Thanks for the reply and welcome. Your post was great and showed that you are real. Only takes 10 minutes out of your day to say hello to the folks that share your interests. I believe everyone else here also works and now understand that honest mistakes can occur. Even within a perfect magazine.

I've talked to Chris Petris.
I agree, he knows the Corvette.
I've seen him diagnose a computer problem that GM dealerships didn't have a clue.

When it comes to Chris, I think the pressures of magazine deadlines or misquotes had something to do with this, not his lack of knowledge.
Just my opinion.

And, yes, this forum (or the forum this was derived from) was originally started by Corvette Fever magazine. I was a member then too.
Like most other businesses today, CF has been sold/merged at least once since this forum was started.
I think there is a lot of cost-cutting going on there. And, I wouldn't blame the contributors for the cost-cutting.

Tom Piper

gymdoc, it is not the first mistake this magazine has made and I doubt seriously if there won't be any in the next issue. The point is the mistakes that your magazine make could easily be avoided with only the simplest, cursory attempt at editing. That is the reason folks that have posted on this thread have the common beat of disatisfaction. We pay a lot for the subscription and we expect our money's worth. This forum is an excellent source for corrections of invalid information whether they be from a magazine, book or word of mouth.

Here is a suggestion; If there be one or two guys on the staff that take pride in journalism, get the others in a conference room and beat 'em over the head with their act until they straighten it up. As for me, I am glad I have been here on this forum for the last 5 or 6 years so I know better the difference in BS and fact.

Oh yeah, before assuming that there is no aftermarket replacement for the GM optispark, perhaps the author should have simply 'googled' the word optispark. I am sure that he would have found it enlightening.

I believe gmyDoc is Chris Petris.

I thought I should mention the reason I speak positively of him.

A few years ago I had an intermittent problem with the ECM on my '92.
At the time, I simply got "serial link" failures between the ECM and CCM along with the ASR/ABS lights and the C68 climate control light giving data errors. At the time, I had never heard of this problem. It is fairly common knowledge on this forum now.
There was nothing that pointed to any one component and the problem was very intermittent (the only real clue that made me even think the ECM was it happened only after the engine warmed up. And, the ECM is under the hood with the engine).
I talked to a close friend that was considered the best Corvette mechanic at the local GM dealership. He is an excellent mechanic but could only guess at the problem.

I didn't want to guess and shotgun parts so I emailed Corvette Fever Magazine about the problem.
About 11:00 pm one night Chris Petris called me to explain what the problem was. He told me the problem was the ECM not the CCM and explained why in detail.
Chris told me that my problem was not going to make it into the magazine because of limited space, but took the time out of a busy day to call me and tell me what was wrong -- even very late in the day.
And, he didn't make a dime on it. In fact, it cost him a long distance call.

That's what I call dedication.


Tom Piper

Yeah, but Petris should still be burned at the stake because he didn't answer each and every post on Corvette Forum in a timely manner. In fact, all the editors of Corvette Fever should be burned as well, because... wait a minute, if they were, all you weenies wouldn't have anything to complain about. It's obvious that none of you have a clue about the magazine business. Articles are written, edited and laid out by different people, so errors that were never in the original story can show up. Mistakes happen, and I agree they should be corrected, but talking trash about individuals or a particular publication doesn't really serve any purpose other than to let weenies wag their tongues. What I see is a bunch of small minded people who are more interested in slamming someone than in getting an error corrected. I've gotten a lot of great information from Corvette Fever and other Corvette magazines, and it would be nice if there was good communication between these magazines and the forum. That would be one way to get answers to some questions more quickly, and maybe even have some discussions, but I don't see that happening with threads like this one.

Corvette Fever
 

The problem is that Corvette Fever constantly publishes wrong and inaccurate information. The main word being CONSTANT! Now I know everyone is allowed a few mistakes but when you take someones money for a subscription and you make yourself to be an EXPERT in any field you better get it right and the fact is Corvette Fever doesn't even come close. Edit? you have to be kidding. Do you think they could read it before they publish it. If someone is editing than they should be fired. You don't see the other corvette magazines listed because no one gets it as wrong as Corvette Fever, and with all of the errors they have made over the years I can't recall an issue where they said they were incorrect on anything. If they are so busy hire some more people who know what a corvette is. Every corvette show I go to I ALWAYS see a Corvette Fever stand hawking their magazine. How about quality over quanity and deadlines. Hire one of these girls to proofread before publishing, they might find something. I predict that over time Corvette Fever at their current rate of failure will end our corvette nightmare. You can at least try and do better which they do not.

I think the thing being ovelooked is many of the people that write articles for the magazines today are not employees of the magazine.
They are "contributors" that get paid on an article by article basis.
They really have no say in the magazine, how it is run, or how it is edited.

As for Corvette Fever answering things on this forum, Corvette Fever has nothing to do with this forum.
And, people like Chris Petris aren't getting paid to answer things here.
There is no motivation for that to happen at all.

Tom Piper

Having said all the above in my posts, I do believe the magazine is responsible for a quality product.
Some errors are going to happen.
But, when the problems become too great, it is time to vote with my pocket-book.

The nice thing about the Corvette Forum is there are a few thousand "editors." And, the feedback is almost immediate -- no waiting for the correction in the next issue.

The main problem that I see with magazines today is they are too closely tied to advertisements -- it isn't uncommon to see a magazine article that includes a product only to see that product advertised on the next page. That isn't a coincidence.
Unfortunately, that is where the money is and the magazine is in business to make money first. Money controls their content.

Here on the Corvette Forum none of us are influenced directly by the money -- within reason, we say what we want.
Sometimes, that get's out of hand.

Tom Piper