I will come out and say it: Julian's videos, while informative and entertaining at times, feel much more like hidden paid promotions from his partners. Hiding the paid promotions or nature of sponsorships by YouTube content creators is a long running problem. Maybe I am wrong and if so I apologize. However, he has a long running history of not being fully open about products he reviews. I have asked multiple times why he didn't update his review of the new Alpha portable antennas since his initial review years ago. He didnt have a problem bashing the old models but never reviewed the updated versions of the same products. He also talks a lot about chameleon antennas, while almost never showing how to build the same antennas for pennies on the dollar. Perhaps he has updated his reviews in the past months or years so I may very well be out of date on my opinion. However, he and the videosbymike guy both seemed like they were shilling their respective preferred manufacturers at the time...and that turned me off of both those channels.
My recommendation would be to do as much research as one can on any product before purchasing. Julian is only one resource, and he certainly isn't obligated to re-review equipment or demonstrate a cheaper way to make something identical to a commercial product. To say otherwise seems unfair and unreasonable. I think those who criticize Julian's videos have an obligation to belly up and go make a Chameleon antenna for pennies on the dollar and post it up to QRZ. Frankly, when someone generously gives of themselves for the betterment of the hobby, it irks me to no end when others who have never posted even one instructional video for the Ham community throw stones. Take his videos for what they are, full disclosure or not. I chair FD for my association, and no matter how much effort and energy I put into it there are always several crotchety old hams who are never happy or satisfied, and they are more than happy to tell me how I failed in a public forum. Funny how they never volunteer for squat.
His videos are monetized IIRC. Altruism isn't the only reason for producing amateur radio content on YT. DISCLOSURES absolutely matter...both from a legal standpoint, professional standpoint and ethical standpoint.
The only reason commercial ham radio equipment exists as it is today is because there is profit in it. Monetization of YT videos for profit, whether you're a ham operator or a pop star is not forbidden by the FCC. I have yet to see a YT video where someone states in writing up front: "Before you click this video I am legally, professionally and ethically bound to tell you I make a profit from it." Please link me to examples where you are seeing this on YT. Regarding full disclosure of whether or not equipment is donated to Julian for review, it really doesn't matter. He's presenting a review of the gear where he opines and actually shows it to you operating so you can see for yourself... and one can accept that information or reject it. If he chooses not to state where he got the gear and that bothers some people then don't click. If you go to Julian's gear site https://oh8stn.org/gear-shop/ he clearly states: "Using these links doesn’t cost the buyer anything extra, but goes along way to support my efforts, servers, components & parts, and production costs." He's telling you straight up that his passion for video sharing his field radio operations experiences with other hams is being leveraged into making money so he can continue to share them with us. If all of this still isn't good enough and you need a binary response, then to solve that problem just tell yourself that all commercial gear Julian reviews is donated by a company. Many of the videos Julian has are on his home made gear, such as his LiFePo power pack and he explains in detail why he chose the components he did and construction techniques. Where does full disclosure need to end? Does he need to state who donated the electrical tape? The Powerpoles? How about if he posts up his tax returns, would that make it better?
May be off limits for ARRL contests. But think about what Field Day was meant to be, "Emergency Communication Response". So 30 meters is allowed to make contacts, ( Just not for contesting ) . I work field day to make contacts to find out where my strengths and weakness are, I do not participate in contests. After all during an MOCK emergency you will use any Amature Radio band to make contacts. I live in an area where we get snow and cold weather, I also participate in winter field day, after all a disaster can happen when the weather is not so accommodating. 73,
Not to you, perhaps. It does matter to me, as well as others. I want to know if he has any pecuniary interest in the product he's reviewing. If he does, it's not strictly a review - it's also an advertisement. The electrical tape? The Powerpoles? Now you're just being silly. Components such as resistors, capacitors, and the like - no. "Components", more accurately sub-assemblies, such as solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, and the like - YES! Now you're just being silly again. But to answer your question, no.
It's not a matter of what Field Day was meant to be. The matter is that the WARC bands are very narrow compared to our other HF bands (excluding the channelized 60-meter band, which is also very narrow). Therefore, the WARC bands are ill suited for the amount of activity that contesting and other "operating events" can generate. This doesn't need to fall prey to the bottomless pit of semantic obfuscation...
You make a good point, but if you read my comment I said something like I do not do contesting on field day, I do make contacts on all of the HF bands for the purpose of knowing where my coverage is going. also I just enjoy making meaningful exchanges with other hams. I use CW mode only. Those of you that want to score points and enjoy that, to each his own. 73,
Amen. i.e. That's why I no longer trust amateurlogic.tv reviews. They're heavily supported by Icom and it's hard to believe they'll ever have a bad thing to say about them. Or overly say a good thing about a competitor. Now their show is a good fraction of Icom fanboy spots. The very reason I'd never accept "sponsorship". No product is always, if ever, perfect. And I'd hate to ever feel as if I were obligated to withhold that. For the sake of the viewers, if not my own beliefs.
Now if only people would do that with their "news" sources. If you're only watching CNN, MSNBC or FOX, you'll never be truly fair-and-balanced.
This is the reason I trust almost NO YouTube content creators who "review" products. The pecuniary interests are obvious. Also, this issue isn't related to Amateur Radio. It extends to ALL forms of entertainment. See the following link where Electronic Arts engaged in deceptive practices with YouTubers in order to promote video games: https://www.cinemablend.com/games/E...ng-Battlefield-4-Need-Speed-Rivals-61793.html I believe, personally, that Julian engages in deceptive marketing practices. He hasn't fully disclosed his pecuniary interests regarding the companies that "donate" gear to his channel. Is this the actual case? I don't know and I cannot prove it but the hallmarks of hidden promotions are clear to me. I will caveat with this: I can say that many operators can take nuggets of wisdom from Julian's channel. We can see things that we can incorporate into our own operations. For example, I've used his videos to setup a WolphiLink system in the past (I also believe the Wolphilink was a donated / sponsored piece of equipment). My MAIN fear is in regards to the new and prospective operators. They may see these videos, research the prices of his sponsored gear, and simply check out due to the perceived high costs of getting into the hobby or getting into portable HF. My original point stands: Julian spends a lot of time discussing Chameleon antennas while not discussing how to build the SAME antenna for pennies on the dollar. A simple home brew dipole or end-fed antenna can be built for next to nothing but the OP seems content on shilling FAR OVERPRICED antennas. This poses a problem for growing the hobby...IMHO of course.
I was shocked on returning to ham radio to find that you could even buy a commercial dipole. A center insulator with a coax connector, sure, better yet with a 1:1 balun, ok, but buying "a dipole?" WTF was with that? It's just said center insulator and a hunk of wire. A couple more insulators on the end. Not only is it easy to make, it's virtually as easy to make your own as to erect one you buy. About the only thing you have to do extra is measure the wire, and you're going to have to trim that a bit (well, maybe) to tailor to your installation anyway. As they get more complicated it may make sense to buy a package with all the components you need and can't (easily) fabricate or improvise, and maybe even to pay a little more for the conveinence of getting them all together in one purchase but a dipole? That's almost like selling dehydrated instant water - just add water!
