Part15 (dot) US is a social site dedicated to the world's most sophisticated hobby, legal low power broadcasting in the U.S. and world, yet not all members are broadcast hobbyists. That makes me wonder.
I try to imagine myself in a different life in which I was not a low power radio broadcaster, and ask whether I would have any interest in joining a low power radio website. I cannot imagine having the least interest in doing so, no more so than I presently consider joining a website devoted to farm tractor maintenance.
To learn more about what I consider "mysterious company" I would invite non-hobbycasters to share their reasons for circulating among the low power community.
At the same time this discussion gives a chance for low power hobbyists to describe their own thoughts and feelings about the outsiders who log in to talk about something they neither do nor plan to do.
As I recall, Part15.us was established for the purpose of exchanging information about and encouraging low power license free radio rather than being a "social" site. It may be a matter of semantics about what constitutes a social site and I don't mean to pull this off to that topic.
Actually, Carl, I once was active on a site devoted to farm tractor maintenance so I chuckled when you used that as an example. I never did lurk at a site devoted to raising kangaroos for fun and profit however.
Could it be that the "outsiders" you mentioned appear because they are curious about the subject or saw a magazine article or advert? I can not really know this and can only speculate which doesn't yield much useful information.
My own interest in Part 15 activity began when I read an article in Popular Electronics about the Knight Kit broadcaster. I had an interest in electronics and radio and used to do a lot of DXing on MW and SW and this was a natural extension of this interest. Had this site existed back then I probably would have joined to get and share information, which is why I joined when I did.
Neil
While the tractor maintenance example was meant to be as random as I could think of at the moment, I was sub-consciously influenced by the splendid photographs Neil has posted showing his reconditioned tractor.
As far as kangaroos are concerned I just heard that kangaroo meat is excellent.
My sense of social websites has to do with more than one person sharing information, but it's true that such categories come down to semantics.
Curiousity only kills cats, is actually a learning instinct in the case of humans.
While some outsiders may arrive here following a magazine article or other attraction, none of them have yet said so and that's why I continue to wonder.
Keep an eye out for unattended backpacks.
One thing is I think broadcasting itself is an interest area far and wide, and it's something you encounter every day, where tractor maintenance, while a large interest area to those who practice it and country musicians, still is much smaller than those touched by broadcast and media.
I also think it intrigues people to hear that they too can broadcast, where it seems to be common knowledge that owning a radio station media outlet is only for the elite.
"DIY", do it yourself media is also big now, where it used to be that only schooled journalists would write articles and book publishing was for the few, now we have blogs and any number of interested sites to write for. People might see part 15 as something they can pick up and do right away, just like publishing and have a voice.
Like Neil, I stared with a kit, mine was a Radio Shack version with transistors on a breadboard. Doing the broadcaster thing with friends got me some semblance of a social life. I could see there was something to it and kept doing it.
I could have also been doing video gaming and computers, and did those too, but broadcasting has this connection to the past, there's something so basic and classic, especially about broadcast radio being 100 years old, and still the same techniques are being used, something you don't get with other technologies.
What legitimate reason would cause concern about the posts of "outsiders" on Part15us, as long as the information they contain was / is technically accurate?
Outsider Rich answers the question with a question: "What legitimate reason would cause concern about the posts of "outsiders"(?)"
It appears that Outsider Rich is calling my curiousity illegitimate.
The reason for that curiosity has already been stated, so Rich's question is illegitimate.
Carl,
Do you wait in the bushes to jump on Rich when he posts?
He is hardly an outsider being a long time and contributing member. I don't understand your response.
Neil
Mr Blare omitted this part of my first post in this thread on Part15us --- as long as the information they contain was / is technically accurate?
Please note that Mr Blare did not deny or even attempt to disprove such accuracy.
He just ignored it.
Neil posted: "I don't understand your response."
That is accurate.
Rich re-posted: "Please note that Mr Blare did not deny or even attempt to disprove such accuracy."
Well no wonder, there was only the claim of accuracy, nothing actually "accurate" took place.
Rich re-posted: "Please note that Mr Blare did not deny or even attempt to disprove such accuracy."
Well no wonder, there was only the claim of accuracy, nothing actually "accurate" took place.
________
Note that the technical accuracy of my posts here have not been disproven by Mr Blare or anyone else.
Rather they have been proven by my references to engineering textbooks, and analyses using antenna engineering software such as NEC (Numerical Electromagnetics Code).
For their own purposes, some may choose to deny/divert such truths.
But attempting to do so does them no credit, nor does it accurately educate the readers of such denials.
Another nice thread died.