OUTSTANDING! He says about The Sub-driver Gazette!

[Kazzer]

Edward Szczepanski
User


Posted on: 27 April 2011 07:05 AM

Your publication is outstanding. It's very informative and interesting. I'm an 80 year old modeler who has taken on an interest in subs. The mind tries but the body says "you have got to be kidding" when it comes to flying. This area of RC is going to be something I can share with the grandkids. Keep up the great job. I look forward to every issue.

Best regards,
Ed S.

Thanks Ed!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Now, that was a pleasure to read.

You were right about the Internet magazine, Mike. I think we have a winner here.

David,

[Slats]

I like it too Mike, - informative and on the money. A good read with no fillers, no BS, just good content.
Readability is pitched to all comers to the hobby. A FREE resource too - bound to hit the mark with new guys and seasoned skippers alike.
J

[Rpmtech1]

Yeah I agree, its looking good.

[RCSubGuy]

Very much worth the read every time! If you can keep up with content, you've got a real winner here, Mike!

[Kazzer]

Very much worth the read every time! If you can keep up with content, you've got a real winner here, Mike!

Thanks Bob

I'm already half way through the June edition, so I think we should be good. However, this isn't a monthly thing, its a case of if I have anything to publish - or not. I'm excited about our new mailing program, which allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe on their own. It also deletes bounced mail members too.
Hopefully this will be up and running on the next issue.

[greenman407]

Just printed out my edition to the #3 Gazette. All I got to say is WOW! Dave, you put your heart and soul into this one. Now I have the answers to many of my questions concerning assembling your subdrivers. Thanks! Joel Stadnick and Al Nuci, you are dedicated men. Thanks for sharing with us your craft. Mark Green, you ol rascall you! Keep those pictures coming! And thank you Mike for making it all happen!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

There are so many 'instructions' I should be writing for product. I think you've hit on just one of the things this rag (The SubDriver Gazette) can do, Mark: help people not only understand, but learn how to use some of the more exotic products offered by the Caswell Company.

And this rag is much more than a simple house organ. Mike's got a winner here. I, Joel, Al, Rick, and others will keep the submissions going in -- and this thing will grow. I love that it's a free-form collection of current work; no editorializing; no columns; no politics; no bull-****. The SubDriver Gazette is, simply, a log of what the best in the game today are up to. (Now, if we can only get a few of the German's on board!).

A few more issues and this on-line magazine of ours will become what the SubCommittee Report USED to be: the place to go for NEW, innovative, and useful information for those interested in the Craft of model submarining; featuring the writings and pictures from the experts in the field today.

And the price, per issue, is not much to pay either, is it?

(How much are SC dues these days?)

David,

[Slats]

A few more issues and this on-line magazine of ours will become what the SubCommittee Report USED to be: the place to go for NEW, innovative, and useful information for those interested in the Craft of model submarining; featuring the writings and pictures from the experts in the field today.


David,

Yes 100% agree, the older SCR are where the gold was....it lost a lot of relevance with the birth of the Net and the dumbing down of the hobby per se. Filling 64 pages set un realistic goal once the masters such as yourself were drowned out by noise, screen plays and other bull****.
You can't have an association hanging off the sucess or failure of a magazine.

[Subculture]

The success or failure of any organisation, club society et al relies solely on the enthusiasm, dedication and application of its membership.

To achieve great things doesn't require huge numbers of people, but they need to have a clear purpose, and work together (e.g. no silly bickering).

I've maintained for a long time that printed magazines are quickly becoming obsolete. The internet is a much better medium for promoting this hobby and for sharing information, not least because it allows a level of interaction that printed copy can't hope to compete against. In addition the overheads are tiny when compared with the cost of printing and distributing a weighty publication.

One area that it does fall down on, is lack of an editor. Or in other words beware of bogus information.

[Kazzer]

............................... One area that it does fall down on, is lack of an editor. Or in other words beware of bogus information.

I find that editing the offerings for this Gazette is easy, especially as I have a formatted template, so photo resizing is straightforward. English Grammar has always been an easy subject for me having five years at an English Grammar school, but I really try hard not to lose the 'essence' of another person's work. Vicious editing can ruin an author's literary character.

I hope to improve the layout in the near future and I'm booking myself into the Apple School, one-on-one, for some tuition.

Andy, your comments over the years about Internet publishing were not wasted on me. It was simply a case of figuring out how to do it. I had much practice editing out Merriman's cussing from his famous Cabal Reports to make them 'family friendly'.
Anyhow, enough of my silly twaddle - lets get back to work!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The success or failure of any organisation, club society et al relies solely on the enthusiasm, dedication and application of its membership.

