I think it would be a mistake to pull out an Elecraft technical forum. I'm involved with intranet design (not the technical side, the conceptual side). Many corporate customers want to include forums for their group to discuss common interests and problems. Very briefly, the more compartmentalized they become, the less successful the forums. The pressure initially is for more specialized forums. The trend is towards fewer or one "general" forum with a broader focus.
Here's why. A successful forum is a community. It isn't just the occasional interesting topics and posts that hold the group together. It is also the "chatter". Far from being off-topic, most chatter serves to bind the group into a community. There are lulls between really interesting completely on-topic posts, and the chatter keeps the community together so that it is there for the next "new thing". It's the same in other facets of our lives. We don't just talk about religion at church functions. We don't just talk about ham radio at club meetings. What a boring world if every group limited their discussions in that way. Sure, you have to keep things mostly on topic, but you have to let things stray a little (this group is very even-handedly moderated) Something as specialized as a pure technical forum on Elecraft equipment is going to attract a relative few. My guess is it wouldn't even attract many of those on here who are very technically competent. It will not attract the great majority of Elecraft owners who want to know how their rig works, but mainly just want to enjoy their radios. There will be the occasional "hot" technical topic (e.g. phase noise), but chances are good there will be relatively long periods of time when nothing is happening and members will drift on to other interests. The few remaining will not be involved in heated technical discussions because it will be the same small group that already knows what the others are interested in. I say keep it together. Sometimes I have an interest in what the geeks are saying. I understand the highlights and maybe learn something I can use. Some I delete when I see the call sign. I learn most from guys like Don (W3FPR) and Ron (AC7AC) and many others in their offers of troubleshooting help. Not that I have always experienced the problem or expect to, but by getting insights into how the rig works when it is working like it was designed. I learn from just about everyone. I also learned that there is a delete button. With only a couple of dozen posts a day, it is not much of a burden. Eric KE6US ----- Original Message ----- Here is the polite question to Wayne and Eric and others from Elecraft to maybe open another forum with pure technical stuff because deletting all the messages wich are not of my interests is very time consuming for me and i am shure my writing for the others is also. Hope the voice will be suported and heard :) . CU! S55M-Adi ----- Original Message ----- > You and your European friends are exactly correct that most of the stuff on > the Elecraft site is not really technical nor about specs etc. ... > I, like you and a few others, would rather exchange information about how > the radio can be made better in handling big signals etc. > > > Anyhow, I hope you all are successful in coming up with another reflector > for technical discussions on the K2. Please let me know, as I would like To subscribe. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
