Conference vmszoo::rc

You constantly run into this problem with "hobby" and "interest"
publications.

I have always been interested in stereo and photography.  I first ran into 
this problem with the magazines like Stereo Review and Popular Photography. 
The problem is that much of the revenue obtained is from advertisments.  
Any advertiser would think twice about paying a fee to place an ad in a 
magazine which rates its product as poor or even merely adequate.

On rare occassion a magazine is found that (usually at a premium price) 
honsetly rates the products.  A publication called Absoulute Sound is an 
example of this.  Has anyone seen an RC publication comparable?

I guess for now, I try to read between the lines on reviews and use public 
conferences such as this one to check out product evaluations.

Cheers
B-

Yes, most magazines have admitted at one time or another that they don't
      publish unfavorable reviews, because of advertising revenue.  Once
      in a while, for instance MAN is great for this, a mag will anounce
      a 'new honest review policy', but this goes away quickly, and Mary
      Sunshine comes back to do the same old song and dance... 

      They will generally criticize a product if: 1) the manufacturer
      has corrected the fault, or 2) its a nit that is easily overcome
      by some building technique, like a gusset in a place the reviewer
      feels should have one.
      
      I find reviews interesting for what is NOT said, rather than what
      is said.  And especially for what is NOT reviewed!  In this light,
      I am impressed that the 1991 systems from World and Polks have
      been reviewed extensively.

      There is a new publication out, called Model Shopper, or something
      like that which is reputed to "tell it like it is", but I haven't
      looked it over, so I can't say.

    I was always amused by some of the justifications for this kind of
    thing, generally along the lines of: "Well, there's only so much
    space in the magazine, and we'd much rather tell you about the good
    stuff than warn you away from the bad stuff." as well as "We review
    good and bad stuff, but only have space in the magazine for the
    good stuff."
    
    Willie

    Different hobby, but...
    
    One mag I get only reviews the good stuff, so if you don't
    see it reviewed, it wasn't any good. Only one time in 15 years
    of reading can I recall them slamming anything. It was a company
    that had been around for years (but *not* one of their major adver-
    tisers), but their QC went down the tubes. The review said they used 
    to be good, but the latest stuff is way off spec so don't buy it. 
    Interestingly enough, reader reaction was one of outrage. 7-8 years 
    later it's still remembered as the time they "tried to put that 
    company out of business". And no, they haven't printed a really 
    critical review since.

    DougT

Maybe there is an opportunity here.  I can start a magazine called
"RC Negative Reviews".  I expect when I buy a kit that everything
is perfect and only comment on the negative aspects.

This Months Feature Articles:
=============================

Why OS four strokes kick props and are they liable for it.
		by One Eyed Willy
How can Polk Hobbies stay in business with only cheap crap products?
		by Disappointed Consumer
Is Tower Hobbies ripping us off on shipping and handling charges?
		by Five Buck Freddy
Why ROG electrics don't ROG.
		by Hand Launch Harry
Getting started in RC for $200 + an uncle who owns a hobby shop.
		by Bait N. Switch
Which ARF kits take over 100 hours to complete.
		by Easy Builder
Futaba servos incompatibility issues - AM, FM, PCM, 1024.
		by Plug N. Paul

Standard columns:
=================

Mechanics Nightmare - reviews of junk engines
		by Frank Frump
Circuit Breaker - electric motor reviews
		by Wimpy Jones
Current Issues - battery facts
		by Smokey Charge
Trainer News - who claims to make a good trainer today
		by Isit Funyet
Hot Air - Ducted fans facts 
		by Eating Runway

Up coming in next months issue:
===============================

Is 1991 going to have a schedule slip?
Let's give up and control planes with paging systems.
Why can't props come balanced?
Is there any fuel that works in Saito engines?
Glow plugs would be cheap if you could find a good one.
Will Ni-Starters ever stay on the plug?
Who makes the worst Cub?
Acton Ma 495th club files suit against Acton Soccer club for noise!




Bye          --+--
Kay R. Fisher  |	Editor of "RC Dirt"
---------------O---------------
================================================================================

    Damn, Kay, that was well done.
    
    Only another old time DECie could even conceive of the calendar
    itself having a schedule slip.
    
    Alton who-once-shipped-a-product-on-April-35th-because-he-had-
          promised-to-ship-it-before-the-end-of-April-and-DEC-
          engineering-keeps-its-promises

>    ANY TAKERS ???

Actually the K::RC1.mem file is an attempt at that.  In RC2.mem which is
not available yet there are many more produce reviews.  It is a
collection of everything that is said in notes.  In the case of kits
and engines there is a section for each.  For instance there is a
section devoted to opinions about OS engines.  When RC2 in released for
instance it would include your comment about OS bearing rusting
problems.

If you haven't seen it yet - please copy K::RC1.mem off my uVAX and give
me some feedback.  It is based on the old notes file and is much smaller
than RC2.mem will be.

Bye          --+--
Kay R. Fisher  |
---------------O---------------
================================================================================
                             

    Well, I guess someone is listing to modelers complaints!!
    