To achieve great things doesn't require huge numbers of people, but they need to have a clear purpose, and work together (e.g. no silly bickering).

I've maintained for a long time that printed magazines are quickly becoming obsolete. The internet is a much better medium for promoting this hobby and for sharing information, not least because it allows a level of interaction that printed copy can't hope to compete against. In addition the overheads are tiny when compared with the cost of printing and distributing a weighty publication.

One area that it does fall down on, is lack of an editor. Or in other words beware of bogus information.

Andy has been the main advocate of magazine format change for years -- He's the guy who best articulated how cumbersome traditional magazines are as compared with the immediacy, next to zero production cost, and utility of material presented directly on the Internet. Mike Caswell's, The SubDriver Gazette, came about, in no small part, because of Andy's observations and advocacy.

The bickering Andy speaks of is an intrinsic part of any group. Even more so if you put a bunch of talented (and opinionated) people, unsupervised, in a room for too long ... only one of them (well bloodied) will leave standing. Hence the need for Editors and Monitors. The type of Editor drives not only the technical content, but the spirit of a journal: If the Editor is more interested in numbers of participants than useful content, he'll go the PC route: appealing to the many, but retarding the advance of the Craft by alienating the talented ... and you get the SCR of today.

However, if the Editor is willing to suffer the sometimes questionable presentation of his technically astute authors, and he steers true to his stated goal of presenting cutting edge, useful information on the subject at hand, then that Editor will present material that may alienate some, but will be of critical value to those actually interested in participating in the Craft the periodical promotes.

(The Editors of the SCR who followed the great Gene Berger, knowing the great expense and risk the magazine presents the SubCommittee, have played it safe as to magazine content, courting 'friendly' authors. Leaving we meat-eaters -- the inventors, innovators, and risk-takers -- at the door with hat in hand. The result is a family friendly magazine full of regurgitated information; information first passed on to the current 'experts' by the real experts years before).

I've had at least three Internet sites set up just for me to spout my activities in the r/c submarine arena. Why? Because, in America, I'm The Guy in this field. Each one of those forums eventually failed or became something else because the Editor/Monitor either forgot that I was the Star Attraction; or, as more contributors and readers came on board, some people within the swelled ranks found themselves embarrassed by some of the things I had to say. Even the traditional magazine, the SCR, for a period of time, was my Oyster; people read it in no small part BECAUSE my works were presented there -- that came to an end when the SubCommittee in its entirety became PC; the Editors became more interested in growing membership than maintaining the initial organizations mission of growing the Craft.

No one in this game knows better than me the 'life-cycle' of a hard-hitting, informative periodical -- I've been at the start, and end, of several as the featured attraction. Each began with the Editor convinced that my works and thoughts were indispensable to the discussion. And ended with the Editor convinced that my thoughts and works were killing any potential growth of the forum/publication/journal. But, I don't think that will happen with the SubDriver Gazette: We have, as Editor, a guy who is as nasty and opinionated as me, and contributors who are real peers of mine. I like this little club-house of ours. A place where I can pull up a chair, slug down a drink or two, and pontificate without caution, caring little who's within ear-shot.

Yeah ... I like it here!

[Kazzer]

Andy has been the main advocate of magazine format change for years ..............blah.......blah.........blah........ .........But, I don't think that will happen with the SubDriver Gazette: We have, as Editor, a guy who is as nasty and opinionated as me, and contributors who are real peers of mine. I like this little club-house of ours. A place where I can pull up a chair, slug down a drink or two, and pontificate without caution, caring little who's within ear-shot.

Yeah ... I like it here!

Good grief! How long did THAT take to type in? Get back to work!

[Outrider]

These have been great reads so far. The SubDriver article was particularly timely for me, as I had started assembling a SubDriver kit. These articles have thusfar filled a nice gap between instructions and video--though they won't replace the need for either.

I've been thinking about sustainment, simply because I'd like to ride this wave for a good long time and not see it peter out unexpectedly. No doubt that there's an ample amount of talent available to tap--so that's not a problem. I think it would be good to make sure there's a good list of topics available to farm out to the help, though. In keeping with this, there ought to be a system for collecting good article topics. One suggested topic for the Wiz: adding an LBP to an older SubDriver to make it Snort capable.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I'll simply pretend I did not read Mr. Caswell's comment.

Jim: That's a great idea. Generate a topic agenda. And, while we're at it, our authors can tackle specific questions from the Great Unwashed. I have a lot of old material that can be dug up and polished up -- enough to cover just about any topic or question presented for discussion.

David,