RadioBanter - View Single Post

November 11th 05, 11:37 PM

wrote:
From: on Nov 11, 7:21 am

wrote:
wrote:

ARRL has a VIRTUAL monopoly on United States amateur radio
publications. Has had that for years.

"CQ" magazine. "73" magazine. "ham radio" magazine. Bash books.
Gordon West publications. "Worldradio" publications. Ameco
publications.
W5YI.

"Ham Radio" magazine has been pronounced "defunct" by you. Now you
claim differently? And Bash, what is the copyright on the latest Bash
book?

Tsk, tsk. Note that

N2EY

refused to capitalize the Ham
Radio magazine name.

Not a refusal. A correct reference.

As litoi has pointed out, there was no "Ham Radio" magazine. In
imitation/homage to e.e. cummings and/or k.d. laing, it was called
"ham radio". I have several of them, including the rare Vol.1 No.1,
and the cover title is not capitalized.

Ham Radio magazine ceased publication
in 1990. That was 15 years before now. Ham Radio had been
in continuous INDEPENDENT monthly publication for 22 years.

And yet you claim

"ARRL has a VIRTUAL monopoly on United States amateur radio
publications. Has had that for years."

Irony is that the Ham Radio Bookstore got sold to CQ along
with HR and is still in business. HR continued with a
quarterly that became Communications Quarterly under the
CQ aegis, then merged with ARRL's QEX. CQ Communications
made a 3-disk CD on all 22 years worth of HR articles and
sells it over their Book Store for $150. ARRL resells the
same item. :-)

And yet you claim

"ARRL has a VIRTUAL monopoly on United States amateur radio
publications. Has had that for years."

One has only to drop into any HRO and check out their
books-magazines rack/display. ARRL publications far
out-pace ALL others. Just a glance at the ARRL web page
will show books of all sorts on amateur radio for sale,
including fiction novels. The nearest competitor is CQ
Communications products through its Book Store via mail
order.

Is that a "VIRTUAL monopoly", Len?

Could it be that, in a free market, ARRL publications are simply
more popular? Maybe their *quality* has something to do with
it?