahoo mail account that you get when you create a Yahoo account.  It's 
your choice!

It's possible to sign up without creating a Yahoo account, but you won't have 
access to all the features of the group.  The RochHams site on YahooGroups 
offers polls, file uploads and downloads, databases and more, as well as a chat 
room.  

If you wish to sign up without creating a Yahoo account, you can do it via 
e-mail by sending an e-mail to: [email protected].  

Management info

The RochHams group is owned by Chuck Gysi, N2DUP, of Rochester.  He also is 
the moderator/owner of several other large YahooGroups, including ScanMN, a 
group of more than 150 scanner enthusiasts throughout Minnesota; DigiScan, a 
group of more than 750 scanner enthusiasts around the world interested in digital 
communications such as APCO-25; VX-7R, a list of more than 350 persons 
interested in the Yaesu VX-7R handheld amateur transceiver; and DISH-Network-Sat, a 
smaller group of several dozen Dish Network enthusiasts.

Once you have been approved as a member, you can post a message to the group 
by sending e-mail to [email protected].  It will be sent out 
automatically to other subscribers who choose to receive e-mail directly.  You will 
receive e-mail from other members and those e-mails you receive will have 
[RochHams] in the subject line.  If you use AOL or some other services such as 
HoTMaiL, the first and some subsequent e-mails may get dumped automatically into your 
spam baskets.  You'll need to go in there and click on the button to indicate 
the mail from the list is not spam.

The only way to unsubscribe to RochHams will be to send an e-mail to
[email protected], or to log onto groups.yahoo.com with 
your user name and cancel your membership to RochHams.  Please don't post to the 
group that you want to unsubscribe.  My philosophy is that if you subscribed, 
you can unsubscribe, too.

The owner/moderator can be contacted by e-mail at 
[email protected].

Any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks and 73,

Chuck Gysi, N2DUP
Rochester MN

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