WHERE ARE THEY?

This is the place for any magazine-related discussions that don't fit in any of the column discussion boards below.
User avatar
Lenp
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:11 pm
Location: Maryland
Contact:

WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Lenp »

From the forum status box today....

In total there are 7 users online :: 2 registered, 0 hidden and 5 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 303 on Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:02 am


Where are they, what has happened?
Len

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a big pile of junk.” (T. Edison)
"I must be on the way to success since I already have the junk". (Me)
User avatar
CeaSaR
Posts: 1949
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:01 am
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by CeaSaR »

I don't know where they are. I am on at least once a day, most times more.
Only reason I don't post is I don't have much to contribute to the current
threads. Get back to audio and I might have something to say! :mrgreen:
Elsewise, I have posted a few questions and I have not rec'd any answers yet.
Perhaps it is the lack of response to readers that has slowed things down? IDK.
I have noticed that many of the previous heavy regulars have been less active
in both posting and visiting.

As to the number of visitors, there have been times when I was the only person
on the board, ie. 1 user. I even try to get people to come here from other sites.
I tell them how friendly and helpful the guys are on here, how much they love to
help and teach. Am I correct in my observations?

CeaSaR
Hey, what do I know?
User avatar
dacflyer
Posts: 4748
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2002 1:01 am
Location: USA / North Carolina / Fayetteville
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by dacflyer »

wonder what 303 people were doing online at 3AM, must have been a bunch that came home just after the bars closed, and had electronics on the brain...lol

a lot has slowed down here over the years.. i even had to stop my subscriptions in N&V magazine because so many of the projects have gone PIC mainstream.. hardly any conventional electronic projects any more..
i tried to get into PICs but its too far over my head, i even looked to see if local community collage had any classes in the evenings, no luck... only day time classes,, and i work days :(
i am a type of guy that's needs hands on help with learning things such as programming..
i can download a program into a pic with no problem, i just cannot grasp the making programs part.
maybe if N&V had more conventional projects, there would be more interest..
but then again i see so many of the younger crowd just not interested in knowing how stuff works.. they just take it for granted it just happens. ask any teen or younger person how their electronic device work.. they have no clue.
Dean Huster
Posts: 1263
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Harviell, MO (Poplar Bluff area)
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Dean Huster »

Considering the fact that the Electro-Tech forum ( http://www.electro-tech-online.com/gene ... nics-chat/ ) is busier than a one-armed paper hanger, I'd say that the N&V forum has very little to offer anymore. Sad to say, I know. The N&V forum has gradually slid downhill in usage and seems to have dropped out of sight with their last major forum engine change. If I were on everyday like CeaSaR (I used to be) I'd notice that there is very little, if any, change from day to day. There was a time maybe four or five (maybe more) years ago when this forum was very lively. Of course, look at the fact that the OP posted this morning and there have been three posts since the day shift ended. Then again, are these the same three that are part of the dozen regulars?
Dean Huster, Electronics Curmudgeon
Contributing Editor emeritus, "Q & A", of the former "Poptronics" magazine (formerly "Popular Electronics" and "Electronics Now" magazines).

R.I.P.
gerty
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:01 am
Location: Tennessee
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by gerty »

ETO has a similiar thread, they must be slow also
http://www.electro-tech-online.com/memb ... dying.html

I stop in a couple of times a day, like the others if I have nothing to contribute, I just browse around and leave.
I still subscribe to N&V , and as far as pic projects, I use MikroeBasic. Apparently nobody else does as I never see an article about it.
My $.02
User avatar
Lenp
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:11 pm
Location: Maryland
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY? (loff topic)

Post by Lenp »

