Part15.us seems to be the only active forum left.
The other recently active forum, Hobbybroadcaster.net has gone 403 for me. Are they still operating?
Part15.us seems to be the only active forum left.
The other recently active forum, Hobbybroadcaster.net has gone 403 for me. Are they still operating?
What's going on? Are there any other active part 15 forums?
I obviously can't speak for the other forums out there, but I have no plans on shutting part15.us down anytime soon. 🙂
It seems to me that many of the so-called "blogs" here at pert15.us are actually forums as multiple participants add thoughts and comments to ongoing discussions.
For me, the distinctions aren't clear as far as defining and distinguishing these two forms.
Carl, I think it is a fuzzy line between blogs, books, and forums. To me the interaction with other forum participants is more important than classifying the posts.
The format here is a bit primitive compared to some of the other flashy sites (including non part 15 types) but I like that I don't have to sort through a myriad of categories to keep up. I know about "show recent posts" but it's just not as nice for me as the presentation here.
Comment for Phil: The board you referenced came up here so maybe it was a momentary problem. I have noted that another board is about dead (Ramsey) which is a shame. I don't know why but I suspect that since each forum develops a "personality" it may have something to do with this. Some folks (such as I) don't always feel in place at some boards (not just radio related) and don't participate.
Others seem to pass through and move on after a few posts. On many boards I have noticed that there is a critical core of frequent posters who keep things going and interesting. Others are probably more qualified than I to comment on the dynamics of this.
But, maybe the apparent decrease in part 15 forums activity is due to lack of interest in the hobby. From your perspective, do you see any trends in part 15 radio interest?
Neil
Thanks Lee and Neil for the feedback on the forum I was getting the 403 from for several weeks. It came back into operation for me the day after I posted in this thread. I didn't change my bookmarked link or my cache settings, so I think maybe they saw my post here and fixed something related to my account, or maybe it was just a coincidence. I never could find a direct email address for the forum owner, so I couldn’t communicate my problem to him.
As for interest trends in part 15, I have a couple thoughts. I have been reading and participating in part 15 forums since about 2001. As I remember, there was a lot more activity and more posters up until a couple years ago when things started to trail off. My personal opinion is that this drop off is due in some measure to recent enforcement activity, which may be scaring off new users. The predominant posts on the two most active forums, this one and Hobbybroadcaster, are mostly from enthusiasts who want to experiment with radio and audio equipment for their personal interests regardless of how many other people may be listening.
Sales of the SSTRAN AMT3000 have dropped a little over the last two years, but sales are still very strong and are increasing again this year. This is not to say there are fewer people interested. I think a part of this is due to the fire sale dumping of the inferior, older Talking House transmitters.
The majority of my sales go to antique radio enthusiasts. This is a whole different Part 15 world. There are thousands of people world-wide who own or restore old radios to original condition. Most are AM only radios, and we all know what has happened to AM radio commercial broadcasting. They want to hear programs from the golden age of radio as people heard when these radios were new. There is a vast amount of programming available on the internet for free. The premier forum for antique radio enthusiasts is found at http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php. Do a search on transmitters to see the huge number of posts that are actually part 15 related, although most of these people aren’t really aware of the fine details of the part 15 rules.
Regarding the general topic of Part 15 forums and blogs, I have wondered whether I should participate in any of the other sites, beyond part15.us .
There are several reasons I'm not inclined to do so, even though I believe that all Part 15 activity deserves support. For my mind, it would be confusing to enter comments on several sites. I would forget where I said what, and often repeat myself. It's already difficult tracing things to particular threads here on this one site.
Just talking about it is mixed up.