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Lack Of Interest


Peter Gunn

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Have noticed over the last year especially , a lack of interest on Auslot , as a foreigner i have always tried to make sure i post things on here which are slot car related , well mostly or general comments sometimes.

I don't do any media crap like Facebook e.t.c don't really want to tell a load of people i had 2 egg and chips for me dinner , or i saw a duck flying , but don't mind sharing things on here and getting peoples views , good or bad on anything i manage to post picture wise or in print to do with anything.

I have been told many times in the past , use it or loose it are we about to loose Auslot because people don't use it, there are many names i used to see on here who you could have a difference of views with or agree just look back a couple of years, where are they all now ?

I don't mind what people think of my posts as regards pictures of cars I've repainted for instance the reason I've posted them is to generate a bit of interest , tell me it,s crap or you like it either comment is ok , but just say something it all helps people like me make the effort to try to improve and keep going.

This applies also to proxies , my last form of any competition racing , what's happened , it has been very slow for some time now , again look back just a couple of years and see the interest in all of the proxies , where are they now most have just dwindled away , and the very few that are left are just limping along , perhaps with the exception of the IPS , but even that is lacking any sort of input supposed to be 32 entrants , surely they have something to say , or pictures to show.

I am 76 this month and been struggling like so many with health issues , which seems to be the norm at our age , but the spark is not quite dead yet to try and involve others in a sport i have thought so much of for 58 years , please don't let this all fade away, it,s to precious.

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Hi Peter. I am only a little younger and tend to blow a bit hot and cold. Had even thought of giving proxy racing a miss after frustrations of last year. For me following the event and reading the reports has always been as important as the actual competing. With some of the delays this took much of the gloss off entering.

 

With new format for the 2020 Touring Car proxy however I see events are going to held every 2 weeks so I will be in again. I know it can be a thankless and difficult job running these proxies but it would make things so much more enjoyable if racing was on a regular basis.

 

Generally I try to read most posts and still enjoy reading and contributing to AUSLOT and hope to continue.

 

Regards Chas Le Breton

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It's not just this forum, I am a member at a few, and all are strugling for content.

I think it is in direct relation to photobucket and the lack of easy picture posting sites.

I know it is for me.

I still race, I still build tracks, I just don't post much anymore.

 

Ps. I will be entering the 2020 touring car proxy, after all Paul is my brother, and we will be racing on many of my home tracks.

A man without a woman is like a neck without a pain.

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Facebook has had a part to pay in all this. Free group discussions - free photo hosting - you only have to put up with the ads LOL

 

It is strange in some ways - slot cars themselves are supposedly on the decline yet when you look at what has been offered this year - well doesn't look like a decline to me.

 

Prices for 2nd hand cars seem to be rising as well. Lots of ups to the hobby - yet forum traffic is down.

 

I am not sure what we can do other than keep posting. I check in here every day. Maybe some others will as well.

 

cheers

David

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Am I imagining it or did slotforum get a little bit busier after Christmas? I didn't notice any increase in activity on Auslot.

 

Thank you Peter Gunn for sparking some thought into this.

 

I started a thread a couple of weeks back on liveries for 1:1 cars. I intended to come back and post many more photos of interesting liveries at the Bathurst 12 hour. (Some of them looked great and would have looked good on slot cars) I found the sharing of photos a bit tedious, I know others have better workflows than myself and I better figure out if there is some kind of batch processing technique available. On social media I just clicked 2 buttons and typed a short description to share the same photos to another group. I do like to pay attention to what I am doing and do it right, so I hope I am not fitting into the short attention span classification but I am time poor with 4 small kids and I probably spend too much time on forums already.

 

Challenges faced but hope to contribute something worthwhile into the future anyway.

 

Just adding that in terms of quality, if I am looking for advice on anything performance related, this forum would be my first choice. As I know that there is an advantageous weighting of experienced racers.

Edited by Slotspeed
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Think PG meant a flying duck, at least I hope so.

 

Agreed re pictures and posting, luckily I have my own hosting service like some others around here but it is still limited storage size wise.

 

It was mooted a couple of years back that we all pay an annual fee or the like to help pay for storage space for images. I'm still in for that but then as you say there is a decline in users.

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Funnily enough, the appeal I did about 3 weeks back has resulted in Keith, and at least two others putting up good threads. So we are seeing average activity on 6 threads a day at present.

Keith is sending me pics, I resize, rename and crop if needed, and host them on my server. Takes me less than 5 minutes a day, so I am happy to help him out.

At one stage it got down to about 2.

If we had say 10 threads a day being updated, we would have more traffic that at least 1 other english speaking forum in a larger country.

 

I could start a thread about Australian sport in off-topic, but it might get a bit willing......

It wouldn't take much effort and a word around a few of our clubs to double forum activity and see where we can get.

 

And lets face it - some of you guys in "West Island" enjoy reading the banter, braggard and bollocks of HB club.

If Syd and his mob, and some of the clubs in Cockroach, Mexico and Scar would do a bit, we'd be busy.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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I am not planning on letting go of the forum so as long as I can keep it going it will be there even with no posts. I am heading towards 58 this year and I can see I will need to back work off in a few years and slotcar sand this place is my planned outlet so even if it is Mark and myself doing the only posting I will try and keep the place going.

 

Facebook has been cutting into our membership as it is so easy to use and post pictures but good luck trying to find that topic you liked. I do use it though as it is convenient but more for my 1-1 car stuff and mountain bike rides in groups as well as friend a family stuff.

 

Thanks for keeping the interest up though guys.

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Has the problem with registration etc been fixed?

 

Only asking as a few I've talked to say they can't register, get on the forum to comment.

