the new Copper forum?

[davegrantsr]

I agree with all points. No sour grapes, I am not an export or Magnum radio hater, I am not down on 11 meters, or people who straddle both hobbies, etc. But this whole thing is just too reminiscent of the shady stuff that 808 did at Copper. The authority that is added by the moderator status only amplifies the discomfort that so many clearly feel.

yes, i've noticed the changes here, after being extremely sick & away for over 8 months. i THOUGHT it was good to be back, but find myself reading MORE and posting LESS on MOST of the radio forums i frequent, which include here, copper, xforce, qrz, eham & a few yahoo sites. as noted previously, each has their own reason for being, each has their own personalities and i think THAT is what attracts me to each....that they are different. nobody should take ANYTHING they read on ANY of them with a grain of salt, but, unfortunately, there are some who believe everything they read. i've read plenty HERE that just serves NO USEFUL, MEASURABLE purpose in radio-land, other then to be much more then illicit troll-posts, whether anyone realizes it or not. maybe i keep returning to each of the above forums for THAT reason!

808 is in failing health. he may still have a stranglehold on the copper forum, but, (honestly, he isn't doing too well, so....), if you word stuff correctly, you can get factual, truthful info in there, if the reader will just ignore 808's posts which 99.9% of the time are either.......'try to google XXXXXX' or 'call sam lewis at....'. i think copper IS geared more towards newbies in its 'simplicity' with answers. there is a tech or 2 there that gets overly technical with guys who can't decipher 'frequency' from 'channel', and there are other posters who flat out 'tell it like it is'-if you do THIS, this will be the result, if you do THAT, that will be the result, or you can do it LEGALLY and SOMETHING else will be the result. YOU make the choice & deal with the end results. that is actually a very good theory to live by.

as GLR says.....'It's harder to be an ass when the guy you are mouthing off to is three blocks away and your name and address are easily available' is totally true. i still use my CB regularly, and am an extra class ham. i might actually use CB as much as ham. and then there are the local cbers who don't realize how easy it is to locate THEM with a mobile & RF gain.......then you can critique their 'mouthing off' or strange facts, etc.

anyway, i am in no way poking fun at or making sport of 'rob', but, there are folks everywhere on every forum & on every radio 'band' that provide 'fact' which is nothing more then opinion. maybe rob needs a bit more schooling? maybe the upper level mods need to rein him in? maybe THIS & the other thread will change his ways a bit? MAYBE, just MAYBE, nobody else really cares?

maybe i'll just go now & google sam lewis to have him tell me to send my broken magnum to bob. better yet, i'll check my cb for skip & if nothing, i'll go see if i can find any 10-10ers on 10.....but if there's no skip, i'll just go to 20m.....if that's dead i'll.....isn't it GRAND to be an extra with so many places to go......

 

[Moleculo]

Just remember that anyone is free to post any type of radio related review here that they want. Anyone is free to disagree with that review also, whether the review was done by a moderator or not. The review may be very technical; it might be more end-user oriented. However, telling someone that they should not be giving their opinion on a piece of equipment that they own actually discourages participation in the forum. A radio site that only allowed "technical" reviews would be a boring site and have almost no traffic. You don't like the review that Robb did? Then do another one with the same radio that meets your standards. But telling someone they shouldn't do a review because they're not qualified is a bit much.

I have an opinion on the 2005 GMC Envoy that I purchased new and owned. I'm not a qualified mechanic, but I know that the engine shouldn't need to be rebuilt after 4.5 years and just over 100K miles. I know that the whole dash cluster shouldn't fail within 3 years, costing me a ton of money to fix. Does that mean I'm not allowed to go on an SUV forum and give my opinion that my car was a piece of crap? Of course not.

Disagree with any posted review all you want, but we're not going to start telling people that they can't give their opinion. Besides, we're not actually selling anything here (like copper) that should cause any conflict of interest concerns. Does someone feel that they are "qualified" to give the Magnum radio a good, technical review? Maybe you should ask Robb if he'll send the radio to you. After all, he got it for free.

 

[Highlander_821]

One more point. Get a thicker skin if you are going to engage in this particular form of marketing. Lose the passive-aggressive, defensive attitude when the peanut gallery inevitably gets going.

