[BARC-List] Fw: ARRL Club News for August 2009

[Arthur Ashley N1NHZ]

In this period between BARC Business Meetings and General Meetings I wanted to share the following with our members.

There are ideas here that are worthy of consideration, discussion and action at our September 3 Business Meeting and September 17 General Meeting.

--Arthur  N1NHZ, 73

--- On Sat, 8/15/09, ARRL Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org> wrote:

> From: ARRL Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
> Subject: ARRL Club News for August 2009
> To: emailtoaa at yahoo.com
> Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 2:38 AM
> ARRL Club Newsletter
> August 15, 2009
> 
 
> Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, Editor
> 
> IN THIS ISSUE:
> 
> + Club Resource
> + Cruise-In
 
> 
> The Local Club Resource
> 
> I am very fortunate to be in a position at ARRL which
> allows me significant interaction with our members.  It is very
> fulfilling to be able to put a smile on someone's face by helping them
> find a solution to their problem regardless of the complexity.  

> Sometimes it is not possible to be as helpful over the telephone or 
> with e-mail so I will try to direct the individual to a local club 
> where they may be able to get some side-by-side coaching.  The local
> radio club is without a doubt the place where most of us received our
> ham radio education.  The club is where we learned the jargon
> and techno-speak used on the air and where we met folks to emulate
> and folks who we swore we would never be like.  Everything that we 
> know about ham radio that didn't come from a book was probably 
> learned at club meetings or late night Field Day chats over burnt
> coffee.  

> Personally I have made many longtime friendships from my involvement
> in local radio clubs and I am sure many others can say this as
> well.
> 
> Clubs, by definition, are groups of like-minded people who
> share a common interest. In reality a club is an eclectic assembly
> of individuals each with a unique perspective of their activity.  The
> dynamic of a club is no different than that of a large family.
>
> Think of your last family get-together and then take a look at
> your radio club. If everybody was the same, life would be very boring.
> In every club there is the usual cast of characters that add their
> distinctive flavors to the stew and make things interesting.  It
> is diversity that makes a club work well.  I have seen that no
> matter how varied the personalities are in a club, most of these
> personalities are also eager to help.  Helping each other is
> characteristic of radio amateurs.
> 
> How often have you experienced something like this: 
> Two hams will be in QSO, perhaps discussing an antenna installation or
> radio repair when another radio operator will break-in with a helpful
> suggestion? This situation may have happened to you or you may have
> even been the breaking station. The same thing happens (or should 
> happen) at club meetings. If you need help with something the closest
> resource is your local club.  On the surface the club may appear
> to be dysfunctional, but once you are involved you will find that
> it is actually very productive.  
> 
> The Pareto principle, commonly know as the eighty-twenty
> rule is a simple expression that 80% of the effects come from 20% of
> the causes.  As applied in the business world this would be 80% of the
> sales are driven by 20% of the customers.  In a club
> the percentages may be slightly different but the fact remains that a
> small percentage of the membership is responsible for making
> things happen.
>
>  This is not to suggest that eighty percent of the members
> do not participate, but without a "sparkplug" some things would
> never get started.  These people are the doers.  The doers don't take > no for an answer and are always willing to take on more 
> responsibility.  But where is the fun in jump-starting a project 
> without someone telling you it would never work?  Of course it would 
> be much more fun without the negative comments but that goes against 
> human nature.  Ever since man tried to open a coconut with a rock 
> someone was right beside him offering a thousand excuses why it won't
> work.    "You'll smash your thumb."  "The rock will break."  "You 
> should invent a wheel and roll it over the coconut."  "Let's just eat > the bananas."  
>
> The cynics of the world are an essential part of society, and of our
> clubs.  They challenge us and make us work harder to prove them
> wrong.  Learn to accept these people but never let them distract you
> from moving forward.
> 
> You only get as much from a club as you put into it. 
> A majority of the club bashers tend to be long time hams with a 
> "been there, done that" attitude asking what a club has to offer
> them for them.  To borrow from President John F. Kennedy, 
> "ask what you can do for your club."  
>
> Of course we took more than we had to offer when we were
> younger and inexperienced. But over the years we have
> gathered knowledge that we can share with the newcomers. Based upon
> my countless interactions with hams of all levels of
> experience, the novice has much to offer the old-timer even if it is
> just reliving the joy of discovery.  The local radio club has
> something for everybody who is willing to get involved.
> 
> Cruise-In
> 
> by Jim Aylward, KC8PD
> President, Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS)
> aylwardjim at aol.com
> 
> 
> 
> Is your club looking for an easy, virtually free way to
> bring members together and meet with hams from throughout your
> area? Try sponsoring a Mobile Radio Cruise-In
> 
> Many of us are familiar with cruise-in events at
> restaurants, drive-ins, or other venues, where participants bring
> their cars, trucks, motorcycles, whatever, to display and compete 
> for awards. 
>
> The owners of the vehicles take pride in their efforts to
> restore, modify or otherwise spruce them up and enjoy displaying
> them as much as the spectators enjoy seeing them.  Mobile radio
> operators are also proud of the time, effort and more than a few 
> dollars that they have invested into their transportable Amateur
> Radio stations.
> Our club, Portage County Amateur Radio Service decided to organize a
> Mobile Radio Cruise-In where these roadway radio ops could display
> there tricked out sleds.
> 
> The owner of the A&W Restaurant in Ravenna, Ohio,
> graciously agreed to allow PCARS to use the large, spare parking lot
> adjacent to the restaurant.  If you are not familiar with A&W it
> is a franchised root beer/drive-in restaurant operation.  We created a
> flier and sent it along with a brief news article to the ham radio club
> newsletter editors in the surrounding counties.  Fliers were also
> posted at the AES Cleveland store and at area hamfests.
> 
> The event was scheduled to run from five to nine in the
> evening.  We arrived early to set up a canopy and tables for a radio
> to assist with "talk-ins" as well as posting fliers for the club and
> our Fall Technician course.  The weather was perfect for an
> Ohio August evening.  When the first participants showed up before
> five o'clock we knew things were looking good for this first-time
> event.
> 
> The Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Radio Club was holding one of
> its biweekly Fox Hunts that night and Gay, WB8VNO, the sly fox, parked
> in the A&W lot where she was eventually found by all the hunters.
> 
> All together there were nearly fifty vehicles and almost
> seventy attendees from a half-dozen counties.  Seventeen
> vehicles (including one motorcycle) were entered in the Best
> Installation contest. 
>
> Prizes were given for the top five, including an AES gift
> certificate for the winner and A&W mugs and PCARS coffee cups for
> the runners-up.
>  
> 
> It was a great evening of ham radio camaraderie and fun,
> with positive feedback from everyone.  PCARS plans on
> making this an annual event.  Why not give it try at your club?

> ======================================================================
> The ARRL CLUB NEWS is published on the first Wednesday of
> each month by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association
> For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200;
> fax 860-594-0259; www.arrl.org. 
>Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.
> 
> The ARRL CLUB NEWS is an e-mail digest of news and
> information of interest to active members of ARRL Affiliated Clubs. 
> 
> Material from The ARRL CLUB NEWS may be republished or
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> American Radio Relay League.
> 
> Editorial questions or comments: Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, clubs at arrl.org 
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> ======================================================================
>