RadioBanter - View Single Post

July 15th 03, 07:17 AM

On 14 Jul 2003 01:35:20 GMT, (Vshah101) wrote:

I would be willing to improve my skills in homebrewing, troubleshooting, APRS,
VHF, direction finding, and other technical areas. However, the Hams in every
club, of the several I've been to, are not interested in those areas.

I can't account for the lack of interest in these activities from the
clubs in your area, but the club I'm active with has quite a bit of
interest there, especially in VHF and direction finding. In fact, we
run a transmitter hunt on a weekly basis during the summer. We don't
do it in the winter because we don't want to be the reason for people
driving around in snowstorms and getting killed while trying to have
fun and learn a useful skill. This is Buffalo, after all..... :-)

Its not a lack of resources. Its that Hams don't want to. My local club even
has a Network Analyzer and a dedicated shack with radio setps, parts, cables,
soldering iron, etc. They have the resources to do the technical activities.
They just chose not to do that and to do contesting, antenna setups, and CW.

Most clubs seem to have a core of people who assume a leadership role
in club activities. Most planning and execution of club activities
gets done by that group of people. If said group does not perceive an
interest in an activity from the rest of the membership, often they
won't waste their time doing it...meaning that until enough people
express an interest in something, it doesn't happen.

The solution would be to seek out others in the club who have the same
or similar interests, creating a sort of special interest group within
the club, and then suggest the idea to the club leaders with the
numbers to show that there is interest in a topic. Demonstrating that
the membership wants something done is the best way to get it to
happen. The squeaky wheels get the grease. :-)

And its not that I can't be bothered. I would actively contribute in those
areas, if other Hams joined me.

On the other hand, sometimes all it takes is for one person to do
something, and then others jump in and start to follow suit. This is
called leading by example, and it works, unless you happen to be doing
something that's obviously a bad idea. Your ideas seem good. Consider
starting the ball rolling yourself and see who jumps on the bandwagon.

Perhaps a change in attitude would benefit the ARS. Hams should have more than
just a limited view of contesting, antennas, and CW. If Hams wanted to become
good in many different areas, the ARS would benefit.

There are hams who detest contests and contesting. In fact, the same
could be said for CW. Yet, there are also plentry who are very
interested in those topics. As for antennas, every ham who wants to
actually get on the air needs at least one, so it should really come
as no surprise that it's an easy topic to get people interested in. At
our club, the seminar on building J-pole antennas was the most popular
meeting program of the just-completed club year. We actually built a
copper pipe J-pole during the program, and one out of 450-ohm
twinlead. Even guys who had been club members longer than I've been a
ham were fascinated.

The bottom line is to keep in mind that one of the greatest strengths
of any club lies in the diversity of its members' individual
interests. There are probably others in the clubs in your area who
share your interests. The trick is to identify them, and then get
something started. Once you get the ball rolling it usually keeps
rolling for quite a while.

73 DE John, KC2HMZ