Hello, SWLing Post community!

I just wanted to share a few quick notes this morning:

1.) New email subscription service up and running

As we mentioned in previous posts, we are now using a new paid email subscription service (Aweber) for those who want to receive a daily digest of SWLing Post articles. It’s super easy to sign up, and I’d encourage you to do so if you haven’t already.

We’ve replaced Feedburner’s free email delivery service which Google has announced (after pushing out the date once) will close sometime in August 2021. As of today, it seems email digests are still being propagated via Feedburner, but note that it will end this month when Google turns off the service.

Again, check out our initial post about the transition if you have any questions.

At time of posting, we have 691 subscribers on the new service.

2.) Swimming in email

I love correspondence from readers, but as I mention on my contact page it can take me days or even weeks to respond especially if you need a complex, multi-answer reply. I do my best to reply to each and every email I get, but these days it can be very difficult because my free time to reply is so limited. On average, I receive anywhere from 30-40 emails from readers per day that require a reply, but only have perhaps 30-60 minutes per day to answer them, thus they stack up. Every few weeks, I try to work through the backlog when I have a morning or afternoon free to do so.

A few suggestions/requests that would really help me:

If you have a news tip, it would help to note that in the subject line of the email; for example, “News Tip: RCI to build shortwave transmitter on the moon.” That sort of thing.

If you have a guest post proposal, please note this in the subject line; for example, “Guest Post Proposal: How to build a benchmark receiver with chewing gum and four shoe boxes.” I absolutely love guest posts because by virtue of publishing them, I get to read and enjoy them as well. I’ve learned so much from your amazing articles. Thing is–and I’m sure anyone who’s been blogging for a few years can relate–we receive mountains of SPAM guest post and sponsored posts emails from (I’m guessing?) robots. Or androids. Or possibly Skynet…the point is, anything you can do to make your email stand out by showing you’re a human and you have a real radio article would help. This is especially important if it’s your first time contacting me.

If you have a specific technical question–especially one where you’re trying to gather input to make a quick decision–consider leaving a comment/question in an appropriate post before contacting me. The SWLing Post has a daily readership in excess of 7,000 individuals; if you post a question in the comments, there’s a strong likelihood it will be answered in short order!  [There’s an even better chance it’ll be a more accurate response than you’d get from me!]

If you want to contact, me feel free to do so! Just understand if it takes time to reply. I especially enjoy your kind comments, compliments, and encouragement. Please don’t stop sending those.

I actually caught up with my email backlog this weekend only to discover this morning that (at some point a few weeks ago) Google started sending loads of legitimate readers emails to my SPAM folder. I rescued about 52 messages from SPAM this morning. If you haven’t gotten a reply from me, this is likely why. I’m going to attempt to work through many of these this afternoon.

3.) Thank you…

As always, thank you. The SWLing Post is a labor of love and I’m fueled by your kind words and, yes, by your generosity via our Coffee Fund and Patreon. The SWLing Post will always be free to read, and free of annoying pop-up ads. Never feel like you have to support the site–especially if you have a tight budget–but I certainly appreciate your support if you can. I’m still amazed each day by the incredible radio community that has developed around this site. It’s truly an honor to be its curator and custodian.

Thank you,

Thomas