DacFlyer
If Pic programming seems too exhaustive look into PicAxe. It is from Revolution Education (UK). These are an exhaustive line of specially modified Pic chips that will run PicBasic. The code is similar to any other basic dialect. The chips are awesome and will suffice for many tasks, unless you really need the high end Pic native programming.
Now the good part...
The programming software is FREE, and it has a simulator built in so you can see the program run, and, there is an exhaustive reference manual in a PDF format. They have a very active forum with excellent responses, often from RevEd's engineers. Interfacing to the chip is but a few pennies worth of parts and the PicAxe chips are just a little more costly then the bare PicChip and use EPROM's so you get many rewrites! The chips are available from several US vendors as well as directly from Revolution Education.
All plus features in my book!
Look here....http://www.picaxe.com/
Len
Len

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a big pile of junk.” (T. Edison)
"I must be on the way to success since I already have the junk". (Me)
User avatar
Lenp
Posts: 1529
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:11 pm
Location: Maryland
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Lenp »

Dean,

Why is it there is no forum support from the N/V magazine? I don't subscribe to Servo so maybe it is in there?
I've asked this in the past and still I never see anything that lets the readers know the forum exits.
The recent forum update added support for magazine articles but it appears to be diodic -------->>> thinking...
Sometimes I'll come up with a topic post that I think will make things cook, but the flame goes out way too soon.
I looked back recently on a few old posts and paged through some of the huge page early N&V issues, and, indeed there has been many changes.
(Just a passing thought...Remember the days of C.S.!)

Len
Len

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a big pile of junk.” (T. Edison)
"I must be on the way to success since I already have the junk". (Me)
Robert Reed
Posts: 2277
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:01 am
Location: ASHTABULA,OHIO
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Robert Reed »

Chuckle- Chuckle Lemp- If CS means Chris Smith, if nothing else I will say he kept the discussions very lively with his cockamamie posts and replies. People were coming out of nowhere to voice their opinions and I think their may have been record replys to many of them. I have to go with Dacflyer about N&V content. It seems since they had an editorial change several years ago, its getting to be more and more articles of " pages and pages of software to make a blinking LED". I dropped my subscription over a year ago when I got down to just scanning it for 15 minutes and then into the waste basket.
I believe the problem there is the same problem here, that being a gradual drift away from CORE electronics to more discussion about off the shelf items. Deans reference to Electrotec is a good one and having followed it for a while, I think I will enroll as a member. Has many categories of pure electronic subjects with what appears to be a knowledgeable membership. I would like to see more exchange of knowledge here on members design projects,since I am deeply into design for worthwhile projects especially test equipment which is my passion. But then again, these are only my personal preferences and don't necessarily reflect the overall interests of the majority of the forums membership.
User avatar
CeaSaR
Posts: 1949
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2003 1:01 am
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by CeaSaR »

I suggest that the editor(s) have a look around the web at the active sites,
such as mentioned above. Then stop by Instructables and take a look at what
is being posted there, not only in the actual "Instructables", but also in the
"Answers". They'd find that there are quite a few people out there that are
new to the whole genre of tech, and most of it is based on beginning analog.
Those that are into the microcontroller aspect already have a basic grasp of
what constitutes support components. I am an active member there - known as
Quercus austrina - and I often try to steer people here because I know you guys
are a great bunch that love to help and teach (even though you may not realize it).

I, myself, am passionate about audio, if you haven't guessed already. And I am also
an analog man (aren't we all, ultimately?) and have not embraced the all-in-one
concept of doing things digitally in the DIY realm. I prefer to create smaller building
blocks that I can put together and make something greater than the indvidual, yet
still be able to use them in their singular form. That way, I get a bunch of things that
work very well all by themselves or together, not one individual thing that is mediocre.

But that is just me.

I've got a project on the back burner. Maybe I'll pull it forward and write an article
for submission. Maybe it will help grow the magazine and it's fanbase, maybe it'll
fall flat and no one will care. I won't know until I try.

