Two weeks ago I was Googling for computer interface options and found the PROgramit system. It’s beautifully simple in concept and exactly what I need to control some old equipment. Unfortunately the FTP link for software download was broken. I found the pages had last been updated ten years ago when the ver6.0 software was released. I tried to email the creator John Montalbano but the posted address is no longer valid. The FTP link probably died when the qsl.net servers switched over a year ago if not sometime sooner. This page was just another piece of internet cobweb. After looking for other options I realized I was probably going to have to start from scratch. For me that means it might happen some year. So I searched again; followed very link; searched through every ham newsgroup but found only other people looking but no finding. I checked the FCC database and confirmed that John’s address was still the same a year ago so snail mail seemed the best bet. But first I took my last “E” resort and actually asked. Now I hate to stop and ask. I will only start a thread if stumped several times over. News groups are stuffed with threads rehashing the same questions, questions that could be answered with a simple search. The most frustrating are new threads titled simply “Can you Help?”. More often than not a helpful board member will take time to answer the question only to here back “Oh yea, I already found it.” Now when I (meaning I as in me this time not some generic third person) started this PROgramit thread I was posting to a couple of sites and wasn’t as clear as I should have been. I just thought it was funny and deserved a little blatant sarcasm for asking me to search without reading the whole post. Anyway sometimes I can’t help myself.
Kids, hate only hurts the hater.
Crazy Jay, I sent you a message on your site to start the begging process.
Thanks, CG