Colin mentioned using his fine site for a UltraLight Forum or that he could assist with the formation of an UltraLight Yahoo e-group, if there is appropriate interest. I hate to see the UltraLighters abandon the IRCA list, because it has been great to talk enthusiastically about something and clearly get excited on line about an aspect of DXing... UltraLight has been very good for IRCA.... I know a couple of very serious DXers who bailed outta the IRCA list because of all of the dead horse beating over IBOC and the general lack of DX content.... UltraLight has been good for this list... IRCA has been good for UltraLight, too.... how could this fun phenomenon possibly have happened without the existence of an already established on-line community of MW DXers??? UltraLight has exploded and added to our hobby enjoyment immensely, thanks to the IRCA list. Personally, I'd hate to see discussion of this topic move exclusively to some other venue.
HOWEVER, I find the mechanics and limitations of the IRCA list very frustrating for a highly specialized interest group. The IRCA list works well for a general DX channel, but it is hampering and frustrating mechanically for more specialized interests. For instance: 1. There may be a way to search an IRCA message archive to find message information that has already been posted (like the alignment procedures for the '59, for instance) but I don't know where the archive is (if it exists) or how to search it with key words or by string, etc.... VERY FRUSTRATING and probably my fault. The Yahoo group format is well known and footers help you get to things quite easily... I search archives there alla the time. 2. The lack of a group common file area is hugely frustrating on the IRCA group, though this is probably impractical for a large and very diverse group. Another Yahoo group that I manage has 100 MB of files area for the sharing of things like those alignment instructions, the schematic for the '59, etc. The file area is FREE and very easy to use and open to all. 3. The lack of the ability to attach files to the IRCA messages probably makes sense for a general interest group, where one would not be interested in 75% of the attachments, possibly. With a Yahoo group, you can run attachments normally. The seriousness of this limitation was brought home to me yesterday when I couldn't remember who had physically modified a '59 to have a large circular dial wheel (using a jar lid !!!) and, of course, I couldn't search for it.I thought that Gary DeBock had done it and mentioned that on-line. Gil Stacy was nice enough to contact me off the IRCA group and share several photographs with me.... Geez, you should see his fabulous SRF-59 set-up, with a plastic turntable, an optional larger ferrite bar and everything but the kitchen sink AND a HUGE dial! I'm mad as hell that I did not see that sooner..... it has really stimulated my thinking about '59s and other analog UltraLights. Me not seeing those photos with the original post is directly attributable to the limitations of a general list. 4. I'm also very frustrated that we don't have a formal means to post EXCLUSIVE UltraLight loggings.... Personally, I'd like to see weekly loggings of only UltraLights, posted by individual DXer, not smushed together in a general "by frequency" list. I was blown away by the possible Venezuelan catch yesterday... sorry, I forgot who posted that and I can't search for it. I was also blown away by the fact that Dennis Vroom already has 50 stations in his UltraLight log..... Routine posting of lengthy UltraLight logs is probably best done on a separate channel. Yet, I don't think that it would be all that healthy for either IRCA or the UltraLight phenomenon to give up the discussion of UltraLights on the IRCA list. WHY NOT DO BOTH, at least for a while???? Establishing a Yahoo group, open to all interested parties, would give us a place to do alla the important cumbersome stuff that I mentioned above, but we could maintain general discussions on IRCA??? Well, I'll take my soap box and slink off into dawn's early light.... John B. Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA Rcvrs: WiNRADiO 313e, Eton e1, NRD-535(kiwa-mods) Antennas: 700' NE/SW mini-Bev, Wellbrook Phased Array (pre-production version) _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com