Re: [IRCA] Possible Yahoo e-Group for Ultralighters
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Re: [IRCA] Possible Yahoo e-Group for Ultralighters



I think that a group that covers all Ultralight subjects (loggings, modifications, etc.) makes the most sense. Too much fragmentation leads to too much good stuff never being seen by people who could make good use of it. I know a lot of great stuff has come up on some of the closed lists but the DXing populace as a whole is blissfully ignorant of much of it since it may not even be "Googlable" (... Mr. Webster, is that a word ?).

Membership should be for anyone who asks the moderator to be a member: pretty much a rubber stamp unless the moderator sees some convincing reason why the person should not be allowed in (e.g. Bellabarba / Smilksteen type blatant misdeeds in the hobby).

A reasonably open "membership" policy, versus the rather closed nature of some other lists, would tend to spread the participation over a global base. Participation would be frequent, varied, and lively: not one post every two weeks. There would be "regulars" and then there would be others who get a flash of interest, become active for a little while, enrich our perspectives, and then drift off to other pursuits.

IRCA is largely perceived as a western US / western Canada club with only light participation on the East Coast (e.g. many of our top DXers - Dangerfield, Conti, et al. - send logs to NRC IDXD but not IRCA DXWW-E). There is very little overseas participation. The Ultralight List should not be tethered too tightly to any one club - NRC, IRCA, MWC, or what-have-you.

That's my five cents worth.

Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, USA

-----Original Message-----
From: John H. Bryant <bjohnorcas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: satya-sounddsl.com <satya@xxxxxxxxxxxx>; d1028gary-aol.com <d1028gary@xxxxxxx>; Robert Ross <va3sw@xxxxxxxxxx>; Allen Willie <vo1_001_swl@xxxxxxxx>; vroomski-comcast.net <vroomski@xxxxxxxxxxx>; Gil Stacy <gilstacy@xxxxxxxxx>; "Paul Logan ; irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx":;; markwa1ion@xxxxxxx; nhp@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:52 am
Subject: Possible Yahoo e-Group for Ultralighters


 
A couple of people have mentioned a yahoo group for ultralighters recently. As you know, there is one that I host called ultralight hotrodding. It is more-or-less restricted to discussing either electrical or mechanical modifications to ultralights, as the name suggests. When I created the hotrodding yahoo group, I also created one called "ultralightdx," just in case we ever wanted/needed to have a discussion group not embedded in the general flow of the IRCA discussion group. I wonder if the time has come to officially launch that group??? 
 
Several things lead me to think that the time has come.... not to abandon IRCA, but to have a separate discussion group to post the voluminous loggings that some of us are achieving and to reach beyond the bounds of the MW hobby (the crystal set community) and beyond the shores of North America. Several people have asked me where to post their loggings from the Sprint and other general activity. Rob Ross has been very diligent at posting his logs on IRCA, but several others have been reluctant to do so, since the "normal flow" of domestic DX loggings does not appear in the IRCA chat group, but rather is more-or-less restricted to the bulletin. I get the sense that most folks wishing to post ultralight loggings wish to do so in some place where they are clearly identified as ultralight loggings. 
 
Honestly, I don't plan to submit domestic loggings except during a contest.... that just isn't in my hobby vocabulary... and I don't get much out of other folks domestic logs, I'm ashamed to say (probably because there are no other ultralighters near me here in Oklahoma. However, when I'm out in the NW, I'll be submitting both ultralight and normal loggings of TPs (lord willin') and I would darn sure like to see my ultralight loggings recognized as distinct from "normal" TP DXing. Having a place for ultralight loggings would let me do that. 
 
There are several other advantages to an ultralight yahoo group, of course... the ability to attach audio clips and documents to messages, the 100 MB of free storage for files, etc. Mostly, though, I wonder if a yahoo group not associated with any particular MW club or country wouldn't be a plus at this point in spreading the ultralight addiction??? It would certainly strengthen sense of community within the ultralight niche. 
 
Personally, I would not like to have ultralight disappear from IRCA, for IRCA's sake, as I think that the movement has been a breath of fresh air for much of IRCA. However, from a narrow point of view, I don't think that our continued presence on IRCA will gain us many more ultralighters... everyone who is on IRCA and not yet an ultralighter has probably heard more than they wish on the subject.... 
 
So, should we found a general ultralight yahoo group, still intending some presence in IRCA and use of the bulletins and dxer.ca for articles and a public presence???? Should we fold the ultralight hotrodding group into the larger ultralight group or leave it as a highly specialized venue.... or is the time just not right to do this now??? Or, is some separation from IRCA just a bad idea all around??? 
 
If you have thoughts, please "Reply All" so that everyone can share in the discussion. 
 
John B. 
 
 


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