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Forum attendance ? Where did you go ??

4K views 37 replies 13 participants last post by  Ude Tokei 
#1 ·
Guys, where the heck is everybody? I'm one of the guilty ones as I haven't been on much in the past year, I have lots of hobbies and I tend to zone in on one or two at a time and drop the others for a bit (adhd), and I've been concentrating on my vintage bikes and a corvette for a while, but winter usually runs me back in the house and I get back to watches and stereo, or finishing the house :rolleyes:. There seems to be a lot of activity on the FB accutron pages but I really hate FB. Guess I'll make another FB account just for watches and cars. But I hope people haven't left here just for FB. It's certainly not as active as two years ago. I do miss it. I wonder if Chris R is taking in any new work yet?
Bill
 
#9 · (Edited)
I joined one of the very active Accutron Facebook forums about 1.5 years ago. It now looks like the postings per day have fallen off there some and the membership climb has stagnated since I was on there. I noticed many of the WTF members migrated over there and I enjoyed their company. (BUT)>>>>> I also saw a few that had been banned on the forum and several that I had shady run-ins with on ebay. Add that to the fact that many of the members were clueless on what 'correct' Accutrons looked like you got sour grape responses if you told a novice member he bought a cobbled-together fake Spaceview. They don't like hearing that. So in one Month I had enough and quit. I hate Facebook to begin with. Add that to having to hang out with shady characters and that is what led me to "EXIST STAGE LEFT". I have other interests that don't require games or politics or idiots. But it is sad the forum has gone quiet. Oh well.
 
#12 ·
I try to shunt as much traffic this way as I can, without sounding like a shill.

I do see some of our members out there, doing good work. But it's really lost in a sea of what SM2 refers to, and I paraphrase, "willful, blind, ignorant, and resentful of any truth" types that aren't worth the tic in blood pressure it might require to straighten a belligerent fool out.

I would like to start a thread over here dedicated to the merits, or "lack of" I find in the FB groups. I met one semi-knowledgeable (and very humble about it) hobbyist who started out just learning to clean and repair his collection, and that sort of turned into assembling some watches. I trusted him enough to get an accurate description of a piece that was shy a few critical but obtainable parts in order to make it period correct. And a fair transaction for us both, I believe.

And then there is another guy who blasts his business card on every post, touting his XX years of Accutron service. I happened to pick up one of these fine specimens, it's gonna take Rob B. a while to straighten out all this competence.

Realistically, to start naming names in public smacks of distaste.....unless it's a flagrant BS'r and flouter of rules.

But yeah, I miss the traffic here too. I'll admit this has been a very busy season at work, and I've been lucky to duck in here on weekends.

I'll have a couple more watches to post when they get back from Rob's spa!
 
#13 ·
And then there is another guy who blasts his business card on every post, touting his XX years of Accutron service. I happened to pick up one of these fine specimens, it's gonna take Rob B. a while to straighten out all this competence.
Oh, you have had experience with the infamous Mr. A.P.....:eek::cool::cool: Oh, the stories I could tell on that guy.

I am content checking in here on occasion and living life outside of most social media platforms. It's really not a healthy life if you live it.
 
#15 ·
I have it from “Sources” that Accutron/Bulova/Citizen are at work on a tuning fork. At issue will be the idea of using the original movement designs from the late 50’s, or… do you modernize the idea? It seems that wrapping the coils is a little tricky; something about scaling up the ability to wrap over a quarter mile of thin thin wire for each watch, and do so at a competitive price point.
What’s the original price of a 214 from the 60’s in 2022 dollars? So that’s the conundrum as it currently stands.


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#16 ·
I have it from “Sources” that Accutron/Bulova/Citizen are at work on a tuning fork. At issue will be the idea of using the original movement designs from the late 50’s, or… do you modernize the idea? It seems that wrapping the coils is a little tricky; something about scaling up the ability to wrap over a quarter mile of thin thin wire for each watch, and do so at a competitive price point.
What’s the original price of a 214 from the 60’s in 2022 dollars? So that’s the conundrum as it currently stands.


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Didn't they already do that with the 50th Anniversary Spaceview?
Watch Analog watch Clock Watch accessory Font


Bicycle part Auto part Jewellery Circle Metal


Font Metal Fashion accessory Gear Circle
 
#22 ·
Facebook, even though it's more active now compared to the forums doesn't really help a lot, as tech info doesn't have a static location for everyone to contribute. If some tech tip is given, all it will do is slowly drop down the page while new topics are added. Eventually, no one will know a good tech question was answered as people come and go on those sites like dinner guests at a restaurant and someone will ask the very same again. It's called the Accutron Ground Hog Day. :(:cool::rolleyes:
 
#24 ·
I just don't have as much time as I used to, but initially, I joined these groups and steered them right here for the answer (link and everything).

My slacking off started when our new IT department had everyone signing "internet etiquette in the workplace", so I'm limited to the hour I have before bed lol.....

