Meet Jon Rines and his DotRadio website.
At DotRadio, we are happy to be able to provide the best domain name that exists to the radio world. We have the possibility to give you a domain name that directly impacts your search engine optimization and that makes you instantly identifiable.
For example, DJ.com versus DJ.radio. With the extension .radio, your public knows exactly what your website is about.
Not only that, we also ensure no cyber-squatting, we guarantee a 100% secure environment for your website and we don’t let bids happen to .radio domain names.
Finally, our DotRadio domain name is universally accepted and truly open. As soon as you are in the radio community, you have access to this exclusive domain name for your website. If you are a community radio, a professional or even a radio amateur, you have access to it.
We are happy to be helpful and give this opportunity to radio amateurs, thus, we are glad to introduce you to Jon Rines who has a DotRadio domain name and loves his experience with it.
For those who still hesitate between .com and .radio, we wanted to put forward the experience of people who already use our domain name.
In this article, we are glad to interview Jon Rines proud owner of ka1tdq.radio
I couldn’t find any decent solution to put online my gear and what I do with my radios. When I saw that the radio community had the opportunity to get a .radio domain name, I got it as soon as I could.
Now, I share my stuff with many other radio lover like me and I discover a lot from people all around the world that love the same thing as me, thank you DotRadio!
Introduction
DotRadio : Hi Jon, could you introduce yourself and what is your website about ?
Jon : My name is Jon Rines and I’m married to an amazing woman with whom I have two children. I work for the City of Mesa in Arizona as a Communications Technician and I’m also an amateur radio operator.
Building radio equipment is my passion and my website gives me a venue to showcase the projects I’ve done. Also included in the site are other aspects of my life, such as the military and politics.
I’m retired from the US Navy and I’m an elected Precinct Committeeman in Arizona.
DotRadio : Nice to meet you Jon, we can see why you are into radio equipment. We are glad to see that we can across the Atlantic. Where exactly is Mesa in Arizona ?
Jon : It is close to Phoenix, I have been here for eight years.
DotRadio : Alright, now we picture the area better! So, you have your radio passion, your job and you use a Dotradio website to showcase all this radio equipment. How long have you got this website ?
Jon : I’ve had the dotRadio domain since they became available in 2017. I saw a news article on the ARRL website about the new domain and it being limited to only people engaged in the radio industry. The price was very reasonable so I bought mine.
DotRadio : Wow, so you are one of the first, we can say you are an OG! You might be part of Dotradio history now! Thank you very much for your trust though. Do you have a lot of fans, visits or people that you talk with about radio
Jon : I use Google analytics to track my website traffic and it’s actually very modest. My website isn’t selling or marketing anything and I have zero advertising. Its main goal is to showcase the radio projects I’ve built. The number of hits ranges from zero to as high as 20 per day, coming mostly from the US, Europe and China.
It does generate interest when people see what I’ve built. One guy in Missouri was building a solid state AM broadcast radio with the youth at his church and he needed some technical advice on ways to modulate it. We exchanged quite a few emails and he was happy with the result.
DotRadio : That is interesting, it is great that you can show your skills and projects through the world so easily. It’s nice that you are able to help people with these tools.
Your CallSign Radio on Internet
DotRadio : Now, let’s talk more about your website if you may, why did you choose to go online and have a website for your projects?
Jon : All of us in the radio business are very proud of what we’ve accomplished. Whether you’re an industry executive, a broadcast engineer or simply an amateur radio operator, we all have a story to tell. Having a dotRadio domain, I believe, is the best way to tell our story.
Also, as an amateur radio operator, the only website currently available that we can list our radio bio is QRZ.com. Mostly everyone uses it, but it’s very limited as to what we can do with our profile. If you own your own website as I do, the sky’s the limit.
DotRadio : So basically, for amateurs it was pretty limited out there. Having the possibility to tell your story must be very good for you. To be more specific, what is the goal of your website?
Jon : I both work and hobby in radio. It’s very difficult to quickly convey to others what I do. A picture tells a thousand words and my website graphically tells my story much easier. Building radios from the ground up is a dying art and I’m happy to have a website that I own to be able to demonstrate my projects.
DotRadio : Yes, amateurs and radio building get less attention with the new technology and the
new ways to communicate. It’s cool that the internet could help you and the sphere to showcase and support your projects.
So, you said some people wrote to you about building radio, etc, other than that, do you have live experience or “a show” on the website?
Jon : I don’t. I have a picture I took of the USS Nimitz, the ship I was attached to in the Navy, as the banner graphic. Below that are links to areas of my life, including radio.
DotRadio : Alright, it is mostly used to showcase and present your projects as you said. It is nice though, the stuff you made is impressive.
About DotRadio
DotRadio : Like you said, we started in 2017, we are still pretty young and we would like to improve what we can. We will be happy to have some feedback on your experience with dotradio.
First of all, why did you choose to own a Dotradio domain name?
Jon : Aside from family, radio is my life. I both work and have a hobby in the industry and I quickly snapped up the opportunity to register my dotRadio domain when I found out about it. I can now show my work history and engineering projects online. And after seeing the price for the domain, I was immediately sold.
DotRadio : Thank you for your quick support! How did you hear about the domain?
Jon : Before the domain first became available, the ARRL posted a news article on their website about it.
DotRadio : So you were very aware about us, that is nice. What can you tell about your experience using the domain? Are you happy?
