KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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What good is the ARRL?

Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:17 AM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


Travis, KB1ZPP, sent the following to me and about 40 others yesterday. Im
posting it here with his permission:

I’ve been quietly sitting in the shadows for the past few years watching
the ARRL and trying to decide what, if any good, they do with the
membership dues they collect each year. With the recent loss of the 3.5 GHz
band I feel like its time for me to now say my piece and ask what, exactly,
does the $6.77 million in dues and $1.7 million in donations from 2019 do
to benefit the hobby? And what the hell kind of assets does the ARRL
possess that total nearly $37 million? Did the ARRL open a banking division
I dont know about?
“Of these totals, cash and investments totaled approximately $33.1 million
at year end� -2019 ARRL annual report.
After doing some research in preparing to go to battle with the ARRL, I now
find myself wondering if they are at all suited to provide spectrum defense
for the amateur community. I feel thatÂ* they have become just another
political ruse to line the pockets of board members and lobbyists /
politicians. They no longer care about what their member base is concerned
with and refuse to grow with the times. The world is changing rapidly with
new technology every day. The ARRL is still stuck in the 60’s trying to get
everyone to talk on 40 or 80 meters CW or sideband. There is a time and a
place for old reliable, but to continue to gain membership and be
successful, the League has, needs to upgrade their ways. We’re coming up on
2021, guys. Get with it.
That being said I want to ask you all a couple questions.Â*
Do you think its worth the effort to try and steer the ARRL in the
directions we as amateurs find important or do we start a whole new
organization with the sole purpose of protecting our bands? And, if you
think it is possible to get the League back on track, what would be your
first step?
What good is the ARRL to the amateur radio community as a whole? Jerry
(KG6HQD) asked this on one of Jason’s (KC5HWB) YouTuber’s Bunch videos, and
I present the same question here. Can anyone tell me one time the ARRL was
successful in regards to political battles, such as the 3.5 GHz sale and
subsequent call for amateur radio ops to “sunset?� When was the last time
the league stood up for us, an amateur radio community?
I encourage all of you to voice your opinions, whether you agree with me or
not, I want to know what you have to say. Thank you, 73 -KB1ZPP


First off, let me say that I DONT THINK the ARRL board or staff are lining
their pockets with the membership dues. Theres really not enough money
there to make it worthwhile.
I think that if you go back in time, there have been issues on which the
ARRL has prevailed, but certainly their efforts lately have not been all
that successful. I think that the problem may be two-fold:

The FCC is seeing amateur radio as less relevant in the total scheme of
things.
The ARRL is becoming less relevant to the amateur radio community as a
whole. Membership is declining, not only as a percentage of licensed
amateurs, but in actual numbers. Unless the ARRL can do something to boost
membership, it’s going to continue to be less and less relevant, and its
going to continue to lose influence with the FCC.

Having said that, the question about the best course going forward is a
good one. The problem with trying to steer the ARRL is that in order to do
so, you have to get organized politically. First, you have to find
candidates who are passionate enough to run for the board of directors and
have time to do so. A start was made two years ago with the election of
N2RJ and W7VO, but the opposition seemed to fizzle out after that. I might
be wrong because I got a little weary of the politics, but I dont think
that there were any candidates in this years election that were calling for
widespread change.
There is a MyARRLVoice Facebook page where ARRL issues are discussed. I
dont really do Facebook myself, but I just took a peek, and it seems to
still be fairly active.
Once you have the candidates, you have to convince the members to vote for
them. Unfortunately, I think that many hams who have become disenchanted
with the way the ARRL has been doing things are no longer members. So, even
if you find the candidates, there may not be enough like-minded hams out
there to vote for them.
Even so, my gut reaction is that working within the ARRL is the best way to
go. Starting a new organization is a huge endeavor. I’m not saying that
it’s impossible, or shouldn’t be done, but its probably more work than
trying to get more progressive candidates elected to the ARRL board.

What say all of you? Should be be looking for and promoting more
progressive candidates? How would we go about that?

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