Just answer a question like the one about CCTSS tones as yes or no, without trying to justify it's inclusion or lack thereof, or invoking the "RCI does it too" defense. That's lame. We already know that some 10 meter repeaters are open and some are not. We already know that many if not most people to whom the radio is being marketed don't care about CCTSS. We don't need to be told all that. Just yes or no is all we need.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

first let me say that i like robb and i %100 believe robb has good intentions , and no one here has suggested he doesnt . i think hes in a bit over his head technically and is way too generous with superlatives in his reviews . i also question the ears of the locals he has giving him feedback . making a comment like .......
"When other "Ham" friends of mine tell me - without my asking- that this radio is a real winner and is one of the best - if not the best- sounding radios they have ever heard -in their many years as Hams; what would you think?"
honestly .........
i cant imagin a export with a stock mic will sound as good let alone better than a real ham rig with an audio rack and studio mic . i would think the folks saying that were pulling your leg , telling a lil white lie to make you feel good or just simply had never herd a real clean station .

getting to keep the equipment is a hangup for some folks too . its like a paid review . im not gonna question robbs integrity on this . ill just use myself as an example . it would be DAMN HARD for me to stay %100 honest on a review if i was getting some big dollar (to my poor azz) equipment to review and could keep it afterwards . simple logic would tell me that if i dont talk good about it that i wont be getting more stuff for free . i try to be a good guy , but i aint no angel ! lol . i dont think anyone here thinks the 45 cant be a good export radio , but i feel it got way more positive spin than it deserved .

i think reviews for free equipment are just advertising . how is the company compensated by giving free equipment away for reviews ? by the hope folks will see it and like what is said and and buy it . they also have to take the placement of the review and the person doing it into account . would robb still get the equipment he does if her wernt a moderator here ? shouldnt WWDX get some sort of sponsoring fee for the advertising and promotion of the companies products here ? maybe they are , i dont know and its no skin off my back either way .

having said all that , ill say again . i think robb is a good guy , i dont think he has or had any deception in mind for his reviews . i think he got a bit generous with the compliments he gave the equipment , i also feel some of the ways he feels is acceeptable to run or use is equipment is not the way i would .
i think you just bit off more than you can chew here robb . that doesnt make you a bad guy . basically you did that 45 review on any CB forum i go to you would have been very highly praised and you would be "the man" . i do appreciate your effort though

but this isnt a typical CB forum , and thats exactly why ive enjoyed this forum so much over the past few years .

 

[Happy_Hamer]

Well I guess I will chime in here also.

The reason for the review, we are trying to bring traffic to this forum, how much more honest can that be?

You are correct, this forum is different than many others, we are not bound by any retailer or manufacturer for an agenda.

We found that people on this forum, "like to tinker", so we brought several members here with mods and other tinker projects for their radio.

We found the people like to see pictures, video and discussion about a radio they may want to buy, so now we are trying that here.

You will notice there have been several reviews popping up here.

Simply put, we are trying to make this forum, what people want.

 

[pro151]

What this forum needs is a group hug.

 

[mackmobile43]

I closed the thread due to the fact it had gotten off track period....there is already a dissing match about the review in another thread. Take it there.

As far as being a "New Copper Forum" I seriously doubt it and so do you.

If you noticed ... I locked it and didn't delete it..

GLR hacked his way back into this thread.

 

[kd-5-bgt]

I have spent a good deal of time looking at reviews that folks have posted on this board.From what I can tell of these reviews that have been done wether a company had sent a product at no charge or if the person had bought it outright....The person doing the review posted as they saw the item,good or bad...without bias.

I feel for the most part those that are taking the time to review an item are not allowing the " free or reduced cost issue " cloud what they think about a radio,antenna,amp or a pl-259...they are calling it as they see it.

The final choice is yours as to if the reviewed item is something you would want to buy or not

 

[Radio Tech]

What this forum needs is a group hug.

You know, I have to agree with that.

One reason I came to this forum was because I liked what I saw here.
I am a radio enthusiast. What that means I like radio in general. Not just ham and not just cb. But all radio. I love to build things, try different things, and share my idea's. I even had dozens of pm's from folks. Most good and a few not so good.

