This webpage describes the Mesilla Valley Radio Club (MVRC) Reflector Service (MVRCRS) used by MVRC members and subscribers to exchange e-mails among members and between members and subscribers.
MVRC members pay an annual dues for the upkeep of the cllub's clubhouse. Subscribers are non-members who have an interest in the activities of MVRC.
The Reflector Service is built upon the free e-mail service offered by Groups.io.
MVRC presently has one Main Group and 30 SubGroups. All members and subscribers are listed on the Main Group. To be on a SubGroup, you must already be on the Main Group.
New MVRC members are invited to join the Main Group by e-mail. The new member only has to reply to the invite message to be automatically added to the Main Group.
New subscribers can send an e-mail to "main+subscribe@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io" and a moderator will allow the subscription to complete.
The first few e-mails sent by new additions to the Main Group are moderated to weed out spamers. If their message is not spam, moderation control is removed for the user and all future message will pass through automaticallly.
After a new member or new subscriber is in the Main Group, they can automatically subscribe to one or more of the sub groups by sending an e-mail to "group+subscribe@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io". Change "group" to the actual group name. The group names can be found below.
Some sub groups are not open to members or subscibers and are controlled by the MVRC leadership. Sub Group restrictions are provided in the tables below.
| Group | E-Mail Address | Restrictions | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main | Main@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | All MVRC Members and Subscribers. |
| 2M | 2M@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | For those sharing an interest in the weekly on-air 2M radio sessions and helping is MVRC Special Events. |
| Admin | Admin@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1,2,3 | MVRC Administrators. |
| AntGroup | AntGroup@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | MVRC members who install and maintain MVRC and member antennas. |
| BBHN | BBHN@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | For those sharing an interest in building and maintaining the MVRC BroadBand HamNet. |
| BL-72 | BL-72@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | For those sharing an interest in building and launching radio beacon balloons. |
| Board | Board@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 3 | Members of the MVRC Board of Directors. |
| Builders | Builders@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | For those sharing an interest in building radio equipment. |
| Builders-Moderators | Builders-Moderators@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1,2 | For those sharing an interest in moderating building projects. |
| CW | CW@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | For those sharing an interest in learning Morse Code. |
| EME | EME@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | MVRC members sharing an interest in Earth-Moon-Earth communications. |
| G4 | G4@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | MVRC Members who volunteer to modernize the club's website. |
| Info | Info@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | MVRC Members who volunteer to respond to public questions about MVRC. |
| JS8Call | JS8Call@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | For those sharing an interest in using JS8Call digital mode. |
| Linux | Linux@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | For those sharing an interest in learning Linux Operating System. |
| Members | Members@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | MVRC Members only for distributing private club information. |
| QRSS | QRSS@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | For those sharing an interest in the QRSS digital mode. |
| Repeaters | Repeaters@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | For those sharing an interest in maintaining the MVRC Repeaters. |
| Testers | Testers@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1 | For those sharing an interest in testing the Reflector Service when changes are made. |
| Trustees | Trustees@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 1,3 | For communication among the MVRC Trustees and MVRC Board Members. |
| VEs | VEs@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io | 0 | Qualified Volunteer Examiners to conduct FCC Licensing tests. |
The above table of MVRC Reflector Groups above has a column captioned as "Restrictions". The Restrictions are a coded number. The codes and their meaning are:
The MVRC Reflector Service allows commands to be embedded into e-maill messages. The command is inserted between the Group Name and the "at-the-rate-of" symbol (@). For example, 'Main+help@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io" requests groups.io send the originator instructiions on using the MVRC Main Group list. The required content in the subject and body is based on the Command.
The supported commands and their Subject and Body requirements are:
| Command | Subject Content | Body Content | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| +subscribe | Empty | Full name, call sign, mailing address, telehone | Originator requests to be added to the named MVRC Group. |
| +unsubscribe | Empty | Reason | Originator requests to be removed from the named MVRC Group. |
| +owner | Message subject | Message | Message to the owner of the MVRC Group. |
| +help | Empty | Empty | Originator requesting help in using the MVRC Reflector Service. |
To Subscribe to any MVRC Group, you must be on the Main Group List first. Join the Main Group by sending an e-mail to "Main+subscribe@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io' with the required information in the Subject and Body.
The Group owners will be notified and act on your request causing you to receive a response by e-mail.
To join any other Group, send an e-mail to "subgroup+subscribe@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io', be sure to change the "subgroup" in the address to the actual SubGroup name. For SubGroupp subscriptions, you can leave the Subject and Body fields empty.
To unsubscribe from a MVRC Group, send an e-mail to "group+unsubscribe@MVRC-N5BL.groups.io'. Change "group" in the address to either "Main" or a SubGroup name. If you unsubscribe from the "Main" Group, you will be unsubscribed from al MVRC Groups. Please indicate a reason for unsubscribing.
First, there should not be any spam. The e-mail address of new subscribers must pass the smell test, i.e. must look like something a real person would have. Most spamers create random character addresses.
Second, all messages originating from non-registered addresses are automatically moderated. The moderator will decide if the message is spam and if so will delete the message without notification to the sender. If the message is not considered spam, the moderator will let the message be delivered. Thus, non-registered addresses may send messages to MVRC groups after passing a moderator.
If you do get a spam message, just delete it. If you mark it as spam, you will automaticaly be unsubscribed by groups.io. MVRC has no control of this. If you get unscribed, you will receive a notice from groups.io on how to resubscribe.
Keep messages on Ham Radio. Selling personal Ham gear is okay. Recommending a commercial product is okay if you state why you are personally recommending the product, where you purchase it and for what price and provides the product's URL.
Complaints about your message may cause your future messages to be moderated. If moderated you will be given a chance to bring your message into compliance.
Don't write anything that will keep you out of heaven!. Don't write about poitics, religion, or people. Remember, every message is archived for future review.
Complaints about your message may cause your future messages to be moderated. If moderated you will be given a chance to bring your message into compliance.
MVRC member Dottie (KB5OAD) sees the need for MVRC to be able to respond to public requests for information about MVRC via e-mail inquiries. Usually, organizations publish a website containing all of the inforation about the organization that they want the pubic to know. MVRC presently has several websites, each providing different topics of information. A new website is under development to bring these separate websites together. The goal in responding to these public inquiries is to distribute the responsibility for responding among the MVRC members who are most familiar with the topic of the inquiry. The Directors on the MVRC Board are each assigned an area of responsibility to keep MVRC operating. These Directors will form the pool of responders for information requests from the public. The http://www.n5bl.org website will advertise the e-mail address "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" in the section preceding the "Q & A" section. When someone in the public (a non MVRC subscriber) sends an e-mail to this address, groups.io will send a copy of the message to the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" moderators for handling. Presently, Dottie (KB5OAD) and Charles (KG5BVE) are co-owners of the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" address and are moderators for messages from non subscribers. Since the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" address is in the public, spam messages need to be filtered that are not filtered by groups.io. If the message passes the smell test, a moderator will approve the message and groups.io will send the message to all members on the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" list. Each member will determine if the topic of the message is within their area of responsibility. If so, the Director will write their response and send it to the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" list for peer review. Reviews are sent back to the author via the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" address. The author then revises the response and sends the response to the "INFO@mvrc-n5bl.groups.io" list and to the originator of the inquiry. The original question and the response will be added to the Q & A section of the MVrC website.