Hello All, The SRF-59 radio review, a little fun project written in a couple of days, seems to have had an impact on IRCA like a Class 5 Hurricane. For those traditional DXers who feel like their club has been hijacked out from under them, along with my own personal bewilderment, I will offer the following suggestions why the Ultralight Revolution occurred (in order of importance): 1) Technological innovation in pocket radios has proceeded at an astonishing pace in recent years, with revolutionary IC improvements making these tiny radios fully capable of serious DX. This fact was almost completely unknown to AM-DX enthusiasts... it was truly "an accident waiting to happen." 2) The IBOC gloom and doom had truly reached an oppressive state, turning what is supposed to be a fun hobby into something akin to a funeral procession. IRCA members were more than ready for an exciting, positive new activity to shatter the IBOC gloom. 3) An old Navy acronym, K.I.S.S., comes to mind! Megabuck, mega-heavy, mega-complicated receivers are simply a turnoff to many members of IRCA. Ham radio QRP experience made it obvious to me that if we could somehow apply the "skilled, motivated operator making fantastic contacts with basic equipment" formula to medium wave DX, it would catch on like wildfire. The SRF-59 surely was the classic radio to exercise this sneaky little plan of mine. 4) Pocket radio technology is the exciting new future of AM-DX! We no longer need to wistfully look at the past, as if our hobby is fading into the sunset. Sony and Sangean currently have an incredible level of competition underway in pocket radios, currently packing the performance of older table receivers into a package the size of a cigarette lighter. These are already serious DX machines, but Sony, Sangean and C.Crane are not content with these... they want to thrill us even more! Why not graciously let them do so, and anticipate the exciting future with eager anticipation? Finally, the Ultralight Revolution truly belongs to all of us, and there is no way to put the Genie back into the bottle. Nobody can control such an explosion, certainly not me. We can do our best to guide and assist it, but it will ultimately go where the majority of IRCA members want it to go. I personally hope that it remains a very integral part of IRCA and the list, because I truly enjoy being a member of this great group of DXers, and I feel awed by the accidental help of Colin Newell to start the Ultralight Boom, the help from technical experts like Nick Hall-Patch and Steve Ratzlaff, Lynn Hollerman's patient toleration of our verbosity (and her possession of an SRF-59), and even the fine support and encouragement of a master DXer like John Bryant. With IRCA's best minds guiding the Boom, how can it possibly go astray? 73 and Best Wishes to All, Gary DeBock
**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004) _______________________________________________ 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