    I just received the following...
    
    "R/C Report" magazine Serving R/C model aircraft enthusiasts
    everywhere.
    
    For over 2 years now, R/C Report has been rocking the industry with
    honest, candid, and frank Product Test Reports.  We've lost a few
    advertisers because of our reports, but we've also become the fastest
    growing R/C magazine in the country!  With R/C Report, the reader
    is boss, not industry and/or advertisers.  No other magazine responds
    as quickly to reader input.
    
    It goes on to talk about its benefits...  One important note for
    some of you, it deals strickly with r/c aircraft; no boats, cars
    free flight or control line.
    
    The address is...
    
    		R/C Report
    		Subscriptions Dept
    		P.O. Box 1706
    		Huntsville, AL  35807
    		205-551-0862
    
    Subscriptions rates are $10.00 for 12 months, $18 for 24 months
    and $24 for 36 months.  You can also get a sample copy for $1.50
    (which is what I am going to do).  They do take M/C or VISA plastic.
    
    cheers,
    jeff
    

    I just ordered a 2 year subscription and talked with the publisher
    for a few minutes.  Here's what I found out:
    
    1.  It is a monthly B&W newpaper type tabloid (They do some color)
    2.  They depend primarily on the subscribers for revenue to support
        the paper.  Advertisers are kept to a minimum.
    3.  It's primary focus is R/C airplanes, but they have an every
        other month Helicopter feature.
    4.  Their focus is towards the modeller and not the manufacturers.
        The person I spoke with (sorry forgot name) took the time to
        ask me about my interests and where I fly at.  It appears to
        me that they are indeed geared for us, the R/C modeller.
    
    The January issue just went out so It will be a month before I get
    the Feb. issue.  My 2 cents will follow after I get a few issues.
    
    
    Chris

Well, the model press has done it again.  To date, the three magazines I take,
Model Aviation, Model Airplane News and Scale R/C Modeler, have all published
coverage of the Top Gun contest held in Florida this past April.  To the man
(or, should that be mag?), these articles have all contained glowing accounts
of the meet, either ignoring or, in one case, complimenting the hostile judging 
and contest management situation that existed, provoking the almost universal
response from virtually all the competitors, that "I enjoyed myself _in_spite_
of the contesst."

I have, by now, talked to no fewer than 8-Masters-class pilots who attended
Top Gun and their stories are so similar as to be almost Xerox copies of each
other.  These people, whose attitudes and personalities are extremely diverse, 
are unanimous in their statement(s) that the judging was unnecessarily rigid and
arbitrary to the extent that the judges, in concert with contest management,
combined to assume an adversarial position _against_ the competitors.  This
created what these people have described as one of the worst contest environ-
ments any had ever been exposed to.  Several described it as being on a level
with (or worse than) the AMA Nats which has earned for itself one of the least
complimentary reputations on the contest scene, and deservedly so.

But, did our model media tell-it-like-it-was for the edification of their read-
ership and (hopefully) the improvement of future Top Gun's?  Nope!  As usual,
they chose instead to gloss everything over in a shower of superlatives unearned
by the actual meet, this, no doubt, in the interest of avoiding possible alien-
ation of advertisers and powerful sponsors connected with the contest.

A rousing boo-hisssssssss to the model press as a whole; I unreservedly present
them, collectively, with my own version of the "Golden Fleece" award for their 
unabashed _lack_ of journalistic integrity...Oz's "Cowardly Lion" would have 
been justifiably proud of them!  Sure makes you wonder how much to believe in
those product reviews, doesn't it ?!

    
    Just a few comments regarding the recent notes where we 
    bashed around the modern glitzy mags.  I don't change my
    mind, I really think that in general the model press
    misses the mark, however I must agree with you Kay in what
    you say about Model Builder - good stuff if you're interested
    in all phases of the hobby, as most of us are.  I can't agree
    with you though about RCM.  Yeah, sometimes you find some
    nuggets but for the most part articles are short, lack depth,
    and are so hard to find amongst the catalogs.
    
    I've just recently begun a subscription to "R/C Report", 
    definitely not glitz and gloss.  A tabloid type news medium
    and product report, would probably not impress a lot of
    readers because of its apparent lack of good photos and color,
    but it's humorous and calls it like it is.
    
    I just got my August issue this morning and haven't gone through
    it yet, but on the first page. editors notes, I see that they are
    entering their 4th year.  Also see that Circus is phasing out of
    mail order business, will pass it over to Hobby Dynamics Distr..
    Also see that they are picking up Art Schroeder (ex MAN) as a
    contributing columnist starting next month.  That should be good.
    
    Regards,  John

You might want to check out the Gremlin construction article in the December
1992 R/C Modeler. It was written and designed by a DECcie and several of us are
shown in the opening group shot. This plane has been flown by and discussed
heavily in the csteam::decrcm local notesfile.

All right!  Good going DECRCM'ers and congratulations to the Evil One.