Gripe Regarding Hobby Broadcaster

Digging down into HB's Terms of Use, the administrator suggests: "use an email account provided to you by your internet service provider." Have you tried that? It would be something like:   {your_unique_name}@verizon.com    and your ISP already gave it to you for free when you signed on.

Other than the unbearable agony of three extra taps of the index finger on the iPad, this doesn't sound so awful.

That site is crazy! Most people have an Email with Google, Yahoo, AOL, etc and they are eliminating most people from joining the forum. They want to have an exclusive club. My provider, Worldline, doesn't even provide a IPS provided email!

That forum is like trying to join a gym and being denied because the owner doesn't like your address where you live.

Worldline in Canada offers ten complementary web-based email accounts for every customer, even with their bottom-of-the-barrel $40 6Mbps plan.  How is it they didn't provide you with any? I would be on the phone with them before lunchtime demanding they set you up with at least one.

For that matter, customer ratings for Worldline are quite unsatisfactory. Are there any other more ISPs by you with better numbers?

That begs the question as to why anyone would want to participate in a site that is so difficult to join and then use.  You can't keep your preferred e-mail (gmail et al), you can't use a VPN, you can't use older browsers, etc.

So, why bother?

The entire point of his site is to be sure to be able to keep track or everyone who uses it.  I imagine he spends hours a week researching every login.

Over 90% of internet users do not use an ISP provided email address. Using one of the other more common and popular services such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc would allow one to join without having to have an email  that can be traced to the actual person.  He wants to make sure that no one who was ever banned can join. This is why he often recommends using a VPN for your own security and safety but then doesn't allow you to access his site with one.

Bottom line is -- you're better off not joining.  If you start off with that issue and are not bowing down to his superiority from the get-go, you'd probably be banned within a week or so anyway.

FWIW I did manage, a few years ago, to join with my Yahoo address.  But I'm sure that was an oversight.

TIB

@Billybu, I have been with worldline with DSL service for 3 years now in Canada and the price of Can. funds $39.95 a month for unlimited internet, home phone with NO long distance charges at all can't be beat by anyone and have not had any problems, it works great. I don't have TV in that package just because I have TV free from my landlord.
When I went with them it was not mentioned about an email address provided by them. I just said I have an email address I've had for 15 years now and that was that. What is wrong with email with Yahoo?  And I agree with Artisan's post completely.  What difference does it make what browser I have? Like I said I can't join a gym because the owner doesn't like where I live.  My Mother has her internet with Rogers(Canada) and she still keeps her G-mail that has been her email address for years and years. She doesn't have a Rogers provided email. The majority of people have email addresses with Yahoo or Google and what's wrong with it?

Reading this thread prompted me to make one of my sporadic visits to Hobbybroadcaster (for a site that supposedly promotes Part 15 broadcasting, I find them recently to be surprisingly negative towards broadcasting and radio in general, so I tend to avoid them).

Anyway, the webmaster was complaining about this topic, and how "common sense elludes <sic> the masses".  He stated that registration instructions for his site are plainly posted, but, of course, that isn't the point of this thread.

He might also want to check his spelling, particularly for a post title.

I had one of my account which I used with a CenturyLink Email that I no longer have CenturyLink anymore so of course my email was no good.

I tried to remember my password but could not so what I did was I signed up with a new account and with my isps given email probably not smart on my behalf for certain reasons I won't go into.

I even mentioned that I am not doing FM anymore and I'm strictly doing AM part 15.  Needless to say I was not welcome on the account and he actually sent me a response saying it was because I had another account even though in the feedback I stated quite clearly that I no longer have the CenturyLink email so I could not possibly ask for that password to get back on makes sense right?

I've decided that it isn't even worth trying to get on that site you have to be very careful of what you say or do because this man loves to turn people in and he loves to pull the legality stunts on people meaning taking people to court for various things.

Some years ago he was very upset with me for posting the Casio watch transmitter which I thought was kind of neat and could be used in many ways especially for the blind. For example if I were to get lost I could have my driver TuneIn to the blank frequency on FM that I am transmitting on. When the signal is louder he knows I'm closer. That was one way I could use it.   another great way how to use it is to test sensitivity on radios in a store display. Simply make sure the antenna is all the way up on the radio and tune to the blank frequency while you walk away and have someone listening on the radio. The one that receives you the farthest is definitely the one you want to buy.

