The AM Forum

Does anyone know who the owner(s) or the system admin(s) are of the "Analog Forever" internet forum?  There seem to be members there that are members here — maybe even the admins?  I have been trying for months to "unsubscribe" and get removed from their email list, but it appears there is no way to do that. 

No admins will respond to messages.  I've tried "reporting" a post by an admin to attempt to get attention — from some moderator maybe??  I tried making open posts requesting assistance, but that apparently p*ssed someone off and got me "banned", so now I can't post, but I still get harassed by the frequent "latest updates" email.

It's truly bizarre …

You can contact me privately or by email, if you want to keep it off-air

   You aren't the only one, I've been receiving their crap unsolicited emails for some time too, no way to unsubscribe and VERY annoying.

It's some of the disgruntled folks that left here a couple years ago.

Easiest way I found to stop receiving email?  Join.  Don't agree with the sycophant running the show.

No more emails!

Or, spam filter them.

--Shane
KD6VXI

So who is it that is running that show?  That's the question.  I've found nothing on the forum that gives a clue.  No names, no "contact us",  just an endless stream of emails.  Sure, I direct them to my junk mail folder, but frankly, it's beyond the pale …

I guess the next step is filing a report with the FCC/FTC, but I doubt that would actually do much good.  They're far too busy ignoring Do Not Call list complaints :-)

Joining that forum is about the worst thing you can do — since you become a captive, and cannot UN-join.

Grant,

Check your email. If it's run by who I think it is, he and I have had a run-in in the past with one of his many iterations of that site.

Shelby

Every forum has its quirks. I think of the one mentioned like the west coast radio handbooks versus the ARRL handbooks. Some good articles over there. Lots of ART-13 stuff, and a really good restoration step by step of an R390 just to name a few.

Jim
Wd5JKO

Use "WhoIS" - that ought to identify the owner of the site... often when it is not
deliberately hidden, it shows up there.

A little digging on WhoIs and other places, as Bear suggested, reveals it's Brian (aka Archie), W5HRO's website.

Yes. He is ok a decent fellow. Brian prefers to be in the right with the chosen answer, and can be sensitive about solutions he has offered, especially when it is your design and you are not taking the proffered advice. He is earnestly trying to be helpful, but sometimes too much. This probably plays into the persistence of the e-mail subscription -it's for your own good.

Everyone is different. I just look past the disconnect and am always grateful for all the opinions people contribute for answers, but i don't participate there any more. I was a devout member but I quit visiting when the paywall arose with the latest incarnation. That was a surprise.

I don't feel morally correct participating earnestly on a site with a paywall that's probably just charging for the same information/documents/videos/software whatever, that I have already downloaded for free from the internet or have purchased. Thing is you have to pay just to find out what's there and I'm a better hunter than a gambler.

If the constant e-mails don't stop after you have requested, then report the ongoing situation to the site's ISP as spam every time you get one, including their headers and including any meaningless or unfriendly responses to your exceedingly polite requests to stop.

Today it is very easy to hide behind an ISP because there is a 'domain privacy' function that can be used, wherein a 3rd party puts its contact info there instead of the real entity's.
So the ISP, whether the server host or the bandwidth provider is the way to go. They always have a terms of service forbidding spamming. Find it and quote chapter and verse.

It is also expedient, if escalation is required, to report the offense to each of the site's major sponsors' marketing and legal departments. That is extreme but it works very well assuming the site has sponsors with ads.

Anyway I believe that if you could speak directly with Brian that he would be happy to take you off the list. If that's impossible, well there are ways and ways.

Negative, and there were "ways".

He will not delete your account and will curse you, your mother, your unborn child, and your dead grandmother for wanting to leave, all the while telling you how stupid and ignorant you are for not wanting to stay on his site.

I requested that my account be deleted due to some political comments that were posted that I did not agree with. I choose to not play politics of any kind on the forums and prefer not to participate or be a member of those forums that do. My deletion request was refused and then I was subjected to the treatment described above. I subsequently looked up every post I had made on his forum and was able to edit & delete every word on my posts replacing them with the simple comment "This Member was Deleted."

Boy, this really pissed him off. I guess because I was able to make a preemptive strike to effectively "delete" my account, or at least my posts on his forum without his permission. In other words, out thinking him. When he found out I had accomplished this, the flood of emails were filled with so much nastiness, filth, and vulgarity that it made them literally unreadable. Of course this edit option is now disabled on his forum and he banned my IP, haha. Win Win!

Let me know how that works out for you, LOL.

No reason to dispute your account. Good job editing your posts. hah.

I have not corresponded in a few years, I think. If that's the case then it's better to know about the irrationality now.

