CQ magazine realignment coming for Feb 2014

[JPSan]

This just in.....CQ Magazine announcement..........

CQ to Realign Publications, Launch New CQ Plus Digital Supplement:

Hicksville, NY (December 23, 2013) -- CQ Communications, Inc. today announced plans to realign its roster of publications and to launch an exciting new online supplement to its flagship magazine, CQ Amateur Radio.
"The hobby radio market is changing," said CQ Communications President and Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA, "and we are changing what we do and how we do it in order to continue providing leadership to all segments of the radio hobby." CQ Communications is currently the only publisher in the United States serving the broad radio hobby, from broadcast band DXing to amateur radio moonbounce and satellite communications. CQ itself has been amateur radio's leading independent voice for seven decades.
Effective with the February 2014 issue of CQ, said Ross, content from the magazine's three sister publications, Popular Communications, CQ VHF and WorldRadio Online, will be incorporated into CQ's digital edition as a supplement to be called "CQ Plus." With this change, hobby radio enthusiasts of all types will be able to go to a single source - CQ - for articles on the broader aspects of hobby radio, from shortwave listening and scanner monitoring to personal two-way services and Internet radio, as well as amateur radio. Richard Fisher, KI6SN, currently Editor of both Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online, will be Editor of CQ Plus.
"Our primary audience is ham radio operators," explained Ross, "but very few hams began their radio involvement as amateurs. Most of us started out as shortwave listeners, broadcast band DXers, CBers or scanning enthusiasts. Many continue to be involved in many different aspects of the radio hobby in addition to amateur radio."
"By consolidating four specialized publications into one," Ross continued, "we will be better able to keep these multidimensional readers informed on all aspects of the radio hobby while simultaneously exposing those who are not hams to all the excitement and opportunities that amateur radio has to offer. We see this as a win-win for all of our readers and our advertisers, who will now be able to reach a wider and more diverse audience."
The expanded material will be an integral part of the digital edition of CQ, and will be included as part of a standard digital subscription. Each month's digital edition will simply continue beyond where the print edition ends, offering supplemental material on all aspects of hobby radio communication and will include selected columns carried over from the other magazines. The added digital content will make full use of the multimedia opportunities presented by digital publications.
Current subscriptions to Popular Communications, CQ VHF and WorldRadio Online will be converted to CQ subscriptions - and receive CQ Plus at no additional charge! Details will be posted on each magazine website.
There's no need to wait to see the great variety of articles that will be featured each month in the new CQand CQ Plus. A preview of the February issue's Table of Contents is available right now on the CQ website at Table of Contents for the February 2014 issue of CQ and CQ Plus.

 

[lotsofradios]

I"m not wild about these digital magazines. I do not subscribe to CQ or PopComm but like both. I love to go to the bookstore and take a peak at both magazine and if there is something I like I'll pay the higher single issue price as opposed to the cheapier subscription price. Its a win-win for both parties, I only pay for what I want to read and publisher get a higher per issue price since I'm not buying a bulk subscription.

If I understand there will be no Pop Comms or CQ's at the newstand? Well I guess I can say I've read my last CQ and PopComm, been reading PopComm since the early 1980's

Just my opinion.

 

[AK9R]

If I understand there will be no Pop Comms or CQ's at the newstand?

PopComm is going digital only as part of "CQ Plus". There is no mention in this press release that the printed version of CQ is going away.

CQ magazine is currently available in both a print and digital versions. PopComm and CQ VHF are available in print and I'm not aware of a digital version. World Radio is digital only. Going forward, it sounds like CQ will still be available in print along with a new digital CQ Plus that will incorporate the current CQ digital version plus PopComm, CQ VHF, and World Radio.

 

[lotsofradios]

My local bookstore never received the Nov. or Dec. PopComm issues. About 2 weeks ago they received the Nov. CQ, I prefer PopComm over CQ, more articles to my liking.

