Require call signs to post in the forum

Pat N6PAT

I think it would be beneficial to require a valid call sign as part of a forum members ID. A number of comments are posted without a call sign so there is no way to know if that person is even a ham.

Dave - W6OVP

Yes!

SteveM

Yes!, and by all means you of the church-lady attitude should be designated the official 6th-grade hall monitors for this site. You can be responsible for policing all of these pestilential people who will inevitably use borrowed calls with their accounts. I heartily agree with you that this site should be strictly dedicated to you and your tiny circle of like-minded friends where you would see, perhaps, an average of three **** posts per week.

Paul_Mills

Not a bad idea.

Steve K9ZW

FRS, as the community owner said no to this suggestion when the community was formed.

Perhaps their position has changed, though they felt they would encourage the voluntary inclusion of call signs without any requirement.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com

AC9S

Although I don't see it in the current offerings the 6700R would indicate an audience beyond Amateur Radio.

Keith - AC9S

Steve K9ZW

Not very certain how many 6700R models ended up in amateur hands, and as you point out they would have SWL (& other) uses.

There may well be other professional users who would not have an amateur call sign.

We know that some FRS Flex-6000 gear has gone into orbit, and they have mentioned some scientific uses for Flex-6000 gear.  

I don't think other than the very special orbital-ready versions has FRS mentioned any other custom versions, or non-amateur radio catalog versions.  Nor could we have a reason other than curiosity to ask them.

FRS feels that their commercial needs requires non-amateur/non-identified community users.  Guess it is their game, so it is their rules.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Blog:  http://k9zw.wordpress.com

Pat N6PAT

I've been a participant of this forum for a while now (over 900 posts) and I've yet to see anyone post a comment referencing the 6700R receiver.

Owning a receiver is a lot different than owning a transceiver and would probably not necessitate many questions ,if any, in a forum.

Mike VE3CKO

Well if the proposal to make it mandatory to have a call sign, then there will have to be staff to vet each call sign. Then it will still be up to the individual to have integrity. As from some certain frequencies there are some people out there with a call sign that should not be allow to key a transmitter let alone post in a forum
My opinion if resources have to be spent to police this forum go all the way, make everyone read and agree code of ethics which includes penalties for behaviour and targeting Flex employees and management.

Geoff AB6BT

I think this is just silly.

So do I need a pilot's license to post on a Cessna or Gulfstream forum?

Do I need a commercial driver's license to post on a Peterbilt forum?

Maybe we should restrict questions about certain frequency operation filtered by license class???

Just sayin...

Pat N6PAT

Why would you post on any of those forums unless you were a pilot or have a class C license?

Mike VE3CKO

Haven't you noticed over time, sometimes there are posts just to cause a stir in the community. It's all about the individual to have integrity and you can't police common sense. Not everyone can agree upon beliefs and standards, there will always be some degree of conflict how minor or major it can be.

KY6LA_Howard

Just because allegedly know who people are by their call sign - yes I sometimes get irked by anonymous posts- does not mean that they will use common sense when posting.

I can think of a lot of idiotic posts by people with call signs.

BTW....I raised the anonymous posting issue a few years ago and Flex decided that they did not want to be the call sign police nor did they want to preclude people without call signs from posting questions about the products.. Over the years several unlicensed newbies show up with real questions that invariably validated Flex's position.

Bottom Line:  if its an idiot.. i just ignore or delete them

Geoff AB6BT

Maybe I'm curious and have interest. Maybe I want more information from someone who IS a pilot or commercial driver.

Seems straightforward to me.

Geoff AB6BT

And yes Mike, I have noticed that.

I apologize for taking the bait.

I won't fan the flames anymore.

N2WQ

What exactly is the goal of this proposal? What difference does it make who they author is? And how you validate the call sign?

Jay Nation

I could care less about their callsign, but proof of actual Flexradio ownership might be useful. You don't mean to suggest that lying won't be a problem do you?.

