A new, technical only FlexRadio reflector (gripes about FlexRadio's management decisions are explici

Matt NQ6N

I have created a group that is mean to focus on Flex hardware and software, but without the constant complaining about FlexRadio's management decisions. All are welcome to join, but I will not hesitate to evict those who violate the narrow mission statement of the reflector. 

It has gotten to the point where I am finding myself wanting to stop getting emails from the regular Flex forum. I'm also not a fan of how GetSatisfaction breaks the automatic subject-based grouping of messages offered by Gmail.  The SNR is too low due to the constant complaints about Flex management and other non-technical griping and ****-for-tat. 

https://groups.io/g/smartsdr

All are welcome to join. The intent is not to replace the official FlexRadio forum, just to create an alternative world where the focus is more purely technical and where the SNR is better for those who want to learn and understand more about FlexRadio, SDR in general, and the many technical topics therein, or who want to get the most out of their Flex gear. 

Most people who participate in online forums are respectful and kind to others, but I think sometimes a bit more moderation is helpful when it comes to cultivating a sense of community and shared values. 

At this point I am the only subscriber, so the traffic volume will certainly be quite low for a while.  I will still remain a subscriber and participant in this forum, however I will turn off the automatic email notifications and switch to periodically checking the website for topics that sound interesting. 

73,
Matt NQ6N

Mark NS9N

THANK YOU MATT

mikeatthebeach .

Thanks Matt Lately seems like I have doing lots of deletes To these meaningless e-mails (email QSO’s) Takes time away from real operating time ! 73 Mike

Homer1952

Also everyone should know there is another Flex SSDR group there on IO:
https://groups.io/g/FlexRadioSmartSDR
It is an open group allowing Polls and comments on either side of the spectrum.

73 Bob  W8RMV

Scott N8UMW

Thanks Matt, and no disrespect intended, but you're going to have some angry and mean people in every group eventually. You're idea is fine except that I'm quite certain that is also the intent of this official Flex community and whether I disagree with them or not, I would rather hear Tim or Mike or someone from Flex chime in with their thoughts, ideas, answers, whatever they may be rather than members of an unofficial group. Those guys take their lumps and still try help the customer for the most part. I don't always agree with their software priorities, but we don't get to see the numbers on what is being requested and what isn't.

Mike VE3CKO

You will get the usual trolls to join and add their negative comments, it's not fun being an admin of a mail-list or forum when there is a small group of people who are determined to convince old and new that the sky is falling. I've done that for over a decade, not fun at all. That their individual idea is better than a group of talented engineers and who publicly demean the company CEO and others who have posted really thoughtful posts. Such disgraceful behavior, just plain disgusting.

Oxford English

Ever since I 'joined' the Flex community when I bought a 6300 in 2015, I have wondered why Flex chose to use 'Get Satisfaction' as a way of talking to users. To me it is clunky and does not really do the job. Something like PHPbb would suit the needs of feedback, commnets and so on, far more efficiently and elegantly.

However, Flex have chosen to use something that works for them and I doubt we'll easily change it.

BUT that does not preclude anyone else from setting up an alternative. If it wasn't for the fact that I have cancer and am supposed to be retired, I would have done it myself. 

Matt I wish you all the best and I will certainly have a look at what you have setup and hope you have the time to moderate to the standards you feel necessary.

Tim 

Martin AA6E

Forking the discussion is likely to be counterproductive.  Consider the Network Effect - the value of a network service goes roughly as the square of the number of participants.  (But complexity & chaos may overwhelm things when your group becomes very large.)

I don't get much email from the Flex group (set your preferences!).  Rather, at my convenience, I check the latest topics using 'feedly' - a CSS reader.  I can skip >90% of the postings as irrelevant without reading them, and I only have a problem when somebody hijacks a thread that I happen to be following.

So part of the answer to Flex overload is to tighten your personal filtering.  And don't feed the trolls - it's just like the ham bands & QRMers.

73 Martin AA6E

KF4HR

I'm not sure what's to gained by creating yet another Flex Forum (3 or more now?), especially considering the highest level of Flex SDR technical expertise (being FRS), will probably not be weighing in on any of the offsite threads.  For me it's easier to stick with the main Flex Forum, ignore the comments that rub me the wrong way, and move on.  

Besides, has anyone noticed nearly all the Flex Forum categories have experienced a decrease in  activity lately?

Darren G7DAZ

Hi Matt,
whilst i admire your idea/concept of a "moan" free forum i think (FWIW) it's doomed to failure; i'd like to be wrong. I do however wish you every success with it, but IMHO Utopia and public forums just don't mix.