 

[EricCottrell]

Popular Communications to cease print publication

CQ Communications has announced plans to phase out print editions of Popular Communications and incorporate the content into a new online digital only supplement called CQ Plus. Full Story Link (via ARRL): CQ to Realign Publications, Launch Digital Supplement

The Table of Contents for the first digital edition of CQ Plus incorporating Popular Communications. The content looks on the light side.
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_highlights/2014_cq/2014_02_cq/2014_02_T_of_C_Liz_No2.pdf

73 Eric

 

[KD4YGG]

CQ Communications has announced plans to phase out print editions of Popular Communications and incorporate the content into a new online digital only supplement called CQ Plus. Full Story Link (via ARRL): CQ to Realign Publications, Launch Digital Supplement

The Table of Contents for the first digital edition of CQ Plus incorporating Popular Communications. The content looks on the light side.
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_highlights/2014_cq/2014_02_cq/2014_02_T_of_C_Liz_No2.pdf

73 Eric

And another one bites the dust... AOSC Journal, then Monitoring Times, then Popular Communications...

Also, Mr. Scanner's National Communications... it's only available electronically as well..

Well boys and girls... we'll be talking about the "good old days" soon enough...

 

[fxdscon]

Ongoing thread about that here:

http://forums.radioreference.com/am...ealignment-coming-feb-2014-a.html#post2093243

.

 

[novascotian]

If I am understanding this correctly, it will be necessary to first obtain a CQ subscription and then add the CQ Plus part.. I didn't see any mention of a subscription to just the CQ Plus.... Let me know if I have this wrong. While I am a ham I really only want the CQ Plus aspect.

 

[br0adband]

Can't say I'm not surprised, I used to be really into that magazine many years ago but, as a scanning enthusiast - barely any SWL whatsoever in my background - I found the infrequent articles and mentions of scanning related contents somewhat disheartening.

Seems like too much is changing nowadays. Hell, I went into a Radio Shack a few days ago looking for one of those base station scanning antennas (not the discone but the cheaper $30 stripped down version) and when I asked where the antennas were - because they've changed the stores around so much - and the rather young guy (probably 20 years old if that) flat out instantly responded:

"We don't carry antennas anymore."

Talk about the end of an era, sheesh.

"Radio Shack is dead, long live Radio Shack..."

 

[RayAir]

I used to subscribe to Pop Com back in the mid 90's. I still have some of the magazines somewhere. The first issue I received had low band DX featured (1992). It spawned my interest in VHF low band.

This trend of scanner mag's and books going away just coincides with the overall state of scanning.
Sad, but with technology today, a scanner is no longer a "scanner". Mine became a paperweight when my area went to OpenSky technology.

Gone are the days of tuning in to a fire department 50 miles away on 46.42MHz with my 6' scanner antenna with 5' low band radials 35' in the air and listening to the state police post on 42.58. Low band was a big part of my scanning in the beginning. Now a good majority of radio waves out there are proprietary digital or encrypted. At least in my area.

The moderators dont like to hear that scanning is dying (sadly), but lets face the facts here.

 

[AK9R]

This trend of scanner mag's and books going away just coincides with the overall state of scanning.

I think it trends with the overall state of just about every niche hobby. Paper, printing, and postage costs keep going up. If the magazine can't generate enough revenue from subscriptions and advertising, it won't be able to cover the increasing costs. The Internet has made it a lot easier to research and learn about pretty much any hobby you can think of and it has made it a lot easier for potential advertisers to reach their customers directly without paying for an ad in a magazine.

And it also trends with the overall state of the publishing business. Print newspapers and magazines of all types will continue to trend towards on-line publication. The days of holding a paper magazine or newspaper in your hands are slipping away.

 

[ssmith39]

CQ magazine realignment coming for Feb 2014, Goodbye Pop. Comm.

Once the local and state agencies start getting funded again (hard to imagine now) the equipment manufacturers will push encryption and new modulation technologies hard. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[kruser]

PopComm is going digital only as part of "CQ Plus". There is no mention in this press release that the printed version of CQ is going away.

CQ magazine is currently available in both a print and digital versions. PopComm and CQ VHF are available in print and I'm not aware of a digital version. World Radio is digital only. Going forward, it sounds like CQ will still be available in print along with a new digital CQ Plus that will incorporate the current CQ digital version plus PopComm, CQ VHF, and World Radio.