Unenforceable!

Would be simpler to just shut the community down entirely.

     SDRgadgets

#FlexRadio IRC chat

   73, Jay - NO5J

David-N5PSM

Verified identity is the only suggestion that seems to me to have merit. 

Why not  a symbol next to the ID that indicates that the member posting has verified identity. (like QRZ does??)

Chris DL5NAM

It's easy: HAM Spirit - as we do in every QSO: we give our QSO partner our call sign and name.

For me it also has something to do with decency and respect - I do it even if it is not a requirement

73 Chris

Johan _ SE3X

Don't care very much for mandatory call signs, but I do appreciate those giving their call.

Why? I like to look them up on qrz.com and hopefully find an interesting presentation about; station equipment, antennas and possibly about the Op as well. Sitting on the other side of the "pond" it gives me a feeling for whom I have heard, had a QSO with and/or read a comment from.

Johan _ SE3X

Tnx for the like Ernest, W4EG. Immediately recognised you and your qrz page. I tried to work you not long ago, not sure but probably FTx.  I looked at your page and had a great reading. 

Working FTx it's easy to be a bit bored after those first 7.000 Q's i have made. Looking up calls on qrz does gives me a bit more than just a logged Q. With EU stations I often check their qrz pages before answering a CQ. Non or very little info, I might even move on and don't respond. 

Hope to have you in my log as well sometimes in the future

Steve KD2OM

Rather than have call sign police or any other restriction that would end up unenforceable, perhaps a common sense approach to "out of bandwidth" posts would be better. A recent post that has so much nonsense that would have been much shorter if it was just ignored. I joined this "community" to find out information on my Flexradio, everything else is unnecessary noise, including people who comment that some other radio/manufacturer is better/worse.  In my opinion the only valid posts are actual issues and fixes for Flexradio products. Please take the flaming and nonsense to other social media outlets and keep this one about technical and operating subjects.

73
Steve KD2OM

N2WQ

Again, what’s the end goal? What difference does it make who the poster is? What are you trying to achieve?

N2WQ

Signing QSOs with call signs is a regulatory requirement. This forum is not subject to any such regulations. In fact, requiring a call sign will be a major deviation from virtually the rear of the Internet forums, blogs, newspapers, etc.

David-N5PSM

The answer is obvious.

Signed........possibly by the real N5PSM..... maybe

David-N5PSM

I do not believe in restricting access,  However I would like to be able to have an indicator next to my call sign or my user name that my ID is verified.

Mike VE3CKO

I'm not on the side for mandatory call signs as it would be useless without verification. Why should Flexradio bare the cost of this? They shouldn't. Any discussion of call sign verification should then have a means of paying the costs for that. What about a PREMIUM ACCOUNT, $X amount per year to have their call signs verified by Flex staff and have their account flagged a premium member, kinda similar to QRZ. Most will opt out but surely some will right?
Then, what exactly will a verified call sign then accomplish? What benefits to this community? Is it worth the cost/time to setup and maintain?

Jay Nation

Your user account name is plenty, especially when it includes an optional callsign.
and the content of your posts over time, reinforces the validity of your anonymous posts.
Totally anonymous posts should be considered to be junk, or misinformation, without ID or some history.

I ignore anonymously posted content. until I make up my mind about their validity.

Let the readers be cautious.

    SDRgadgets

#FlexRadio IRC chat

   73, Jay - NO5J

Rick N0VT

I'd rather see a requirement that postings have some sort of merit--a legitimate question or comment.  No whining, no propaganda.

73, Rick WR0H

Burt Fisher

You woulds be the merit judge?

Patrick

I agree with Howard, and others that a ham call requirement is discriminatory towards the very people who need to be cultivated. In fact I would say that none hams, and those interested in ham radio and Flex are very much positive participants in the forum.  Most negative posts are actually fellow hams.  So having a narrow requirement would be meaningless.