Subject: Guide to Ham Radio Newsgroups on Internet
(Note:  The following is reprinted with the permission of the author.)

This message describes the rec.radio.amateur.*, rec.radio.cb, and
rec.radio.swap newsgroups. It is intended to serve as a guide for the new
reader on what to find where. Questions and comments may be directed to the
author, Jay Maynard, K5ZC, by Internet electronic mail at
jmaynard@oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu. This message was last changed on 3 June 1992.

History
=======

Way back when, before there was a Usenet, the Internet hosted a mailing list
for hams, called (appropriately enough) INFO-HAMS. Ham radio discussions
were held on the mailing list, and sent to the mailboxes of those who had
signed up for it. When the Usenet software was created, and net news as we
now know it was developed, a newsgroup was created for hams: net.ham-radio.
The mailing list and the newsgroup were gatewayed together, eventually.

As the net grew, and as packet radio came into vogue, packet discussion began
to dominate other topics in the group and on the list. This resulted in the
logical solution: a group was created to hold the packet discussion, and
another corresponding mailing list was created as well: net.ham-radio.packet
and PACKET-RADIO, respectively.

These two groups served for several years, and went through Usenet's Great
Renaming essentially unchanged, moving from net.ham-radio[.packet] to
rec.ham-radio[.packet]. Readership and volume grew with the rest of the
network.

The INFO-HAMS mailing list was originally run from a US Army computer at
White Sands Missile Range, SIMTEL20. There were few problems with this
arrangement, but one was that the system was not supposed to be used for
commercial purposes. Since one of hams' favorite pastimes is swapping
gear, it was natural for hams to post messages about equipment for sale
to INFO-HAMS/rec.ham-radio. This ran afoul of SIMTEL20's no-commercial-use
restriction, and after some argument, a group was created specifically
for messages like that: rec.ham-radio.swap. This group wasn't gatewayed to
a mailing list, thus avoiding problems.

While all this was happening, other folks wanted to discuss other aspects
of the world of radio than the personal communications services. Those
folks created the rec.radio.shortwave and rec.radio.noncomm newsgroups,
and established the precedent of the rec.radio.* hierarchy, which in turn
reflected Usenet's overall trend toward a hierarchical name structure.

The debate between proponents of a no-code ham radio license and its
opponents grew fierce and voluminous in late 1989 and 1990. Eventually,
both sides grew weary of the debate, and those who had not been involved
even more so. A proposal for a newsgroup dedicated to licensing issues
failed. A later proposal was made for a group that would cover the many
recurring legal issues discussions. During discussion of the latter
proposal, it became clear that it would be desirable to fit the ham radio
groups under the rec.radio.* hierarchy. A full-blown reorganization was
passed by Usenet voters in January 1991, leading to the structure we now use.

The Current Groups
==================

I can hear you asking, "OK, so this is all neat history, but what does it
have to do with me now?" The answer is that the history of each group has
a direct bearing on what the group is used for, and what's considered
appropriate where.

The easy one is rec.radio.amateur.misc. It is what rec.ham-radio was renamed
to during the reorganization. Any message that's not more appropriate in one
of the other groups belongs here, from contesting to DX to ragchewing on VHF
to information on becoming a ham.

The group rec.radio.amateur.packet is for discussions related to (surprise!)
packet radio. This doesn't have to be the common two-meter AX.25 variety
of packet radio, either; some of the most knowledgable folks in radio digital
communications can be found here, and anything in the general area is welcome.

The swap group is now rec.radio.swap. This recognizes a fact that became
evident shortly after the original group was formed: Hams don't just swap
ham radio gear, and other folks besides hams swap ham equipment. If you have
radio equipment, or test gear, or computer stuff that hams would be
interested in, here's the place. Equipment wanted postings belong here too.
Discussions about the equipment generally don't; if you wish to discuss
a particular posting with the buyer, email is a much better way to do it,
and the other groups are the place for public discussions. There is now a
regular posting with information on how to go about buying and selling items
in rec.radio.swap; please refer to it before you post there.

The reorganization added two groups to the list, one of which is
rec.radio.amateur.policy. This group was created as a place for all the
discussions that seem to drag on interminably about the many rules,
regulations, legalities, and policies that surround amateur radio, both
existing and proposed. The neverending no-code debate goes here, as does
the New Jersey scanner law, the legality of ordering a pizza on the
autopatch, what a bunch of rotten no-goodniks the local frequency
coordinating body is, and so on.

The other added group is rec.radio.cb. This is the place for all discussion
about the Citizens' Band radio service. Such discussions have been very
inflammatory in rec.ham-radio in the past; please do not cross-post to both
rec.radio.cb and rec.radio.amateur.* unless the topic is genuinely of interest
to both hams and CBers - and very few topics are.

The rec.radio.amateur.misc, .packet, and .policy groups are available by
Internet electronic mail in digest format; send a mail message containing
"help" on a line by itself to listserv@ucsd.edu for details. You can also post
to rec.radio.swap by sending email to rec-radio-swap@ucbvax.berkeley.edu; if
you do it this way, be sure to include an address for responses by electronic
mail, as the gateway does not automatically do so.  

A Note on Crossposting
======================

Please do not crosspost messages to two or more groups unless there is genuine
interest in both groups in the topic being discussed, and when you do, please
include a header line of the form "Followup-To: group.name" in your article's
headers (before the first blank line). This will cause followups to your
article to go to the group listed in the Followup-To: line. If you wish
to have replies to go to you by email, rather than be posted, use the word
"poster" instead of the name of a group. Such a line appears in the headers
of this article.

-- 
Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmaynard@oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu      | adequately be explained by a .sig virus.
"Liking clean systems and hating buggy ones is about as controversial as
      preferring a warm puppy to the cholera bacillus." -- Tom Neff

--
73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU

pschleck@unomaha.edu