PopComm is available as a digital edition only via Zinio reader which I hate. I'd much rather see them use the standard PDF format.
I've been getting the digital edition only of PopComm since December of 2011 which I think is when they started offering it. I also received the print edition but I dropped the print edition when that part of my sub expired and kept the digital edition only which still has another two years or so left.
Now I'm kicking myself for dropping the print edition but the digital editions do have their benefits. Mainly being able to simply click a link that would otherwise need to be typed from the print edition. There's just something about having a print edition that you can carry with you when going to say the doctors office. I'm not very fond of carrying around a laptop or tablet just to read a magazine!

I'm not aware of a digital only sub to CQ VHF but chances are that they do offer it via Zinio.

The new Monitoring Times, The Spectrum Monitor, is currently only available as a PDF download much as Monitoring Times was.
I've had that sub also since Grove released it in digital format. I let the print sub expire on that one as they pretty much gave me a free year in the digital format.

 

[KB3EJV]

I started to subscribe to CQ Amateur Radio, Popular Communications, World Radio, and CQ VHF a few months back and will not be renewing the subscriptions. Zinio for one is not the greatest reader, it is horrible. I like everything in PDF, much easier to manage and print. Second the hard copy is out on the news stands before the digital edition, which you think would be the other way around. Third, it seems every other month my digital edition is late, when I call CQ they tell me their is issues sending the magazines to Zinio that it is being worked on. You think CQ would post ont heir website that their is a issue so the poor gals at CQ don't get flooded with calls.

I just started to subscribe to The Spectrum Monitor. Their maybe a few bugs but, it's a new magazine just strating out and I am sure as the months progress it will get better. The great thing about it, it's in PDF format so you can open it in adobe anywhere....YEA!!!!!!!

 

[RF23]

If you do not renew your subscription you will probably lose access to the copies that are on your hard drive. At least that is what happened to me, almost two years of articles and I could not get to any of them (once my subscription was not renewed).

YMMV, hopefully.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

This reminds me of the early days of phonograph records. There was a notice on the record that you were only licensed to use it and you had to return it if the owner wanted it back.

One disavantage when data is tied to a online service is the content disappears if the company goes away or decides to discontinue the service. I see that as a major disavantage of the "put everything in the cloud" model. You are trusting the company to keep the service working properly for many years to come.

73 Eric

 

[frankh]

Hello,

This reminds me of the early days of phonograph records. There was a notice on the record that you were only licensed to use it and you had to return it if the owner wanted it back.

One disavantage when data is tied to a online service is the content disappears if the company goes away or decides to discontinue the service. I see that as a major disavantage of the "put everything in the cloud" model. You are trusting the company to keep the service working properly for many years to come.

73 Eric

common problem these days
Research data sets start to disappear within years of publication, study says

still gonna miss MT tho

 

[NDRADIONUT]

This website is 10x more informative than pop com or mt ever was....

 

[Tekkie344]

PopComm - Not good

I don't like electronic editions of anything.

QST has amateur radio handled.

Monitoring Times is gone. I found it to be simplistic the last several years so I didn't resubscribe.

PopComm has little scanner content and I was thinking of dropping it. They are tending toward the simplistic side too. I did NOT appreciate the editors snarky comments in articles; he had something to say about everything - none of it enlightening. I liked the last page articles (by Bill Price?). I found them amusing for some reason. I think they lost it when they restarted the callsign (?) program again. Waste of resources on their part which seems could have been directed back into the magazine.

 

[DPD1]

It is incredibly difficult to compete with the web, as far as publishing goes. I really don't think it's about the hobby "dying", as much as it is about the paper publishing industry continuing to get pummeled by the internet... which has been ongoing for over a decade now. This is by no means the first niche to have this happen. I also think a lot of hobby publications, have specifically made the mistake of focusing too much on trying to draw in new people. I've noticed this in other niches as well. Way too much 'noob' content, focusing on basic stuff. I believe the thinking was that, sales were going down because there were less people... so they assumed more people needed to be brought in. When in reality, there were still plenty of people there, but just not reading the paper publications anymore. But many hobby related publications have been dumb down over the last decade, which unfortunately just made the more dedicated people, leave that much faster.