The webmaster didn't like me posting that so he lock the site tighter than a drum. Even made a comment about me saying those Legacy people. Interesting how he did that but anyway for some reason I got under his skin simply by posting a few things. Guess I never should have done that because if I hadn't done it maybe the site wouldn't have been locked up so tight. So I guess I take a little bit of the blame for it.

Plus when I started the initiative site there seem to be great skirmishes because of the fact that there were many members of that site who did not believe that there would be any increase on any band am or FM for hobby Broadcasting. The mere mention of it made certain people over there in an outrage. I would think that a person that is Pro Part 15 would be all gun hold for it especially on the am broadcast band for the reasons that I have posted and made an example of.

So in my opinion which probably doesn't mean much and I'll say it's just my opinion if you don't mind getting busted or being scrutinized for maybe going a little further than he thinks that you should with your part 15 AM transmitter yes I have been visited by the FCC after my part 15 AM transmitter was setup they looked at my antenna took readings and they drove off before I could come to the door to ask them how it looks on their spectrum analyzer. Wonder why that happened I can only guess? Anyways the point is that it really doesn't matter because it is what it is but certain people seem to want to change that or stop at every turn.   if I'm causing interference that's one thing tell me I'm causing interference but because you are jealous of my operation that's another thing. My station is clean I have a broadcast engineer that helps me why is it that some people just can't deal with that? If I take away your listeners then it obviously means you're not doing something right.

I would think that all part 15 websites would want to work together instead of be divided and try to conquer one another it doesn't make sense. We are all in this hobby for the same damn thing.

TL:DR - - Don't be a dick. Get along.

I am remaining impartial, as I am a member in good standing of many broadcast forums and only want for everyone to play fair, including myself, and glean as much information as able from all resources. So to that end, we all really need to tuck in our dewlaps (look it up) and work it out.

Artisan, you stated: "You can’t keep your preferred e-mail (gmail et al), you can’t use a VPN, you can’t use older browsers, etc. So, why bother?"  Using that logic, you would still be running Windows 95/Netscape on your 486 because it was "preferred." The technology changes, security issues change, browsers evolve, Macromedia/Adobe Flash gets replaced by HTML5 etc,  and we have to change along with it. Sorry, but I don't see why using a different tool to accomplish a job is so problematic.

BTW, getting picky about a misspelling when there's nothing more to say is best left to teen girls with sparkly new phones. We're bigger than that.

Tim, you offered: "The entire point of his site is to be sure to be able to keep track or everyone who uses it ...  He wants to make sure that no one who was ever banned can join ... If you start off with that issue and are not bowing down to his superiority from the get-go, you’d probably be banned within a week or so anyway." In order of appearance, 1) EVERY website on earth tracks who uses it. Unless you're using TOR on the Dark Web, you are seen everywhere you go. 2) If you were banned in the past, write the guy and ask to be reinstated, and why you should be. If he says no, move on. And 3) "Bow down to superiority"?  My own messages have been edited, rewritten and sometimes outright rejected, and I have been loudly called out on many of them. Big deal. This is called "editing" and is valid. Compared to losing a spouse, surviving a house fire, or being fined $10K by the Commission, reading a couple of sour words peppered around my name on a computer screen are meaningless.

Mark, the gym analogy isn't a strong one. If you said it's like a homeowner's association that tells you exactly the shade of white you >must< paint your house, it would have carried more impact.  See, that's EDITING in action.  Didn't hurt, did it?

Lastly, Fairbol:  You got this thread started. Is there anything you would like to add, having heard several sides of the story?

I have no real or personal stake in that other forum, nor this one, nor any of the dozen others I participate in. If I lose membership in any or all of them, I'm still on the air and I'm not out one dime. But before we (or they) curse the "other" forum because the front door key doesn't fit, try a different damn key.

BillyBurg, I would think that the entire point of having a public website is to make it reasonably accessible.  Why should I, as a potential user, change my e-mail provider just to make a paranoid webmaster feel more secure?  I can join virtually every other 'private' site that I'm interested in right now with my current gmail account.

Using anonymous (non ISP-tied) e-mail is virtually a necessity if you're synching up with a smartphone/tablet.  When I was using a Shaw Cable (my then ISP) e-mail, I could get my e-mails to my phone, but couldn't send any.

Many people have even given up their computers and hard wired internet connections and replaced them with cellular wireless and tablets.

Someone posted here a while ago that they can access their banking information with their current software and e-mail setup, and yet they can't access Hobbybroadcaster.  How does that make any sense?

So again I say, why bother?  Hobbybroadcaster can restrict access all it wants, and I (and other people) have the right to criticize that decision.  And throw away the key.