Jon : Extremely. I’m glad that someone had the idea to grant radio its own domain. Those of us in the industry now have a unique way to tell our story. It’s much better than relying on an automobile vanity license plate.
DotRadio : Haha, understandable!
You can get your domain through us directly on www.register.radio or through one of our registrars that you can find on www.nic.radio. What about you Jon, where and how did you get yours?
Jon : I registered the domain through the dotRadio website : www.register.radio and I’m using Bluehost as my provider.
DotRadio : Oh yes, we heard about bluehost, it is one of the biggest in the US. Since you bought it through our website, how would you describe the process to get it?
Jon : Getting the dotRadio domain was simple. I just needed to pay the small registration fee and then select a provider that would actually host the website. The provider has their own yearly fee but it’s not expensive either.
DotRadio website and you
DotRadio : Sounds pretty simple, that is what we try to do, make everything easy. Could you describe to us how you use our domain name?
Jon : My website is an online snapshot which shows my life in a few key categories. Radio is a main element with my amateur radio and work activities. I also include other areas of my life that are important such as family, military and politics. I would compare it to an online resume. A few moments browsing my site will give you a clear picture of what I’m about.
DotRadio : We did, and yes, it is exactly how you describe. For those who would like to check it out too, it is right here: www.ka1tdq.radio.
Do you think it is an expensive investment to own a website and our domain name?
Jon : No. My yearly fee for my domain name is around $30 and I use Bluehost as my provider. Their yearly fee is a little over $100. I also have the benefit of having a .radio email address.
DotRadio : We’re glad the price met your expectation. On top of that, did you know that choosing .radio helps your SEO (being seen in google easier)?
Jon : I didn’t at first, but after owning the website for a while I discovered that. I use it as my online presence rather than just relying on a Google search to tell my story.
DotRadio : We don’t expect everybody to be super skilled with SEO, it is not something that everybody is looking for, but it is good to know that choosing .radio helps to be seen on the web, even if it is not the main goal for some websites.
Now, do you know the free features that come with registering your website on our website (www.register.radio) ?
Jon : I’m sure I’m missing out on some things. One feature I do like is having my own .radio email address that I administer.
DotRadio : that is one coming with bluehost but on top of that, when registering through register.radio, you get a free profile page that you can customize and put links to your websites, email, social networks. You get a redirection system, which is useful if you have other domain names. And finally, you get a url shortener so you can share links with custom information.
You can find more information here : https://register.radio/extras/
Did you know that when you buy your domain through our website you get all that as well?
Jon : I’m aware of the url shortener but I haven’t taken advantage of it. I didn’t know about the free profile page. I’ll need to look into that.
DotRadio : Yes, you should, it can help a lot. We should probably advertise more about these options too. And give more information about it when people get their domain. In your case, as you already have a hosting solution, you could not use the profile page nor the redirections, but for people owning only a .radio domain, it allows them to be immediately online. Perhaps, they will choose like you to have a more developed solution afterwards.
Recommandation
DotRadio : What do you think we should do to explain to other radio amateurs like you how a .radio domain and a website could help them share their passion?
Jon : It’s an amazing tool and I believe that lots of amateurs simply aren’t aware of it. Having our own website rather than relying on QRZ.com is fantastic given the restrictions on what we can do there. Every person involved in radio is unique with a different story to tell. This is the best way to do it.
DotRadio : We hope they will see your message haha. But we actually didn’t know so well that QRZ.com was that much limited for radio amateurs.
How else could we improve?
Jon : I’m no expert in website development, but I was able to figure out how to transfer the dotRadio domain registration information over to my hosting provider’s site. Having a document available with instructions on how to do that might make it easier for beginners to start.
DotRadio : Oh, that is a great idea, so making more tools about “how to do” would help beginners, that is something we should work on then. Thank you, Jon.
What are the other things you wish you would have had help with?
Jon : Building a website is similar to a painter painting a picture from a blank canvas. It’s all about the ability and creativity of the designer along with a little IT knowledge. In the beginning I wish I had someone guiding me on how to structure what my site would look like. I learned as I went.
DotRadio : We understand totally, unfortunately, there are many ways to build websites, through builders such as Wix or Squarspace, There is also the famous WordPress that is a great tool and finally if you are into that, you can code it, but for that, you need some web development skills
Hence, for this particular topic, we can’t help much, but we might create information directing toward the best solution.
So, as a radio amateur yourself, what would you say today to other radio amateurs like you about websites and dotRadio?
Jon : Do it! You’ll have free reign to do and design your site any way you’d like. Make it as simple or complex as you’d like. My website grows as I build new projects. The options are limitless on how you design your site. You are the architect.
DotRadio : We can feel here your love for building and creation! We obviously hope they will listen to you!
They might even call you for advice about radio projects after reading this maybe! To wrap up, do you have anything else you would like to tell us?
Jon : My main activities in amateur radio are the AM and CW modes. Both allow you to interact with radio operators that are in a class by themselves. I like to call them ‘Gentleman’s modes.’
DotRadio : Haha that is something, “Gentleman’s modes”, we’ll remember that one!
Thank you very much for your time and dedication Jon, we are super happy to have been able to talk about radio and our domain name with you.
We wish you the best with www.ka1tdq.radio and we hope more will follow you to join the DotRadio world!
The DotRadio Team
Useful Links:
DotRadio website that Jon used : https://register.radio/
More information about DotRadio : https://discover.radio/
Join the DotRadio community on Facebook : https://on.radio/group-facebook
Jon Rines website : www.ka1tdq.radio