[HCDX] Numero Uno

["Glenn Hauser" <wghauser@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The recent thread about Numero Uno has been just the kind of publicity they 
abhor, especially when someone wonders publicly, how do I get invited to 
join? NU has operated in the shadows for decades, not content with being a 
close-knit group sharing info for mutual benefit, but leeching off the 
efforts of others and offering nothing in return. The fact that a number of 
active hc-dxers had never heard of NU indicates how successful it had been 
in avoiding publicity.

It may come as a surprise to hc-dxers that NU has quoted extensively from 
your material in NU bulletins, but have you ever seen anything from NU 
quoted on hcdx?? I know this second-hand from reading some other bulletins 
which have access to NU. So in a sense, you are all NU`ers?with none of the 
benefits! Another such group which is unwittingly contributing to NU and 
getting nothing in return is Brazil`s radio-escutas.

Now that you know this, perhaps you will want to emulate my proviso by 
stating in no uncertain terms that your material is not to be used by NU.

I can?t read their minds, but I suspect NU`s attitude is partly based on 
getting the jump on fellow hobbyists, in DXing and QSLing new and rare 
stations ? while the QSLing is good. No matter what they may say about it 
being OK for NU to be quoted, their actions in going out of their way to 
prevent this speak much louder. The longer something can be delayed getting 
out to the great unwashed DX masses, the better. ``Elitism`` is a charge 
previously made against NU, which they can deny with words but not actions.

Harold Sellers recently promulgated the benign nothing-to-it NU line I have 
heard in years past. Let me make it clear that I certainly do not object to 
any group of people forming their own association, by invitation only, or 
under whatever rules mutually agreed upon.

The problem is that NU takes and republishes whatever it pleases from 
``public domain`` DX bulletins and feels no ***moral*** obligation to offer 
its bulletin in return for the editors and individuals whose info it mines.

Thus I have made an issue of their not using anything whatsoever from DX 
Listening Digest.

NU could avoid all the bad publicity and bad feeling by simply making its 
bulletin available to me and other fellow DX editors who want it. I am 
talking about an exchange, such as exists between and among many other DX 
organizations for everyone`s mutual benefit. I am not demanding to be a 
member of NU, something which I have no desire to be.

Perhaps all this could be settled amicably if, as Harold says, NU members 
are really free to forward NU info to other DX bulletins!

``NU members are free to forward DX news from NU to other publications``

OK, some NU members, please do that to me for DXLD, and perhaps I will quit 
bitching about it.

Or am I the foolish one for giving away my editorial work by posting DXLD on 
publicly-accessible listserves such as hard-core-dx, and even posting it on 
my website? Very few accept my invitation to make some voluntary monetary 
contribution for all the hours I put into this.

The trouble is, to repay NU`s longtime behavior properly, I would have to 
turn DXLD into an organization just as restrictive as it is, distributed 
only to the chosen few and password-protected.

Speaking of which, I gather that NU also operates a restricted website with 
audiovisual material, called NU Sight & Sound.

Back in the days of ditto machines, licking stamps and stuffing envelopes, 
it may have made sense to keep the group as small as possible. With E-mail, 
this argument is ridiculous. It would cost NU nothing in terms of effort to 
add wghauser@xxxxxxxxxxx to their distribution list and then they could use 
DXLD with a clear conscience.

Or, should I one day decide it is no longer worth it to be a DX editor, in 
the face of hostililty, ripoffs and lack of appreciation for my efforts, you 
may draw your own conclusions about one of the causes.

Sincerely, Glenn Hauser

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