Oh I just ramble on to much don't I??
One of the reasons that people don’t post on these forms so much anymore is that there is a Great Divide in the belief system and pretty much a stalemate.
Great divide in the belief system? -It two things: 1. Pirate 2. Part 15
This is a part 15 forum.
I think the reason for lack of activity is simply a dead end in new things to talk about. When you have 100s of members and only 5 actually participate it gets stale after awhile.
Most topics discussing transmitters, rules in Canada and the USA, FM, AM, radios, ground leads, range, programing, streaming, BETS-1, Decade, more power, etc, has been talked out and is covered in past posts over and over in the last 10 years. Even the topic of what did you do to your part 15 station today can only go so far.....how many do something new to their station every day?
Carl seems to be the only one who can keep it going but that is one person and a lot of the time there's nothing to comment on his posts. When I started the Rap discussions at least it got things going for a few days!
That being said, the other forum that won't let you join without the right email address manages to have new discussion each day. How? Maybe that's something to look into. They can do it with only 4 or 5 people participating. One thing I seem to see, on part 15.org and the ALPB, it's the same 5 people going back and forth to each. But on the "other" forum their members are exclusive to that forum and are not members of any others. I've seen on Facebook that some ex-participants here are posting there and no where else. Maybe the answer is more loyalty to one forum or the other? I don't know.
The two Facebook hobby radio forums seem to do a little better but they go stagnant for days at a time also. But those forums have more than 5 participants. And again those at Facebook with few exceptions are only posters there.
I've also never understood abandoning a forum due to the politics in the USA as a protest by an American or Canadian as what does a hobby radio forum have to do with it?
Well that's my take on the subject.
Well.. yeah. You can only talk about the same thing so much and there's only so much that can be addressed about a specific topic. But you know so often one topic can quickly morph into another, which in turn results in more responses.. at HB these topic drifts are often broken off at the drift and relocated to a new or appropriate existing thread - which initially can sometimes feel annoying, but it proves invaluable when it comes to trying to actually find something you're looking for later, so it works at well.
I don't really get the problem with Gmail and similar free email accounts but evidently it poses substantial risk to site security.. I don't know, it's an unfortunate situation.
I lost the point of where I was going... I was saying was if someone post -something, -anything, regardless of it being the same ole, or of particular interest or not, it almost always results with another talking from a different viewpoint, a correction of misconceptions, or a different subject altogether, and the ball tends to start rolling.
Total silence on the other hand incites nothing. They say still waters run deep, but it also stagnates. Of course certain subjects just don't belong. Like politics for example - I mean, sure someone might be compelled to express an embedded political opinion they have on occasion, and that's fine, but it's usually sure to escalate into a disruptive and pointless argument which has no relation whatsoever to the hobby..
I don't get it either. Personally I've never been particularly politically minded myself, and hardly even know the difference between right and left; it's all deceitful crap to me. If I had interest in that kind of thing I would go to a political discussion forum to hash it out.
I've always been one to frequent any available part 15 forum, they're all different and have their own ways. I liked the Community Radio USA forum when it was around, and when it disappeared ten or fifteen years ago part15.us became my primary hangout, and some at the ALPB when it was created. Then around the time pirates seemed to be for a span of time pirate promotion seemed to be taking over here and my primary hangout became the HB forums which always nips it at the bud and even bans people if necessary... yes, sometimes it appears sometimes a personal vengeance that in my opinion wasn't a warranted action, but those kind of things occur most anywhere, personalities can just clash too hard. It's part of life.
AM Part 15 (Or Otherwise is some suggest) is a FAR CRY FROM FREE!!!
Some pretending to be my friend on part 15 forums has road both sides of the fence and tried to KILL my station. But what they didn't know was that Album Rockers are resilient, able to adapt to stumbling blocks to get something done. They don't sit whimpering about what happened to them and give up. The fact that I had a few two-faced folks trolling my posts only made me stronger and now I have a broadcast engineer backing me 100% alongside a person who has backed me since June 5, 2015. That being said Yes the next step is the LPFM and by my engineer friend who has paid more than a grand for my station (Hardly Free Folks compared to FM).
Canada is almost like the USA and when the democrats get done screwing up our country when its said and done Canada WILL become our NEW government and BETS-1 power levels WILL be legal. Now this brings me to my next statement:
Rich Powers has demonstrated so articulately just how pushing the envelope got us what we have now on AM. Even when some jealous people with the work of Satan in their hearts trying to destroy other Hobby stations have failed the FCC has NOT killed part 15:219. There is another reason for this and I'll explain how this has helped the commercial Radio broadcasters on AM and that is how to work with limited antenna and ground real estate. This has been shown in new antenna designs for comercial AM that are shorter and yet the station is able to get out. Land is a finite resource and getting more expensive all the time.
