Thanks to the many who responded to my earlier teaser about starting a
webzine. Too many to list, all sounding favorable, though one (who shall
remain nameless to protect his privacy) said he's already working on the
same thing, squared, and invited me to join him. Ah well ... I declined,
politely.
Just one point of clarification -- if and when I do this, it will not be
some sort of glorified search site for reflector traffic. I acknowledge
that one person's chaff may be another's wheat, but would find it very
unsatisfactory to just archive everything. Besides, most ham reflectors
seem to be archived somewhere. While the archives typically are subdivided
by months, and searching for a topic is therefore pretty laborious, it can
be done.
If ... rpt if ... I do it, the added value I hope to provide is to *select*
topics and input on topics from a variety of sources, because that's what
editorial judgment is all about. Moreover, one big problem on the
reflectors is the way uninformed opinion and downright folklore can be
presented plausibly, becoming a clever trap for the unwary. I would hope
to collect a set of credible expert columnists/"topic managers" on topics
as diverse as modeling of antennas, station design, operating tactics,
antenna restrictions and who knows what else. Their role would be to write
on their subjects, and also to help edit articles in their field, so that
we can achieve some real credibility.
One thing I concluded early in this thought process - errata will be
acknolwedged up front, in big type, both to avoid people's overlooking
corrections and as a bit of motivation to avoid errors in the first place!
Still don't know wwhether I'm gonna be doing this soon or not, but I really
appreciate all the encouragement.
73, Pete Smith N4ZR
n4zr@contesting.com
"That's WEST Virginia. Thanks and 73"
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