73 de G7DAZ (Darren/Daz)

Patrick

It is best we keep, this forum a 2 way street.  The community has a right as paying customers to express opinions on management policies and decisions.  It is also a tool for Flex to answer questions about the same.  I do believe that the use of derogatory terms to describe those that have opinions is something that should be discouraged.  Users interpretation of language used is all over the map, and requires good judgement on part of the reader.  For the most part the forum has been pretty civil, and should not be changed.  

Mike VE3CKO

You have your opinion Pat, I have mine. Since when do paying customers all of sudden have rights? This isn't a constitutional thing, this is a corporate website. We are allow to post out of courtesy by the company, there is no law on the books that force companies to have a website and then a community for people to publicly say what ever they want. Again, my opinion, it is done out of courtesy and for the most part it could be seen as good customer relations and in general it fulfills that goal. Now for someone to post insulting opinions to and about management or employees in the past has  taken advantage of their goodwill and has no place on their website.

As per another forum, I joined one and it quickly became a sounding board for a **** of lot of  negative **** and I voiced my opinion and was banned. Where were my rights? Of course I have no rights, whomever the moderator is can do whatever they want with their forum and I respect that. Let this be what it is intended to be. Among the many intentions, I think this is and should continue to be a place for the community members to help one another whether is a new Flexradio owner or a long time user a new ham or an old timer looking to upgrade his or her shack.

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

Um, er, ah, yea......   Good luck with this.   The problem is, you need people to have a forum.
And us humans are far less than perfect.  Add to that the fact that half of the hams are so cheap they would **** about the cost of a $1.50 water bottle.   Add to that the fact that at least 5% of hams I meet are in dire need of a psychologist, and that is all it takes to ruin a forum.   Add to that the fact that the roughly 95% of customers that have a good experience with any product don't find time to post, but roughly 80% of customers who DO have a problem not only find time to post, but have a temper tantrum because life is not perfect and how DARE they be the one to get a warranty problem.
Um.  Yea.    Let's see how it turns out.

But look at the positive side; if you have the right attitude, a lounge chair, and a really good glass of wine, the trolls and MOH-ron's make for really good FREE entertainment, so what could possibly go wrong?  :-)  :-)

P.S.  I love my Flex 6600, but I also find the trolls somewhat amuzing.
And, if I am in that rare mood and have had a rough week at work, I do
admit that I have once or twice "poked the bear" to make a troll embarass
themselves, or me :-)

Cheers,

Neal

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

Oh, almost forgot to add;    Mike - VE3CKO is absolutely right.
There are too many people that think the Right of Free Speech applies universally.
I T    D O E S    N O T.    Wake up, and start reading.

Your rights of free speech are protected in terms of voicing your opinion about our political (sic) system, and speaking about ideas in a public place.   They simply DO NOT extend to business, corp world, employment, being sued when you slander a neighbor, etc.   They do not extend to yelling FIRE in a theatre when there is not.   They do not extend to insulting individuals. 
[That employee at Google who wrote the ranting Manifesto was awefully surprised when he
was summarily fired that day :-)]

FRS can and will do anything they wish with THEIR company forum.  
And after watching the BS on eham.net, I don't blame them one little bit.  It is a FLEX COMPANY
support forum, and they get to choose what type of messages their company servers host.
Your opinion and my opinion may not help them sell more product, or answer another customer's
support question, so they absolutely hold the right to delete it anytime they wish.

People that endlessly complain about that, well, um, er, ah, simply need a little more ed-You-kay-tion.
"The problem with people today is that NOBODY thinks.   A recent RAND study concluded that
about 15% of the public thinks.
Another 15% would like to think that they think.
Sadly, about 70% would rather be dead than think."
{The rest watch FOX news (sic)}   [Footnote 1}

Neal ducks under the table to avoid hams throwing filament transformers.....


FootNote 1:  Politics is derived from two Greek roots;
Poly means many,
and Tics are voracious blood **** kriters...

BL7IB

Oh no, did I lower the SNR of get satisfication or GMail?     Sorry.
I use a secondary email account to join chat group / mail reflector to maintain the SNR or primary email account.

Burt Fisher

This tells you all you need to know about his forum:

Patrick

You said it, “paying customer”, as simple as that.  A company needs feedback, I would not or don’t like companies that ignore customers.  And for the most part Flex does listen.  Nothing of this has to do with free speech.  I thank flex for providing a forum for discussion of technical and company policy.  For me the forum has been valuable. Although it can be frustrating at times.  The main problem, is, contributors that make their opinions personal and not pointed squarely at the problem or issue. This is the biggest failing of most forums.