[FedCom] Pop Comm magazine going away

[Wayne and Pat Thomas]

When is Pop Com going away?

I used to enjoy it when they had more articles on scanning and scanner products, I might add your MT as well. It gave great reviews of scanners. 

As is obvious, I am into scanning. In addition to it being my hobby I also depend on the scanner in my job as a reporter. 
I have been looking for a new scanner and not sure what I want. The reviews always gave me important info.


-----Original Message-----
>From: Larry Van Horn-N5FPW <n5fpw at brmemc.net>
>Sent: Dec 27, 2013 12:38 PM
>To: Discussion of Federal Government Communications <fedcom at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: Re: [FedCom] Pop Comm magazine going away
>
>My old friend Ken wrote:
>
>>I always thought that Pop Comm seem to stay in the very basic information 
>>side of the hobby, and with internet research much of what was published 
>>could be found.  HOWEVER, it was around for a long time and when Tom K was 
>>editor, it was basically the only publication available for the monitoring 
>>hobbyist for many years.
>
>That is a common misconception Ken by many because TomCat had been around 
>for many years in various publications including my old favorite Electronic 
>Illustrated.
>
>Actually both PopComm and MT started in 1982. Bob started MT with 400 
>addresses he had farmed from the letters he received when his was the 
>Federal columnist in the old RCMA club bulletins. I was the RCMA satellite 
>columnist at the time and we got to know each other through that club 
>newsletter. While PC was monthly and magazine in 1982, Bob was newsprint and 
>bimonthly. He actually only intended the newspaper MT to be a catalog for 
>Grove products with some articles thrown in. Guess it was that monitoring 
>the shuttle article in the front page that sparked the readership of only 
>400 at the time.
>
>I chuckle all the time at the shear number of people who claim to be readers 
>since V1N1. Sure seems there are a lot more than 400. ;-) Oh, make that 399, 
>I have my V1N1 upstairs in the radio room along with every issue of MT and 
>ST ever published. Sure has a lot of old memories for sure.
>
>>Overall other publications seem to be going more to a digital format rather 
>>than printing, so that is how the industry itself is going overall.
>
>Unfortunately you are correct. There are primarily two reasons for this. The 
>main one is the 3 Ps (paper, printing, postage). That is the major expense 
>overhead in producing any magazine. Writers fees and salaries and basic 
>overhead are a fraction of the other and depending how the business model is 
>structured that can be covered in subscriptions leaving advertising as the 
>profit. Take out the 3 Ps and go electronic and you increase your profit. 
>But that develops into other issues. No newsstand - so you lose visibility 
>and our hobby is older and more conventional and they like their paper. The 
>usual complaint is and (I hate this stupid excuse when I hear it, "can't 
>take it to the bathroom." Duh, yes I can on a Kindle!!! I think it is more 
>of a function they just don't feel like they have something substantial in 
>their hands if it isn't on paper.
>
>So there you have the dilemma. Several years ago MT Express (the electronic 
>MT) which was my baby, really did prolong the life of MT thanks to the 
>reduced cost to publish. But it was evident early on that the radio 
>listening hobby was set in their ways and they really didn't embrace the 
>electronic publication and still do not to this day. Strange that a 
>technologically advance hobby such as ours can't embrace, well uh 
>technology!
>
>And this electronic thing really is working in other quarters as evidenced 
>by the electronic publishing business with companies like Amazon. Now anyone 
>can publish with no overhead whatsoever and get paid for their efforts. I 
>know it works first hand, but the hobby as a whole still has their issues 
>with e-pubs of any kind.
>
>And the result is that now we have no US published print radio listening 
>hobby publications left, except for a few hold over radio club bulletins in 
>some very specialized areas of the hobby. Printed books are all but gone and 
>have been for a number of years. No body needs them or wants them because 
>their information need is being fulfilled by the "Internet!"
>
>If the hobby doesn't embrace these new electronic radio hobby publishing 
>efforts, e-books and e-zines, then they also will die away and with that 
>sadly the radio listening hobby itself.  Given all that and the fact that 
>members of our hobby are dying at a rapid rate, the future doesn't look 
>bright, except for amateur radio. In an ironic twist amateur radio is now 
>the entry level to many of the other radio listening disciplines. It use to 
>be the other way around. So in order to attract new numbers to the radio 
>listening hobbies I think we should look at that venue even more.
>
>Regardless, any progress on breathing new life into the radio listening 
>hobbies is a major uphill battle. And it is a shame as I have been in the 
>radio hobby since 1964 and it really has been a lot of fun and still can be 
>if we can ever get out of this "why should I buy it when I can get it for 
>free on the Internet" mentality.
>
>>Unfortunately with the new magazine "Spectrum Monitor" there's no dedicated 
>>monthly military communications column, although there is a fed 
>>communications, aero comms, scanner (regular), and HF utilities >columns, 
>>so I guess it is >possible that milcom related frequencies/information 
>>might show up in any of those columns.
>
>I am sure there is someone else out there that can do a milcom column for 
>TSM if they want to. I have been asked by a few folks why we (the VH family) 
>did not transition to TSM from MT and the answer is simple. As the longest 
>writer of the family I have been on a monthly deadline for nearly 35 years 
>(and never missed a single deadline through many adversities and family 
>crisis). Many times I was writing multiple articles/columns each month. 
>Honestly, we both are just tired of that grind and we wanted to move in a 
>different direction.
>
>I hope to also be back to a fulltime, no radio related job soon. Yes, what 
>was left of all of the fulltime MT and Grove staffers lost their jobs just 
>before the holidays. This year has not been very merry and bright. So my 
>time will not be as flexible for any extra writing for any pub TSM or PopC 
>(which I was invited to write for recently).
>
>But enough of this off topic rant. But heck I created this newsgroup (along 
>with Milcom and some others) way back when so maybe the list admin will have 
>some mercy on me. ;-)
>
>It really is up to the radio hobby as a whole as to what direction the 
>future holds It could be bright if we want it to be, but we have to grab 
>that rudder and put us on a straighter course and make that happen. Right 
>now the rudder is askew. Time will tell if we float or sink the boat.
>
>Have fun out there and good hunting de Chief
>
>Larry Van Horn, N5FPW
>Brasstown, NC USA
>President, Teak Publishing
>PlanePlotter Sharer zL/Mode-S SBS Monitor
>Milcom Monitoring Post http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/
>Twitter: @MilcomMP 
>
>
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