 

Yes there is a lot of traffic on the Facebook pages but most are now full of people selling overpriced 2nd hand cars.

 

Yes there are the better groups which can be informative etc but tracking down old posts is never easy.

 

I like to look at quite a few of the Facebook groups, mainly because there is a whole wide world of slot car people out there which don't post on Auslot.

 

I'll keep posting pics etc of my restorations, builds etc even if I don't get any comments, just like sharing what I've been up to.

 

Suppose I should really show the build process instead of just whacking up pictures of the finished products

 

I may not comment much on others posts (probably should as I'm on here most days), but sometimes time is limited.

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Thankyou mattcrackers for your contributions !!

 

Vince will have to answer whether it has been fixed, but if you message me with anyone's email and preferred "handle", I am around every day and will organise with Vince for them to be setup with a dummy password they can change.

I will even nag Vince like I am his mother if needed until done ;)

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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(Edited the bit that was just here because after about a year of wondering how to fix a particular problem, I just nailed it!)

 

Also, on posting images, it is it a requirement to host them somewhere else? That is what I have been doing. It's not hard, just takes some patience.

 

Thanks.

Edited by Slotspeed
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Not a shameless plug if it not for profit.

 

A shameless plug is for those that are forever promoting there wares even if the thread doesn't call for it.

 

Keep going Paul wish I had more time to enter more proxies as that is my love of the hobby.

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In reply to some of the thoughts, in this age of what they call media it strikes me there is less and less actual contact, there are so many forms of expression it all gets lost .

Someone starts a conversation and soon it goes somewhere else and the initial thoughts get lost , i post on Slotforum as well as here as it,s easier to post pictures , and i quite like posting a full build from start to finish , show how my train of though develops, and i do like to improve on a standard design sometimes with some great results , sometimes not.

Seem a lot of people have no time , to busy, got to rush here , rush there, don't know why!!!!! were all going to end up at the same destination in the end , just some will get there a lot quicker than others, there is always time to spend time enjoying a hobby, after all you can't take it with you , so ladies and gentlemen post your thoughts , have your moans, celebrate the friendship of others and make the time.

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I am not planning on letting go of the forum so as long as I can keep it going it will be there even with no posts. I am heading towards 58 this year and I can see I will need to back work off in a few years and slotcar sand this place is my planned outlet so even if it is Mark and myself doing the only posting I will try and keep the place going.

 

Facebook has been cutting into our membership as it is so easy to use and post pictures but good luck trying to find that topic you liked. I do use it though as it is convenient but more for my 1-1 car stuff and mountain bike rides in groups as well as friend a family stuff.

 

Thanks for keeping the interest up though guys.

Good on ya Vinno, I intend to be around here for quite a while too...

 

Happy to chip in if needed.

Edited by Drifter

www.sydneyslotcars.com

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Hi guys

 

In regards to the registration issue it is still ongoing. We have been toying with the upgrade for a while but not had much luck. Unfortunately I am no help as I have no IT experience but I am hoping we can get it sorted sometime this year.

 

The money to run it hasn’t been a problem it doesn’t cost much at the moment due to the hosting company being a relative of my son Jacob who started this place. But I know the changes are needed and I am worried we are vulnerable so we will see how we go getting things fixed.

 

Thanks all for keeping us going, it is about the hobby and that is all that matters. It’s really like a Men’s Shed in some ways actually. It would be nice have more women involved too though.

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I'll be doing a plug to clubs here in my March newsletter. So maybe I suggest the bods give me their preferred handle and email, and send you a batch of new members in one hit, for convenience Vince.

One of the clubs is a recent emergence, and they have TWO couples who race among their ranks.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Don't you believe it Drifter , my wife still wants to beat me on the slot track since 1963 , and quite often has, a very formidable driver , especially with something like a Dodge Charger under her control, she can wipe any car of with that thing.

She's entered the ATCC proxy with me this year and her 69 Camero is a bit better than my Falcon at the moment, still trying to live that one down as she has bragging rights as she built it, but has stirred me on.

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Hi David

 

the join module has a herniated disc.... But if you email or message Vince with

email address of person

the "handle" they would like

he can set them up - or same to me, and I will make sure Vince gets it, and gets nagged about every 35 minutes and 22 seconds until it is done. :)

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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2600 members on a Facebook page - WOW!!

 

I'd hate to line Zuckerberg's pockets with more gold, but it is tempting to make contact with all those active slotters.

 

Anyhow, back to the topic, the local western Sydney clubs, both home and commercial, are really struggling for numbers.

 

Regularly seeing ~6 racers at both 3 lane home tracks and 6 lane commercial tracks, ouch!!!

 

I believe the range of tyres used by slot groups across ANZ makes retaining newbies difficult.

 

Urethanes, rubber + oil, foam + goo, foam + banana boat, the range is f'ing ridiculous IMO.

 

I don't know about most, but I got into non-mag racing for that little bit of sliding through the corner. Magnet racing had none of that realism.

 

Adding oil, goo, banana boat etc to tyres is simply replacing magnets IMO.

 

Untreated urethanes are the most pure form of scale racing IMO. I honestly believe this format would also retain more race members as tyre treatment "time & voodoo" becomes less of a requirement to win races.

 

Urethanes don't have 100% maximum grip, but are fun to drive and are also easier to true than rubber tyres at least. Admit foamies are easy to true, but hate em with a passion :) Never seen a real car with a tyre that is 40% air on the contact patch!! they rely on goo and other chemicals to achieve traction.

 

I'd like to see the commercial sponsors of this forum promote the Auslot forum with every sale as a way of encouraging tinkering, information sharing, cross-pollination, and in the end - more sales for themselves.

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