D104 talk

[Steve - K4HX]

I always randomly restart conversations I had 8 years ago. Sometime I restart conversations I wasn't even involved in. Doesn't everyone?  My friends and coworkers love it.

One of the problems with starting up a thread after 8 years being dormant. The thread was re-started because WB2CAU added a post about a D-104 clone. One would think the original poster has moved on to other projects after 8 years.

What exactly is the 'problem' with adding to an 8 year old discussion anyway?  The information I added was discovered long after the last post was made and I thought I had something to share that was informative.  The subject matter has not expired and other posters have continued the original topic with good input to the discussion. Many of the posters were not participants on this site when the thread was started in 2005.  The topic is new to them.  

Why is it a sore point to the moderator and the administrator?

[K1JJ]

Moderators:
Can the AMFONE software clean out old posts over a certain age? Or if the thread is over a certain time; someone wanting to bring it back up would get a message to start a new thread.

I think it pays to keep old threads available.  Over time, some go semi-viral caused by people doing Google searches - or searches on AmFone.  We just don't know which subjects will become hot.  Some get referenced on other sites like QRZ and get momentum.

I believe there are a few threads on this site that ended at about 2,000 hits and later went on to gather over 10,000+ from external hits or from newcomers to this site.


T  

[W2VW]

Still sorry for the hijack. I love impedance converters.

Thinking about this today. Some people have almost total recall and probably do not think it strange to pick up on a moldy subject because it's new and shiny in their memory.

Others have a different filing system.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Moderators:
Can the AMFONE software clean out old posts over a certain age? Or if the thread is over a certain time; someone wanting to bring it back up would get a message to start a new thread.

This is the message you get when a thread has not had a post in 60 days:
Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 60 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

Cleaning out old posts is probably not a great idea since many posts, especially in the technical forum, have a lot of great information. The QSO section probably has considerably less long-term information value but there's still some good info there if you can find it. The QSO section threads, at times, tend to be more rambling in nature with sometimes multiple dialogues going on about somewhat different topics unrelated to the original poster's topic.

The "problem" or "issue" with resurrecting old threads is that new posters will respond to the earlier posts months or years after the original posters have moved on. Many times, the original posting date which is under the title header in each post. Ex:Reply #3 on: April 03, 2006, 09:36:24 AM doesn't ring any bells.

 In Eric's posting, he had some great info there. Even I didn't know that at one point some manufacturer actually was marketing a D-104 clone. If I was posting the info, I would have started a new thread, "D-104 Clone is Real" (or something like that) and would have referenced this original thread with a link and a mention about Don's comment years ago about a D-104 clone. The possible discussion would move on from there. As it turned out, after Eric's posting, all we had was a bunch of postings about D-104 schematics and no further discussion about this clone D-104. If members wanted to read the original 2005 D-104 thread, they would just click the link. Actually, if you love reading about your D104, there are over 200 separate threads where  D104 and D-104 are mentioned or discussed on the forum.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

The last thing we want to do is try to manipulate or selectively remove the knowledge posted by so many over the years. That's how stuff gets lost. I used to think dragging back an old thread was the result of a timid poster. Maybe sometimes it is. More often it's more a case of folks spending too much time online instead of on the air, honestly. It takes much longer just to search the archives than to start a new thread. It's not a matter of whether it 'hurts' anything to do it, it's just a back-asswards way to make a new post IMO.

I also found Eric's info very interesting and well worth having here. I just think the best way to post it is not to hunt around for some old D-104 thread to tack it onto, but rather to simply start a new thread. As Pete said, if it somehow relates to a previous thread (really though - doesn't everything we discuss?), it's simple enough to reference the original thread(if you really feel the need to go did up a dead one) or start off by saying "Someone previously mentioned a Japanese clone of the D-104. I came across one [or photos of one], thought you might find it interesting".

It would be nice if we could auto-lock them after a period of time, but the software doesn't appear to allow for that. Thankfully, very, very few members do it.

8 years, though....I think you're now the record holder, Eric. Congrats. Not the most ridiculous, though. That would go to the guy who pulled back a 4-5 yr old thread about a group of us meeting on 7.160 after the foreign broadcasters had vacated. His reason for pulling this thread back? To say "I've been hearing more AM on the bands lately". You cannot make this stuff up! [queue music Styx: Too Much Time on My Hands]

Fear not, though - Eric will be appropriately pummeled for this transgression, at the 'PJP BBQ before NEAR-Fest next month. We'll make him drink Budweiser. Oh, wait - he already does!

[WB2CAU]

Perhaps I should clear up a misconception.  I did not search the AM Fone archives for D-104 posts before adding to the 2005 thread. 

To start off, I purchased the AE 95-328 on eBay a few months ago.  I thought it would be a nice collector's piece to own.  I was also interested whether the cloning was beyond appearances and if it held up in performance copying as well.  I'm highly impressed with the copying job that the Japanese manufacturer did.  I got curious about whether there was any more detailed information online about the court case Astatic brought against AE.  I don't even know what year it took place.  I was hungry for information.

So, I did a Bing search for D-104 clone.  This is the result: http://www.bing.com/search?q=D-104+clone&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR

Right now, you will note that the second from the top is this very thread.  Coincidentally, I happen to frequent this site, because my AM friends hang out here.  So, I clicked on the link, read the old thread (that I don't recall reading in the past), and added my two cents (and some photos) on the topic. 

AM Fone is not the only forum I read.  I belong to other forums on various other topics, mostly non-ham radio related.  The majority of the other forums encourage searching the archives for topics rather than starting another thread on the same topic.  Moderators often will merge the new into the old thread then scold the starter for not doing a diligent search.  AM Fone seems to be different in that regard.  It seems that there is always the risk of running afoul of what the administrators or moderators have in mind wherever you (or I) go.  Some places you can smoke, some places you can't!

It's really much ado about nothing.

Eric

[W3RSW]

Well said but absolutely no inferred apology necessary.
Too many of us, self included, tend to fill in the details of how the other guy is thinking.
This is turning out to be the "Great Psychological D104 Thread of 2013," destined to go down in the AM Fone annals psychiatric section forever.