CeaSaR
Hey, what do I know?
Rodney
Posts: 162
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 1:01 am
Location: Titusville, FL USA
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Rodney »

I still check into this forum daily. I think that the fact that electronics has become much less expensive to buy gagets that fewer people now build. I know my interest has strayed over into the micro processors, robotics, etc. and away from audio, HAM radio, test equipment (other than oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers). I'm still interested in the programming, micro processors, home electrical problems/solutions etc. and often get good info here.
dyarker
Posts: 1917
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2003 1:01 am
Location: Izmir, Turkiye; from Rochester, NY
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by dyarker »

I haven't had internet access since last October (in Afghanistan). Traveling right now, there is a hot spot where I'm waiting for plane.
Dale Y
User avatar
dacflyer
Posts: 4748
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2002 1:01 am
Location: USA / North Carolina / Fayetteville
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by dacflyer »

dyarker >> i am glad you could get a hot spot..without internet is rough..you then have to come up with your own form of entertainment :P

another thing i miss about N&V is the old style of magazine that used to be...i never really liked magazines with shinny paper,, it glares all the time and is hard to read with glasses.. ya have to hold the paper just right.. as with the old newspaper style paper, you could read it in any light with out the annoying glare. - seems there was more advertisers back then too for electronic stuff etc..
i remember satellite - ham radio - cable box venders and such...:)
Dean Huster
Posts: 1263
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Harviell, MO (Poplar Bluff area)
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by Dean Huster »

dacflyer, remember that N&V wasn't originally a hobbyist experimenter magazine -- or newsprint tabloid of the same genre. It started out as a newsprint tabloid with nothing but electronics-oriented classified ads. That genre was gradually changed by the publisher when the "writing on the wall" was seen in the on-line auctions. As such, they moved smoothly into a new realm, taking the place of the other U.S. hobbyist electronics magazines as they died off, e.g., Poptronics, Popular Electronics, Electronics NOW, Modern Electronics, etc. I'm just thankful that they decided to change the format from a massive, unstorable size to the current format. I would rather that all the mags get away from that smeary, clay-coated paper and go back to the pulp paper of the 1960s. The clay-coated mags are dreadfully heavy when you pack them into boxes for storage.

And don't forget that the on-line forums, the magazines, the electronics vendors and electronics schools are all suffering in the same way: a lack of interest in basic electronics. Forums are fewer and less-used; magazines have died out in the U.S. except for N&V when we had as many as 5 or 6 titles in existance at a time during the 1960s; and check out Radio Shack as an example where they used to have lots and lots of electronic parts and now they're nothing but a telephone and small appliance store and a poorly-maintained and sparsely-stocked parts cabinet; and finally the schools. In Oklahoma, they've phased out all the electronics programs in the vo-tech schools and it's nearly the same in Missouri is nearly the same. State-supported vocational electronics programs are rare. Haven't seen electronics coorespondence courses in a long time. Only a few private schools still exist, e.g., DeVry and ITT.
Dean Huster, Electronics Curmudgeon
Contributing Editor emeritus, "Q & A", of the former "Poptronics" magazine (formerly "Popular Electronics" and "Electronics Now" magazines).

R.I.P.
User avatar
dacflyer
Posts: 4748
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2002 1:01 am
Location: USA / North Carolina / Fayetteville
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by dacflyer »

ahh, gotchya...
i still miss non-shinny paper tho..:D
hate to say it, but what if soon no one is interested in electronics ( our future ) lil scarry, china may rule the world in electronics :O
i have searched in my area, and cannot find anyone into electronics, sad sad
User avatar
jwax
Posts: 2234
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:01 am
Location: NY
Contact:

Re: WHERE ARE THEY?

Post by jwax »

I share the same views about this forum as well as the magazine.
No where near as busy as the old "C.S." days!
I too dropped the magazine as it became irrelavant to this analog guy. Shiny sheets and all.
It's frightful that so many young folk are infatuated with "technology", i.e., smart phones, tablets, GPS and robotics, but know so little about basic electronics. Those are the products of technology, not technology themselves.
The cool thing about ham radio was that it was a communications pipeline- you found out by ham radio who your locals were, to further communicate. A $20 cellphone today can communicate with Australia in seconds, but nobody knows each other, or anything about each other.
Perhaps we're (analog hobbyists/professionals) destined to the same path as the dinosaurs.
The tinkerers demise.
John
WA2RBA
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Amazon [Bot], Google [Bot] and 36 guests