It feels like a losing battle, but some of those guys are getting good info, and will naturally weed the bad out.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Well, I joined a couple of Accutron-related Facebook groups the past two months or so and there were some familiar faces from this forum who were a treat to interact with but overall I didn't last long. There was so much disinformation, a lot of 'posers' that put out way too much incorrect info, and sadly, too many names and faces I had to deal with in the past as moderator on here. I will keep it to that limited comment and say I am going to only post here on occasion and after several years now, I can almost bet I will never buy another Vintage Accutron. I often wondered why the gurus on this forum up and disappeared years ago and now I understand it.
The one positive I saw was it was a convenient place to buy and sell watches and parts outside of eBay but I will never participate on Facebook and those groups again. Not my cup of tea anymore.
 
#27 ·
Facebook offers very little in the way of limitations or controls on what gets posted there and as such a lot of BS gets stated as 'fact' by members who hide behind their keyboards and can change identities in a flash if they get called out. I'm still on Facebook but now mostly just to chat with friends & family and I dont go near Twitter or some of the other social media platforms. As for this forum, I'm saddened by the drop in activity as I dont want this forum to die off. Attracting new members is difficult at best and keeping those new members participating in the forum is a larger challenge. Growing for the sake of growth is usually a poor idea and I can say that we have very little work to do as moderators here on this site other than getting rid of spammers & scammers before they become active. I think the vast majority who are still active here want to keep the forum from becoming a 'free for all' like a number of other forums where insults etc rule the day and maintain that small somewhat active feel. Maybe I'm wrong with that opinion and maybe this site needs to clean house and bring in some exciting new leadership who will guide things in a different direction. Maybe its all due to social media becoming so easily accessible to people. I'm open to thoughts and ideas from anyone here in this group so feel free to private message me if you wish to express your feelings or want to offer ideas or your services.
 
#28 ·
I really don't think there is much that can be done. Popularity and interests ebb & flow and social media has changed the world, both for some good and plenty of bad. I do think from observations that the 'players' migrate to places they can exploit and with fewer checks and balances, they tend to make certain places unpleasant. What I saw in the Facebook groups made me shake my head most of the time. But that is a story or two for another place and time. And as an FYI. I have visited a couple of other Accutron/electric watch forums over the past 2-3 years and observed their 'traffic' and is all the same. None are very active anymore. The WUS Bulova Accutron forum is fairly active but it's more about current Citizen production watches and not vintage Accutron stuff.
 
#30 ·
I also joined very recently, looking for info on Spaceviews particularly. I'm not on Facebook, and have used forums for years. Sometimes posting lots, and sometimes other stuff comes up so get a bit quieter.

With the way social media is, maybe forums are less popular than they used to be, but as the poster above said, I'm looking for knowledgeable people and some geekery rather than shiny new competition type stuff. The way that credit has been so easy to come by the last few years combined with social media means that pretty much anyone can buy anything with no idea/desire to know anything about what it took to make or what goes on inside it.

I'd much rather hunt around for interesting vintage stuff that maybe needs rescuing, or get fixated on a particular thing, read loads about it, join a forum for pointers and things to watch for, and then chase like mad (and repeat...).

As I said, I'm new here so don't feel I can contribute too much, but will read loads and hopefully add to the community as and when.

In the spirit of that, some tuning fork watches of mine are below (Accutron is a recent arrival - go easy on it/me [emoji2957][emoji38])
Watch Analog watch Gesture Clock Natural material
Watch Analog watch Clock Material property Wrist
Watch Analog watch Clock Rectangle Everyday carry
 
#32 ·
I left this forum some time ago, primarily due to pic posting issues.

I was an active member in this subforum for several years and miss interacting with many of you. Some years back due to my Accutron posting on Instagram I was invited to a FB Accutron group, and then asked to become an admin. I've enjoyed my time doing so, but agree completely with many of the comments here about such groups, even the one I'm in.

There are a number from here that have joined the same group, and we do the best we can. Please keep in mind (if you're there) that the group wasn't started by me, it's not mine, thus it's not necessarily run the way I would if it was.

I'm going to drop in here more often as I miss the group that really was instrumental in getting that Accutron hook set deeply 😉

Eric
 
#33 ·
I left this forum some time ago, primarily due to pic posting issues.

I was an active member in this subforum for several years and miss interacting with many of you. Some years back due to my Accutron posting on Instagram I was invited to a FB Accutron group, and then asked to become an admin. I've enjoyed my time doing so, but agree completely with many of the comments here about such groups, even the one I'm in.

There are a number from here that have joined the same group, and we do the best we can. Please keep in mind (if you're there) that the group wasn't started by me, it's not mine, thus it's not necessarily run the way I would if it was.

I'm going to drop in here more often as I miss the group that really was instrumental in getting that Accutron hook set deeply [emoji6]

Eric
Welcome back


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