See, I tried that on some of the other big forums. But it seems that all they want to do is talk about politics, code vs no code, anything but radio. That left me sad and disappointed. Why have a forum on a specific topic and it is not talked about?.

When I stumbled into this site I said to myself now this is a forum about radio related stuff. I find myself working on a piece of gear in the shop and while I was thinking I would be browsing this forum. It is very enjoyable.


Now lately there seems to be some of the fun gone. I have read several threads where folks are not getting along. This makes me sad.
Don't let this forum turn out like the others.

 

[loosecannon]

i agree that we all need to find a way to get along, and i also understand the reasoning behind trying to appeal to a broader audience.

yes, anyone can post anything they like. i think thats a great thing.
thats why i felt free to offer up my opinion of the apparent direction this forum is taking.

thats all it was. my opinion.
sometimes i can be a bit harsh in offering my opinion, and if my post was taken that way, i apologize. i didnt post it to make anyone angry.

like i said before, this is a volatile subject. I am just one member. i dont dictate policy and dont want to. all i can do is call 'em like i see 'em.

why not just make a post that says, "hey, i bought one of these and i think its great!" and let the members who have questions or might be considering buying a certain product ask the questions they have to someone that owns one.

to put it forth as a "review" by a moderator; makes it seem as if there is some "officialness" to it, and can confuse new members into thinking that the reviewer's opinion is the opinion of the forum leadership.

someone else posted that Robb is in a unique position to ask some tough questions to people like Sam Lewis and Tom Charles.
i think this would be an awesome addition to the forum.

"straight talk with Sam Lewis". LOL

most of us here know that all export radios made today are basically the same radio with different power outputs and different bells and whistles.

if some members here dont know that yet, they will certainly learn it if they stay here long enough. that is one of the great things about this forum IMO and i hope that does not change.

maybe i jumped the gun in starting this thread, maybe not.
all i know is when you wait too long to say something; there's no point in saying anything at all.

now, how can we turn this into a positive?
well, if we can find a way to attract new members while keeping the existing members interested; i think that would be a positive thing.

i have a feeling that if this were the CB radio instead of the internet; i would be getting keyed on by now. LOL
LC

 

[Happy_Hamer]

We appreciate the feedback, cant get better without it.

This forum is suppose to be about radio communications, ham, cb. murs. gmrs, whatever the radio can bring us. So bringing this will put several different levels of technology together.

These different technologies also bring different opinions, the toughest part is to keep it civil and continue to make it a great forum.

We would love to get people who have radio equipment provide a review of their own just so others can see it and help make a better choice for themselves.

Thanks everyone.

i agree that we all need to find a way to get along, and i also understand the reasoning behind trying to appeal to a broader audience.

yes, anyone can post anything they like. i think thats a great thing.
thats why i felt free to offer up my opinion of the apparent direction this forum is taking.

thats all it was. my opinion.
sometimes i can be a bit harsh in offering my opinion, and if my post was taken that way, i apologize. i didnt post it to make anyone angry.

like i said before, this is a volatile subject. I am just one member. i dont dictate policy and dont want to. all i can do is call 'em like i see 'em.

why not just make a post that says, "hey, i bought one of these and i think its great!" and let the members who have questions or might be considering buying a certain product ask the questions they have to someone that owns one.

to put it forth as a "review" by a moderator; makes it seem as if there is some "officialness" to it, and can confuse new members into thinking that the reviewer's opinion is the opinion of the forum leadership.

someone else posted that Robb is in a unique position to ask some tough questions to people like Sam Lewis and Tom Charles.
i think this would be an awesome addition to the forum.

