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burner50
Proud Union THUG
Premium Member
join:2002-06-05
Iowa

burner50 to GeekNJ

Premium Member

to GeekNJ

Re: RadioReference.com Change

I am a Global Mod over there in the forums as well as a Database Administrator.

I have always wondered how he could afford the massive hosting costs associated with the live audio platform as the incredible costs were the reason that it was agreed that he would take over Scanamerica.com

As far as those who are screaming about the only perk being taken away, it wasn't that long ago that there was no live audio platform and people were stuck paying the $2.50 PER MONTH to have the ability to program their scanner by directly downloading the data from radioreference.com

The database will still be free as it always has been, and the streaming audio will still be free. Not only that, but the free version of the live audio will include way more than even the paid service provides now.

If anyone has any wuestions I will do my best to answer them (unofficially of course).

Robotics
See You On The Dark Side
Premium Member
join:2003-10-23
Louisa, VA

Robotics

Premium Member

Maybe I have been reading it wrong on their forum. I feel a little dumb here so I must ask since you Mod over there.

I have not had to do this yet, but soon our area will be doing the narrow band thing, and some depts. quite possibly will be going digital, which means I would have to purchase another scanner.

If I have to get another scanner, I understand at present I can get downloads for the scanner from the site free for now since I provide a feed.
But after the change I will no longer get this free as a provider?
Is that correct? Or am i misreading it.

Thanks

burner50
Proud Union THUG
Premium Member
join:2002-06-05
Iowa

burner50

Premium Member

said by Robotics:

Maybe I have been reading it wrong on their forum. I feel a little dumb here so I must ask since you Mod over there.

I have not had to do this yet, but soon our area will be doing the narrow band thing, and some depts. quite possibly will be going digital, which means I would have to purchase another scanner.

If I have to get another scanner, I understand at present I can get downloads for the scanner from the site free for now since I provide a feed.
But after the change I will no longer get this free as a provider?
Is that correct? Or am i misreading it.

Thanks

The biggest part of a Paid Premium subscription is that your programming software can reach out to RR, and download all the information that you select.

Without the paid premium subscription (or free premium for current feed providers), you still have access to the database, nothing is hidden from you, but you would have to enter all of the information into your software or your scanner manually.

If you have the data saved already, you may still be able to export it from your current software and import it into your new... You would not need a premium subscription for this.

GeekNJ
Premium Member
join:2000-09-23
Waldwick, NJ

GeekNJ to burner50

Premium Member

to burner50
From what I would personally think as well as what those that seemed to voice their displeasure in the thread before it was closed, the perk associated with providing a feed in the new model/site isn't anything the feed providers are looking for. They were enjoying the perk of the premium sub on radioreference.com associated with the database.

As someone else pointed out, it's referenced as $2.50/mo but it's more accurately $30/yr since you aren't paying month/month. So though the site owner is touting the new "perk" as an $83.40 perk, if you don't want anything the perk offers it's useless. So the folks that did want the current perk are now out $30/yr.

Is $30/yr a lot if it's an important hobby to you - no. But I dropped my $30/yr geocaching.com sub and others such as my XM radio in 2 car subscription, multiple magazine subs, etc because in the end, I was spending hundreds/thousands a year on subs. At some point, enough monthly fees is enough and people make a choice. I happily paid my QRZ.com annual subscription as it's a primary hobby and the value I get is tremendous. I'm sure many will feel the same about radioreference.com if that's a primary hobby, but I think there will be some fallout.

I posted this in the thread but the site owner never responded:

Current cost of site access to RR features for current feed providers: [$0]
Future cost of site access to RR + BCify for current feed providers: [$30]

Current cost of site access to features for RR paid subscribers: [$30]
Future cost of site access to features to RR + BCify for current RR paid subscribers: [$113.40]

If that's filled out, I imagine the expense will be obvious. I could be wrong, but I filled it out with what I think the answer is.

Zack
@katzmidas.com

Zack to burner50

Anon

to burner50
I'm a feed provider and I'm with everybody else that voiced their displeasure to the change. I'm going to be shutting my feeds down also, which means "Broadcastify" will lose their "inventory". Can't really sell "inventory if it's not there"

I don't listen to other feeds. I enjoy the ability to download right into my other scanners as a premium service. That's why I host a feed - for the ease of use of Radio Reference to quickly update my scanners.

People post frequencies, and other content that drive the site for pure pleasure. It's a smybiotic relationship. The fact that he closed the thread shows exactly the problem - and he knows he made a mistake. If the feed costs are the issue, then shutdown the site and somebody else will take over (which I'm sure somebody else will anyway).

I'm upset, but life will go on and I save my bandwidth, get a couple scanners freed up, get a computer freed up, and save some monthly cash by not paying either of his sites.

Robotics
See You On The Dark Side
Premium Member
join:2003-10-23
Louisa, VA

Robotics

Premium Member

Yeah him closing that thread hit me the wrong way. He also didn't answer to my point/question.

But closing it to end all discussion of the subject he started in the first place made me flash back to the days I used to visit QRZ. But as soon (and it didn't take long) as I realized the attitude of the owner of QRZ and his bozo buddies, I got out.

And more OT...Ham radio and operators just isn't the same as I remember it many years ago.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Did you ever notice that the very people that do this are the same ones that are usually the first to call someone else out for doing the same?