Re: Administravia

[lawendel@xxxxxxxxxxx (Lawendel Andrea)]

This message is sent by lawendel@xxxxxxxxxxx (Lawendel Andrea)
to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:


>Inactive members on the list:
> etc.
> etc.
>        So.... better to be active!
>

Oh yeah, I was just wondering what happened to the dear, old
active-inactive-closed number debate...in this case I'll stick to Greg, Al
and Jerry side. And here's another humble, "flesh and blood" (and man-made
noises) personal contribution.

1:
I'm DXing since 1975 and (Bbc, Kol Israe and a few other newscasts asides)
I rarely move my tuning knob above 7 MHz; usually I prefer staying as low
as 1.6. But I live in Milan,in one of the noisiest radio environment one
could imagine of. Yes, I can tune to a few "good" tropical (nothing I could
ever consider "hot-DX" any long); and No, there's no hope I can pierce the
noise barrier and reach for a new (or old as it is) TA on medium wave, like
I had been regularly doing 10 years ago (and believe me, family and job
aren't always a constraint). In other words, "DX-ing" means "going out of
town" to me, at least a hundred miles, possibly in Liguria, near the Sea.
That's where signals, good tropical and medium wave signal still arrive.
But that's also where family and job and local conditions constraints are
felt the most: often one, two, even three monthes pass before I can have a
good DX night with some friends. In between I can only read, and forgive
me: I love to, at least I feel I'm not entirely set apart from the fun.

2:
I'm passing whatever could be of interest in hard-core-dx to Play DX, a
weekly bulletin edited by Dario Monferini in Milan. Dario's not at ease
with computers and prefers distributing his "dx list" on paper (not for
free, of course, even if there are quite a few exchange agreements with
other bulletins). Dario does a heck of a job to promote serious DX,
providing his readers with fresh and top of the notch news. On a weekly
basis. Play Dx does apply a active-inactive subscription policy, but that's
not for fun or elitism: problem is, typing, paper, copying, envelopes,
stamps are not for free. They also require a considerable effort, so why
not make it a bit more expensive for the passive ones to "lurk"?
If Risto can make similar considerations with his excellent mailing list
(e-mail costs, list-server management and the like), I would agree on his
principle: a slim, very active list is better than a long one, especially
if most of its exchanges are "passive". But what if the cost and effort
factors are not a  function of a membership variable? What if it doesn't
simply matter wether you have 10, 100 or 1,000 readers in hard-core-DX?
Actually, it could even cost you more effort to remove inactive members
from the list.

Sure, I can always post a weekly or monthly selection of Play DX tips and
news, that would keep me clean and free from removals. But I'm sure many
others share my situation... Don't take away from us the pleasure to at
least "knowing" what's on the air, when we can't always hear it through our
headsets.

I'm sorry if I was that long,

Andy


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