[TowerTalk] Fwd: MFJ QRT on May 17, 2024

[Jim Brown]

On 4/29/2024 11:25 AM, John Webster NN1SS wrote:
> Ham radio is not dying.
> But activity is definitely moving to a different frequency so to speak. It
> seems to me that MFJ and perhaps Array Solutions were evidence of that
> shift. 

No, they are evidence that when the single owners of companies they 
built get old enough, they want to sit back and enjoy sunsets. That is 
true of these two companies -- ages 80 and 74 respectively.

It may also be a reflection of how those companies are organized from 
both an operational and management point of view. I've recently seen MFJ 
manufacturing processes described as both primitive and a mess, lagging 
decades behind the rest of the industry.

> 1. I'm a retired industry analyst (computer industry). In that line of
> work, statistics are more powerful than subjective assessments. The RBN
> numbers were concise and to the point.

I'm sure you realize that statistics can be meaningless, often pointing 
to wrong conclusions when they are not based on equivalent data or means 
of collection. In this case, RBN numbers comparing activity in different 
modes are meaningless, or provide that false equivalence.

What DOES matter is understanding people's how living situation limits 
or supports their ability to set up an effective station, and the extent 
to which receive noise limits its effectiveness.

73, Jim K9YC