Spelling mistakes aren't high school material.  If you're attempting to run what you hope is a professional website, then you should learn how to spell, or at least use a spell checker.  Incorrect spelling that isn't just a slip of the fingers (and you can usually tell) makes you look like an amateur.

As an example, I note that "ellude" in the title of the mentioned post has since been changed to "allude".  That, of course has a totally different meaning (hint at) than what was originally intentioned - "elude" (evade or escape).

If you're going to personally attack somebody (which kinda flies in the face of everybody getting along), at least do it with correct spelling and grammar.

@BillyBurg as Bill W. likes to order people to do, one can't email him because after his temper tantrums he blocks your email. You have to use a traceable IP range or he cannot block access. Also at the end of the day, he's not controlling his page, he's controlling YOU. With him, that's what it's all about.

Only Some information on The Initiative is "Hidden" from the general public

However most information that should be available to the public is open to anyone who registers to The Initiative.  At first I had it open to where even non registered folks could read and even post on the site.  But I started to get spam and I didn't know how to only stop posting and not reading so I made it so you have to register to interact with The Initiative (New Radio Revolution).  Any petition work was closed to the putlic and only open to dedicated "worriers of change" so that the proposal if and when we decide to present it was iron clad including spelling and legal merit.  All had to be done this way as a company like Microsoft, Information Station Specialist would do before something is ready to be published.

At first some folks bulked at the "Elite" section of the site because they felt left out but as I tried to represent in my reasoning was not to talk dirt about others or do something to hurt others it was so that we didn't look like a fool with documents that would never pass any muster in a legal situation.  Plus we didn't want anyone to copy our format and change it to be more rrestricted in which I saw with a certain Yahoo Group that made it absolutely impossible for an individual broadcaster to get an FCC license for their vision of what they wanted which was a cheap imitation of LPFM.  What we wanted was a version of NZ laws for AM now instead of FM due to its present and failing condition due to the translators and faulty transmitters available to the general public already causing all sorts of spectrum issues whereas AM most transmitters sold to the public like the ASMAX2, Procaster, Rangemaster are clean and very few issues (if any) have been pointed out by the FCC.

Why I bring this up is not to talk about change it is to talk about public domain VS private!

Public information on the Initiative (New Radio Revolution) is range tests of transmitters I even think video/audio tests should be public, Audio Processing discussions, AM& FM Interference issues this may even include what happens when some folks turn the power up on a transmitter that has no real filter and why the FCC frowns on it.  Its important to teach others about Radio reception and transmitting that is how we all learn and grow together.  and The Initiative (New Radio Revolution)  has always had that philosophy even admitting to our nistakes so others don't make the same ones.  Again doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.  I admit I should have done more research before taking on the task of running an FM transmitter and not had a closed mind thinking others were just jealous as again that was a high school mentality and I have learned from that mistake and now post even on our Facebook and sometimes on air about the result of our blunder so we don't have others causing undue harm to the Radio spectrum.  I've even seeked a broadcast engineer that I've trusted to make sure there won't ever be an issue with my signal causing harm to others.  This is how every website should be in my opinion.  Again I openly apologize for posting about the Cassio watch transmitter.  If I knew it would have had such an effect to where no one could easily join Hobby Broadcaster Id not have done it and truly I feel horrible for this oversight on my part.

I only hope he sees this and rethinks about at least opening the site to read only if he feels that myself or anyone else may say something he may be liable for as I can see that point being that the FCC does visit his site and he would not want someone like myself saying for an example "Running 7 Watts on FM is cool so long as you use a blank frequency" I totally get it but again I hope we can all learn from past blunders and grow from them.

I doubt very much if it was anything you did, Thelegacy.  Hobbybroadcaster has been paranoid about security and information sharing for years (ever since I ran across them more than a decade ago).  The site, through its TOS, has always claimed ownership to anything and everything that appears there, even when it's information that is publicly available elsewhere (such as the Internet).

Anyway, they finally got "elude" spelled correctly.  I find it highly amusing (and sadly ironic) that the webmaster accused the original poster in this thread of lacking common sense (i.e., he was stupid) by not following his "plain English" site registration instructions.  In that personal attack, he demonstrated that he did not understand the "plain English" use (and spelling) of the words "allude" and "ellude" until finally getting "elude" right.

Maybe he needs to revisit and perhaps rethink those registration instructions.

It's sad because he talks about the Range extender, Decade MS100, and a few other things I'd like to see.