I hadn't ever thought about how it has worked for me. I don't see the e-mails unless I review the trash file and I don't use the system because there's nothing there for me, although there seems to be an acct still there since the messages come. Just another unseen internet e-mail pest.

As a follow up ..  the "latest happenings", or whatever they were called, emails have appeared to stop — haven't had one for several days.  (Of course, there's always tomorrow, and having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if I get one).  Gmail is configured to send anything from that site directly to spam anyway before I see it in my client.  The Whois query returns hidden owners, admins, etc.  Maybe that was recently changed.  In any case, I won't attempt to log back into that site even as a point of curiosity.

So maybe it appears AMFONE is still being monitored (?) :-)

There is NO reason why ANY forum should prevent you from getting out from under their thumb.  If it happens again it will go to the hosting site, and the FTC, each complaint cc: to the other one.  As often as necessary.  (I've already filed a complaint with the FCC, but they just refer you to the FTC).  That forum appears to be hosted by an Australian web company.

Enough … (I didn't intend for this to be more than a simple question) :-(

Rest assured.  Both this forum and the 'other' new am forum are monitored and read regularly.

--Shane
KD6VXI

I remember this now: the URL http://amforever.com/ (http://amforever.com/) goes to analog forever as well. HRO has always been a bit prickly, but I haven't used his forum for years.

If it really bothers you, send him a DMCA notice. He can't ignore those.

William Warren

Oh? Do tell...! "...prefers..." Eh?

Fwiw, I "prefer" to not be shot at dawn.
I also "prefer" to not be hunted by wild packs of animals.
As a point of reference.
But, that's just my "preference".  ::)


                                _-_-

OM, AFAICT, the poster was referring to a different operator.

Seems like that same fellow who has had multiple "AM" forums.

I disagreed with one of his "technical" posts, or it may have been that I asked a
question rather than outright disagreed... anyhow he could not deal with that, and booted
me off that forum. (what I said was 100% legit, btw.)

NOW, come to find I am getting unsolicited email "updates" about his new forum, the one being
discussed. I was unaware of it because I have a general purpose email account that I use for
all sorts of "public" things, to keep the SPAM off my main email account. So I needed to check
that account for a confirmation on a reservation, and found my email had quite a few "update"
emails from "Archie". Jug Head apparently does not know how to use his computer - yet. :p


                              _-_-

My experiences follow yours.

If "B" proposes a circuit and you find something wrong with it and you propose another circuit, be ready to take some serious abuse and much criticism.

When the site was identified under another name (it has gone through about three name iterations) I had taken enough of his c**p so I deleted my membership and registration.

When an iteration was done on his webiste, any critical info of his comments or disagreements somehow disappeared.

Run, Forrest, Run. ;D


Phil - AC0OB

Yes, that is what I encountered initially on a basic search but on a hunch after querying the FCC database and visiting the website and seeing the same pattern of past behavior I surmised it was the same owner as the former AMForever.  After a  bit of googling whois type sites I found one that has the ability to "whois" by owner name and up popped  the website in question and former websites.

I too encountered the same urinary contests on a few electronic matters. Having a small bladder, I simply deleted the website from my bookmarks and never went back. 

This thread got my curiosity going and visited the "forum".
I spent some time reading a lot of the posts made by the the aforementioned person and noticed a trend, he finds faults with everybody's designs but his own and criticizes any ideas that are not his own, besides the fact he seems to know more than anybody about everything.
I see why he has been banned from the AM forum.
BTW, I noticed a few other calls on that forum that have been banished from here over the years.

Just my unsolicited $0.02

Maybe I have mistaken the name. That's what I get for possibly incorrect recall and I did not intend to offend either operator. Anyway it is the operator of the old AM forever forum whatever the person and forum is called now. OK well I'm done with it, hope people can get rid of the annoyance and be happy.

Mmmmm...

I sent him, W5HRO, an email at the one of his listed email addresses I could find.
I asked him to stop sending emails.

Will check to see if they stopped later this week, I use a "second" account for registering
with many places that I am not 100% solid with... just in case stuff like this happens. :D

Anyhow I thought perhaps he could add the tag line to his masthead:
"...Following in the footsteps of K1MAN..."

Ok, it's a joke, but...

                                 _-_-

Good luck with that.  I don't see his emails anymore (they're marked as spam, and are not delivered to my email client), so he's wasting his time.  I went online and checked that folder this morning.  There were FOUR of the things, all delivered yesterday.  I think he needs to have his meds adjusted ...

Mailwasher can be your friend in cases like this.  Mailwasher is an email client capable of bouncing email.

Unfortunately Judge Barefoot Sanders of the ETex. federal court ruled he can refuse any meds.  He has bee that way for years.  Just be glad you spam filter works.

OK, this thread has run its course; he's not here to defend himself.