"straight talk with Sam Lewis". LOL

most of us here know that all export radios made today are basically the same radio with different power outputs and different bells and whistles.

if some members here dont know that yet, they will certainly learn it if they stay here long enough. that is one of the great things about this forum IMO and i hope that does not change.

maybe i jumped the gun in starting this thread, maybe not.
all i know is when you wait too long to say something; there's no point in saying anything at all.

now, how can we turn this into a positive?
well, if we can find a way to attract new members while keeping the existing members interested; i think that would be a positive thing.

i have a feeling that if this were the CB radio instead of the internet; i would be getting keyed on by now. LOL
LC

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Writing a product review is not an easy task and not one that should be jumped into without knowing a few basic things about how to do it. First NOTHING is ever perfect,there are always bad things about.Maybe the product itself is flawless but the ordering procedure was complicated or the delivery was delayed. All that stuff should be mentioned as well as anything about the actual product itself. Second, the product, no matter how good it is, is not geared for everybody. There will always be some people that it is not for and this should be pointed out even if it is as mundane as saying that "While the antenna is a great performer on the air, it is rather large and ungainly and may not appeal to the wife or next door neighbor so be prepared for an sudden increase in interference "complaints". I used the antenna example only as an example and has nothing to do with Robb's review. I have seen a few comments that are valid as to how to present the manufacturers claims as being just that, claims. When doing a review one must remember that they are just claims that have yet to be verified and that is the job of the reviewer.Simply stating the manufacturers claims is in fact endorsing those claims unless one says "The manufacturer claims that this product ....." One can then follow up with either a confirmation of that claim or a refutal whichever is appropriate.

I think product reviews are great however one must learn HOW to do them properly and it really is not much more than being carefull when choosing words and not confusing test results with manufacturers claims. Eventually I hope to make a couple reviews but don't look for anything soon. After the antenna project is completed in the summer/fall I hope to have a new tower,antenna, and rotator to report on.

Lots of links here that offer good ideas on how to do a review.

Google

 

[Drifter]

Just remember that anyone is free to post any type of radio related review here that they want. Anyone is free to disagree with that review also, whether the review was done by a moderator or not. The review may be very technical; it might be more end-user oriented. However, telling someone that they should not be giving their opinion on a piece of equipment that they own actually discourages participation in the forum. A radio site that only allowed "technical" reviews would be a boring site and have almost no traffic. You don't like the review that Robb did? Then do another one with the same radio that meets your standards. But telling someone they shouldn't do a review because they're not qualified is a bit much.

I have an opinion on the 2005 GMC Envoy that I purchased new and owned. I'm not a qualified mechanic, but I know that the engine shouldn't need to be rebuilt after 4.5 years and just over 100K miles. I know that the whole dash cluster shouldn't fail within 3 years, costing me a ton of money to fix. Does that mean I'm not allowed to go on an SUV forum and give my opinion that my car was a piece of crap? Of course not.

Disagree with any posted review all you want, but we're not going to start telling people that they can't give their opinion. Besides, we're not actually selling anything here (like copper) that should cause any conflict of interest concerns. Does someone feel that they are "qualified" to give the Magnum radio a good, technical review? Maybe you should ask Robb if he'll send the radio to you. After all, he got it for free.

Totally agree with Mole's take on things!!!

 

[HiDef]

I was waiting to see if the Jizz Motchey would keep up with a Moonraker.

Then I'd like to read another dozen posts saying it's stronger in an ice storm by people who have never owned one.

 

[DIRTYWHITEBOY]

Just remember that anyone is free to post any type of radio related review here that they want. Anyone is free to disagree with that review also, whether the review was done by a moderator or not. The review may be very technical; it might be more end-user oriented. However, telling someone that they should not be giving their opinion on a piece of equipment that they own actually discourages participation in the forum. A radio site that only allowed "technical" reviews would be a boring site and have almost no traffic. You don't like the review that Robb did? Then do another one with the same radio that meets your standards. But telling someone they shouldn't do a review because they're not qualified is a bit much.

I have an opinion on the 2005 GMC Envoy that I purchased new and owned. I'm not a qualified mechanic, but I know that the engine shouldn't need to be rebuilt after 4.5 years and just over 100K miles. I know that the whole dash cluster shouldn't fail within 3 years, costing me a ton of money to fix. Does that mean I'm not allowed to go on an SUV forum and give my opinion that my car was a piece of crap? Of course not.

Disagree with any posted review all you want, but we're not going to start telling people that they can't give their opinion. Besides, we're not actually selling anything here (like copper) that should cause any conflict of interest concerns. Does someone feel that they are "qualified" to give the Magnum radio a good, technical review? Maybe you should ask Robb if he'll send the radio to you. After all, he got it for free.

wouldnt a review section be the way to go instead of scattered thoughout the forum?