By allowing Hobby Broadcasting on AM call it BETS-1, Part 15, Ga Ga Goo Goo or whatever it promotes the experimenting and education of Radio and keeps the spirit alive. This is why the FCC will NEVER abolish Hobby Broadcasting even when certain greedy entities who are slaves to the God of the green back try and lobby, bribe or other racketeering tactics to sway the FCC. The vary agent that visited me told me Face-To-Face they DON'T hate Hobby broadcasting. That was a big statement for him to say to me and my wife. Another was how he liked the programming and sound and conduct on air. So again if it were not for these entities who have hate in their hearts we'd have 5 watts and no it would not be "pandemonium" its MUCH more expensive and skill required to make an AM station work. Far from plug and play. 200-400% more expensive, skill required, takes more inside and outside. FM= Decade MS 100 $500 (or good transmitter), ground plane $89, Audio Processing (Stereo Tool can do that) and you're set.
AM (To sound Album Rock quality requires: 1. C Quam AM Stereo transmitter ASMAX2 $270, ATU and antenna (home made) $89, MFJ antenna analyzer for measuring the quality of the antenna $200, Sean Cuthbert C-Quam AM Stereo Processor $275, SWR/Watt Meter (Cheap $30 professional for AM $100-200), Mast, 10 gauge ground lead, Ground Rod (8 FT), Land or permission to pound an 8 Ft rod on the ground (this part stops many right dead in their tracks). Power Supply for the ASMAS2 regulated to stop hum $40.
There is much more I'm sure I forgot but you can see the ddifference between AM and FM and by the requirement of C-Quam AM Stereo as a mandate to a new service for hobby broadcasting will quash any "pandemonium" for any adolescent individuals to go wild on air.
The Legacy is getting an EAS system thanks to my broadcast engineer friend!!
Many has stated that Hobby Broadcasting is a threat to public safety as stations do NOT have an EAS system. Not the case for The Legacy in the not so distant future. Deltaville, VA residence have had their lives jeopardized by the complete and utter failure of the comercial Radio stations to anounce there was a tornado in the area till we had one rip through 1/2 mile from Fishing Bay Road. But thanks to the weather app at the time some lives were saved when I announced over the air severe weather was in the area. So when I talked to my broadcast engineer friend about this he said "That is the next thing your station is getting is an EAS system as Deltaville, VA deserves this.
And by installing this system we are showing the FCC we are manning up the the responsibility as a broadcaster to serve the community during threatening situations occur to life and property damage (Part of the PICN requirement to broadcast).
The Legacy will be ready if and when LPAM ever becomes legal.
There's no evidence historically or otherwise that the FCC was ever against hobby broadcasting, on the contrary, if anything they've always applaud it. Sure there may one or two who have overzealously opposed it, but they are just people like any of us.
I've never heard it said that our stations were somehow a threat to public safety for not having an EAS system... whether we have one or not is no threat to anyone or anything, but certainly it would be a nice useful enhancements to our stations if we did . I vaguely recall something about some kind of makeshift EAS someone had cobbled together.. but can't remember the details or who it was. Other than that I know of no one else who has one. It's great that you'll be incorporating and EAS into your station.
I know you are big proponent of the stereo AM transmitters.. but all I can think about when you talk about it is that nobody owns a stereo AM radio to receive it, nor have I ever even heard of any company that sells them.. I don't doubt that such specialty item radios exist, but it certainly is a rarity to say the least. However I presume any AM radio could still receive your station, right?, they could still tune in mono with a standard AM radio, right?
Lastly, I don't know what two-faced friend you're talking about but I find it hard time thinking another hobby broadcaster would take action against your station, nor am I asking. Maybe it's true, or maybe you just think it is. Whichever, good luck with your station ventures.
Flinging Some Thoughts Around
I agree with Mark on this: "When I started the Rap discussions at least it got things going for a few days!"
I enjoyed the conversation about rap music and so far as I know our comments were not deleted.
Another comment Mark made: "Maybe the answer is more loyalty to one forum or the other?"
The "loyalty" I think you are talking about is "obedient conformity" and not the sort of liberty we enjoy here in North America (Canada and the U.S.). In fact it amounts to worshiping at the feet of a dictatorship, always agreeing with Mr. Important. It's not worth bothering about.
And Mark one more time: "I’ve also never understood abandoning a forum due to the politics in the USA as a protest by an American or Canadian as what does a hobby radio forum have to do with it?"
I didn't "abandon a forum" over a political disagreement, I merely made a silent protest by closing my own website's free programming and other part 15 support but I continued being active on the forums.
However, I have been critical of these forums, yes "part15.us & ALPB", for being too regressive in denying a platform for discussing matters of journalism and talking points in the news along with the other formats which are allowed, including endless going on about music. I was foolishly told that criticism is an ad hominem attack, showing lack of awareness about the actual definition of "ad hominem" and ignorance of critique as a scholarly professional field such as music critics, movie critics, newspaper critics, restaurant critics, television critics and book critics. For defending my position as I've just done I was accused of "twisting words." There's a distinction between preaching politics and simply sorting out certain news facts such as the ridiculous border wall or well witnessed antics of some political figures. In this regard I have been discriminated against and because I refuse to hide my dissatisfaction by confessing to the Contact Button while remaining publicly silent, there have been back-stage efforts to get me banned unless I am "obedient and conform".
