Eric F. Richards wrote:
Peter Maus wrote:
Sometimes the serious participants simply go into lurking mode.
I've been with the group for about a decade, now, but have fallen
into lurking mode, because much of what comes up is the same stuff
that came up when I first joined the group. Lots of beginners'
questions, and a good deal of rehash of common problems.
Most of the gratuitous flamers have exited after becoming bored.
Those that remain become more topical, less bellicose.
So, it's not that the serious players have left, they're just
waiting to participate in a discussion that they've not already been
involved in.
Good to see you posting, Peter.
Thanks.
Here's an on-topic sort of thing to ask you: Do you expec the
disappearance of most -- if not all -- tabletops from the SW market to
be permanent?
Unless there is a demand, yes.
With SW broadcasters cutting back, manufacturers are looking at
the worldwide demand for receivers falling steadily. Let's face it,
most of us here, as enthusiastic as we are, don't need hardware that
tops a kilobuck for our hobbycraft. You buy heavy. I buy heavy.
Steve Lare buys heavy. But read the posts of users here...they're
not dropping cash topping a kilobuck on a receiver. And many were
drawn into the hobby to listen to the BBC, when signals were
plentiful and reception quality was near local. As BBC and DW have
exited the North American market, the dilletantes, of which there
are many, lost interest. As broadcaster after broadcaster exits the
market, more program listeners exit with them. Some move to
satellite radio. Most simply exit the hobby.
Lost interest, means an upgraded receiver not sold.
Now, the hardcores here, will be scoring utes and transatlantic
aircraft, smaller broadcasters and harder to capture signals from
overseas, but that's not easy. And the majority of SW participants
aren't going to spend that kind of time and effort to pick up noisy,
fading signals. You will. I will. Lare will. Maghakian will. And
we'll all use heavy hardware to do it.
But that's four that I can think of in a swipe of the cortex.
There was a time I could point to four times that many without
taking a breath. Times have changed. In the 10 years I've been
playing in this newsgroup alone. I barely recognize the bands from
the time I first got into SW 50 years ago.
And most don't know that they can, despite what the HOA says, put
up an external antenna. They don't want a confrontation, even if
they're right, and they don't want a bullseye painted on their back
with the community. Intimidation keeps a LOT of people, who would
otherwise play harder with SW, from doing so.
So, there's diminishing activity and diminishing interest.
There's also a LOT more noise. It's gotten so difficult to score a
clean signal where I am, I can barely hear WLS sometimes. And my
installation is no slouch job.
Who but the hardcores are going to put up with that? And spend
heavy cash to do it? Few. To be sure.
So, sales of serious receivers are down. Toys and gimmicks are
up. SW is seen as a gimmick, almost afterthought, to receiver
manufacture. It goes into portables more designed for the beach than
the shack. Along with more digital crap, that unless executed well,
produces more noise than the signals being sought.
And always bear in mind, that in the US, shortwave has never been
a part of daily life as it was in Europe. It's virtually always been
a matter of hobbycraft here. And it's even seen dramatic diminution
in Europe, where it was among the most important sources of
broadcast content. When, Mark "Don't-Try-To-Confuse-Me-With-Facts
Byford" decided to shut off North American streams, and let he and
his school tie wearing buddies pocket the budget savings, he was
totally misinformed about the size of the WorldService listening
audience in the US. He believed that the numbers favored FM and
internet. He was staggeringly full of ****. But then, he wasn't
really interested in reaching the SW listening crowd, because we
didn't fit the socio-economic targets he found desirable. He's not
alone in that assessment of SW listeners. Broadcasters worldwide, as
well as hardware manufactures all look at the numbers. And most
decide we're not a market worth serving.
US is among the biggest and most voracious markets in the world
(China is now giving us a run for our money) and if there's limited
market need, here, most manufacturers are not interested in
producing a product to fill it.
Manufacturers are in the business of providing commodities these
days. The days of the passionate manufacturer serving the hobby by
producing specialized toys are all but over. Hallicrafters couldn'
survive today, even with their products made in Japan and China.
Hammarlund couldn't survive today. There's a reason why Drake isn't
making SW desktops, either. MBA driven boardrooms are no longer
interested in producing products for boutique buyers. Ten Tec still
makes receivers, but the bulk of their money comes from government
contracts and their sheetmetal fabricating business. There's a
budget to serve the hobby. But it's limited. And products are
pricey. Good products, no doubt, but very pricey.
Even Icom is out of the SW business. They produced huge goverment
and commercial contractors. Hobbycraft had limited access to these
products, but even commercial contractors are getting out of HF, and
amateur numbers, where the last passion for HF exists, are
dwindling. Even dedicated amateur suppliers are turning attention
away from HF.
No manufacturer is going to enter the market with a product
that's saleproof. And for most manufacturers today, it's not about a
product, a service, or serving a niche, it's about numbers. And they
have to be large numbers to make it worth the effort to being
servicing needs.
So, yes, I expect the absence of affordable performance desktops
to be permanent.
After all, it is the broadcasters who are cutting back on SW use, not
as much the utes, and the tabletop radio isn't necessarily the first
choice for a broadcaster. Certainly the portable isn't the first
choice for a ute listener.
You're right. But then, hard truth is that they don't care.
|