There's been a thread over at the other Part 15 forum about rescuing a small, licensed AM radio station, which was going to lose its license unless it went back on the air for a while.
Interesting enough, I suppose. But a comment in the last post I read really had me laughing. The webmaster stated that he bet the other Part 15 denizens (i.e., us) 'which' (sic - meant wished) they had the opportunity to do what he and a team did (although it's unclear exactly how much that webmaster really did, as he worked with others who appeared to be taking the lead).
I was actually wondering what the posts surrounding a licensed station were doing in supposedly the 'Part 15 reference' forum, other than to purportedly show the webmaster's greatness.
But no, I suspect that virtually all here don't really care what he's doing there. I know I'm too busy with my own current Part 15 work, particularly surrounding SDR's and the opportunity to extend range legally through online radio (as opposed to streaming).
And really, if a station doesn't have the budget and the ability to go on the air themselves, why rescue them via technicalities. Get them to relinquish the license and make it available to others who might do something with it. Apparently, once that station has been on the air for the short period of time the FCC requires, they're just going to shut down again. What a waste of spectrum, as well as time and effort on the part of those doing this work.
Now, if you allowed a Part 15 station to take over that frequency with a new type of license, something between Part 15 and fully licensed, with a bit more power than 100mw (say, a watt), then it might make sense. I'm sure that there would be some to accept that challenge.
..I was actually wondering what the posts surrounding a licensed station were doing in supposedly the 'Part 15 reference' forum,..
Being the devil's advocate, the discussion has been taken place under Vox Populi under "In The Public Interest" section, headed "Non-Part 15 Radio Related Topics with no view restrictions.
Not that I'm trying to defend anybody.
Ah, but they themselves brought Part 15 into it, and this Forum, with the comments. If it's non-Part 15 related, why would we be interested (or jealous)?
@artisan-radio Yeah, I know. I wonder the why of it myself. These are two totally different kinds of sites really - I mean they both concern the hobby, but this is just a simple discussion board, that's all it's ever been, what's the compition about? What is there to compete for? Members? Members are a dime dozen,
I'm not sure what you mean about this being just a simple discussion board.
I've never seen much difference between the two sites, except in attitude. Way back when in 2006, when I was deciding where to toss my hat, that was the deciding factor for me to choose this site. I felt, and still feel, that Part15.org (then Part15.us) is more welcoming than the other. I remember the somewhat closed approach to membership over there, including being asked to write an essay as to why I felt I deserved to be a member.
I've never seen any differences in the types of members on either site. Both have had, and still have, radio professionals, both behind, beside and in front of the microphone. Both have engineering, computer and overall technical capabilities; each site may have more or less of each but overall they're all there. Both provide information about Part 15 broadcasting to its members; this site goes a step further in allowing total public access. And despite some of the rhetoric on websites, both sites have done equipment reviews and other such things.
Not much concrete difference at all, really.
What I mean is that this has always been a discussion board, period. Whereas HB is more of a repository of general information, documents, case files, comparisons test, and their results and so forth, catorgized and presented in an orderly form. It also happens to have a semi-private forum consisting of webmaster approved members.
That's what I mean, Part15.org is simply a fully public discussion board about the hobby. No more, no less, that's its entirety and foundation.
Point being, why is he threatened by it?
Artisan made the good point about not being that welcome over there. Having to write an essay, not being able to join or even contact if the admin doesn't approve of your email address as most have an email address with Google or Yahoo so that alone leaves out most people from joining. It's like an exclusive club. Is there a subscription fee? I wonder how much?
Rich powers makes the point "why does he feel threatened by this forum"? He shouldn't be.
But just an opinion, maybe he sees this forum as a second reference for legal unlicensed broadcasting. He's not the only one on the block.
I remember when a forum member here wanted to join and was refused and told "we are only accepting educational institutions".
Only a select few are welcome there as that's the impression I get.
I think the subscription fee is US$14.99 per month, if my memory is accurate (I was curious as well). They also give out free/guest access to select companies, educational institutions and more than likely, favored individuals.
It's hard to believe that anybody would pay that, when most, if not all, of the information there is available elsewhere (including here). Although I suppose it is a way of keeping membership exclusive.