Much of what I have posted in the past, counting both forums, has been deleted without a proper hearing.
Policy on both forums has been controlled by the same few persons keeping the forums from being different from each other. In other words one of them is redundant and serves no purpose.
Legacy said:
"Canada is almost like the USA and when the democrats get done screwing up our country when its said and done Canada WILL become our NEW government and BETS-1 power levels WILL be legal"
Trying to get your meaning here. Seems you think Canada will be governing North America in the future? Your "new" government?
And yes the FCC isn't about prohibiting hobby broadcasting as you found out with your dealings with the agents, in fact, they were very helpful and just cared about the interference issue and nothing more.
Happy to hear that if Canada was your new government you would have it better.
@ Carl
I was pointing out that the more successful forums in terms of participation are the ones that have members that by their own free will stay with that one forum, like HB and Facebook. I don't know that HB has a rule that anyone must bow down to him, I just made an observation, and suggested to look at that forum as an example as to why they are not as dead as it has been on these forums. A lot of the reason for little participation at least from my perspective in addition to my thoughts in my post is my lack of knowledge in a subject when it comes up so I have nothing to say.
I missed the part about Canada might be taking over the US.. I thought it was China.
We Are So Owned
We the peons are owned by the corporate billionaire 1%.
They will check your Christmas shopping to see if you spent enough.
If we don't bring them a profit we become unnecessary.
The Good Side of Being Wrong
The Legacy has cheered me up by spouting a point of view that is wrong on every count.
You're ready for right-wing hate radio.
I've always thought very highly of the concept of the ALPB. It was intended to be a truly democratic organization of low power radio broadcasters, unlike the other websites and/or Forums that were run by single or small numbers of individuals. The latter can sometimes be rather autocratic in nature, with decisions made solely on the personal opinions, biases and prejudices of the Moderators or Owners.
Unfortunately, democracies have their own issues; true equality and listening to each and every opinion, no matter what it is, how brilliant or silly it is, takes a great deal of time. As a result, things can run very slowly, and they did. I'm sure frustration was felt by many in the group.
The ALPB tried. It really did. At one point it even had a Forum section, Anything Goes, in which political and other similar discussion could be held. All that accomplished were a lot of hurt feelings and resentment.
A question was asked about the multiple ALPB Chairmen. The first left abruptly for his own reasons, closing down the website and Forum with no notice, and I was forced to take on the position (otherwise, the group would have folded - the situation was that serious). I had always intended my role to be temporary, or interim, until such time that the group could appoint a new Chairman under far less arduous circumstances.
After a great deal of work by a number of people, Jim Henry was elected to be the third Chairman, and I immediately also resigned as a Moderator - I wanted to allow him to appoint his own staff and give him a clean slate. However, shortly thereafter his health issues started, and his absence for a number of issues was notable (although thoroughly understandable in retrospect).
The lack of a recognizable and responsible leader ultimately led to a big blow up involving a number of ALPB staff, members and the former first Chairman - I won't go into the details here. Many people left the group, including myself.
The ALPB now appears to have gone back to its very beginnings, with a handful of members and being run by the former first Chairman. I wish them the best.
I agree the concept itself was great but it never really went the direction it was supposed to. I think the "Anything Goes" section was created primarily to get the political talk out of the rest of it's forums because at the time they were becoming oversaturated with it, and the creation of the Anything board helped to get the rest of its forum back on track with a radio related direction.
Sometimes I think I must be in the minority by having little interest in discussing or reading about topics engulfed with political issues.
Canada is almost like the USA and when the democrats get done screwing up our country when its said and done Canada WILL become our NEW government and BETS-1 power levels WILL be legal.
Puff and Pass.
Uneven Playing Field
Artisan's brief history of the ALPB is well said and I can only add a few details.
Having been a member of the ALPB for 6 years there were two things that remained constant:
Only a small group attended the TeamSpeak Meetings, although the meetings often fulfilled the original idea... we all pitched in to help each other solve problems with radio technology and computers... I got invaluable tips from generous members who knew what they were talking about.
But most forum members were not inclined to attend meetings. The numbers never grew in all those years.
A larger problem was the disinclination of members to take a leadership position. When the chairmanship, the top job, went unfilled, no one was there to step in. Jim Henry only rose to the occasion when it became clear that no one else would do it. It's very sad he was unable to carry forward.
My views on the "Anything Goes" thread are different from Rich Powers, I don't see it as separating non-radio issues because world affairs and radio both exist in the same world and are connected to each other.
News-talk radio deals first hand with the issues of the day and it's as much a radio topic as wire or music. Difficulties arise when misinformed and thoughtless positions are injected by platitudes, slogans and falsehoods instead of solid facts, but policy should not be set based on the least educated, although moderators are not there to be referees for conflicts, so the easy way out was to close "Anything Goes". The problem stems from bad educations and mentally lazy citizens who never advance beyond grade school yet become inspired by absurd characters in comic books, movies, and the White House. Dealing with it is a chronic problem for forum administrators.