[HCRA] Fw: Re: Fostering new Hams

Mon Sep 20 16:09:34 EDT 2021

I write this is response to the issue of our failing attempts to foster more interest inour worthy Amateur Radio hobby.   First, let me digress and explain a bit about myself. I am 68 YO and got my Tech license only two and a half years ago. I am retired withtwo grown kids on their own and my house is payed off. I have also been a widowerfor the past 20 years. Bless her soul, but I therefore, don't have to negotiate with awife to justify the expenses associated with my radio shack purchases. Most of us hams tend to forget just how much money we have spent over the yearson our own Amateur Radio pursuits. One of the major errors we Hams make when trying to promote our hobby to potentialnew hams is, that we fail to consider things from their point of view. We already havea ham license and we also already have a fully functional radio shack to use. They don't.They don't even have a Tech license yet. Depending on just how involved they maychoose to get, prospective hams are facing thousands of dollars of investment that theyprobably can't afford at the present time  just to get started. Suffice it to say, high schoolers are too young and most college students are alreadyeyeball deep in school loans. Pursuing an inherently expensive hobby is probably the lastthing on their mind. Post college and even middle 20's leads to thoughts of marriage,paying off loans and considering home purchases. Enough! You get the picture.We have all been there. We all know that just a Tech license gets old real fast. The 2m and 70cm bands aren't asbusy as they used to be. It is no wonder that, without outside influence, Tech holders loseinterest altogether. Personally, that is what would have happened to me if I hadn't and gotten my General license right away. And then, although more restricted than Extra, General leads to much more expensiveHF transceivers, elaborate antenna arrays and the required additional support equipment. Bottom Line: Money is a critical factor. With the US economy the way it is and, even if interest is there, most potential hams are going to second guess themselves before venturing into a hobbythat will prove to be expensive. Especially if they aren't sure if Amateur Radio will only betemporary passing or turn into a life long passion like it is for the rest of us. Put yourself in their shoes. Consider their perspective.  BTW, I have heard that, despite all the free introductory HCRA memberships that we offer tonewly licensed Techies, few,i f any, prospective's ever follow-up with subsequent regularmemberships. Perhaps it is because they never attend any of our meetings to discover whatHCRA is all about. Perhaps it is because we in HCRA never reach out to these perspectives,invite them to our meetings and make any special concerted effort to welcome them into ourfold at our meetings.  You get the idea. 73 John B,  WA1JKB      ---------- Original Message ----------
From: Chris Scibelli NU1O via HCRA <hcra at mailman.qth.net>
To: "HCRA at mailman.qth.net" <HCRA at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [HCRA] Fw: Re:  ARRL Director election - my view
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2021 12:51:44 +0000 (UTC)

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The most ironic thing about all of this is there will be some who wrote posts who won't bother to vote.  All talk and no action types.
Thanks for your service to our country!
Chris  NU1O

-----Original Message-----
From: John Bourque <dcbourq at juno.com>
To: HCRA at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Sat, Sep 18, 2021 9:08 pm
Subject: [HCRA] Fw: Re: ARRL Director election - my view

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Grow-up everyone. This is America - The land of the free. And I express this as a currently retired 24 year retiree from the US Army. 5 Years active and 19 years in the Army Reserves. Every one has the right to freely express their OWN opinion. Whether you agree with it or not. If you don't agree, express your "One person; One vote" opinionat the ballot box.  Now get the hell off each other's back and act civil. WA1JKB

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: Chris Scibelli NU1O via HCRA <hcra at mailman.qth.net>
To: "HCRA at mailman.qth.net" <HCRA at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [HCRA] ARRL Director election - my view
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2021 00:14:21 +0000 (UTC)

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Go find one sentence from my message where I denigrated digital modes or put down those who don't know CW.  You won't find one because I didn't write a word about the things you referred to.
My point is we should go after those actually joining the hobby and not waste time or money on demographic groups that aren't joining the hobby.  In essence, that's all I wrote.  Maybe you're too sensitive, or you can't handle actual facts. 
Chris  NU1O

-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Maslon - K1NZ <k1nz at arrl.net>
Cc: HCRA Email List <HCRA at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sat, Sep 18, 2021 7:18 pm
Subject: Re: [HCRA] ARRL Director election - my view

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Chris,

This email reads as a slap in the face. At 30 (licensed at 20), I'm one of
the younger, if not the youngest HCRA member. If it weren't for the support
I received from Kx1x, KK1W, N1FJ, K1TTT, N1TA, and other HCRA members, I
most likely wouldn't still be a ham.

Your sentiments echo many of those that I have heard over the years. I'm
not a real ham because I'm not proficient at CW. FT8 isn't a real mode. I
should turn in my license because I didn't walk uphill both ways during a
blizzard to the FCC office 50 miles away to take my 30 WPM novice test.
These gatekeeping sentiments are EXACTLY why youth are not joining the
hobby and/or fizzle out soon after being licensed.

Instead, we should be promoting other avenues such as maker spaces, digital
modes, tech, etc. where there are opportunities to capture the youth
demographic and potentially expose them to other facets of the hobby. For
example, I was always interested in dxing but after I got licensed was
introduced to SOTA and contesting. After a few years, I discovered
digimodes and now that's honestly 70% of my at-home operating.

We're honestly running out of time. If we don't embrace the younger
demographic, we won't have a hobby left. If that requires the hobby to
change, then we have to adapt, otherwise there won't be a hobby left.

Also, I'm not going to address the women in ham radio point because I can't
speak to their experiences. You do seem however to have ruffled some
feathers.

This hobby is big enough for everyone. Why can't we just play nice and
enjoy it together? Just because I don't enjoy it the same way you do
doesn't mean I'm not entitled to have fun being a ham.

73,
Nick K1NZ

On the Droid.

On Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 14:59 Chris Scibelli NU1O via HCRA <
hcra at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden County Radio Association-------
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> ______________________________________________
> If AB1OC is going to try and turn the demographics of our hobby into that
> of the overall population that is reason enough NOT to vote for him.
> This hobby has tried for decades to get teens into the hobby and I think
> most of us have finally realized it's not going to happen.  This is 2021,
> not 1951. Teens have a plethora of hobbies to chose from and they view our
> hobby as antiquated and boring. At least that's what the teens I've talked
> to about ham radio have told me.  Some of us from the HCRA elmered a teen
> about 5 years ago.  I must have spent 50 to 100 hours with him on the air
> or on the phone. He was gung-ho at the start but it only lasted about a
> year. He's now an inactive ham. He didn't quit due to a lack of support
> from local hams because he received plenty of help from myself and others..
> .As for getting loads of women into the hobby, I don't see that happening,
> either. Most female hams are usually the spouse of a ham or a significant
> other introduced them to the hobby. I think many join the hobby to please a
> spouse.
> As it stands now, most new hams are still mainly male, they toyed with
> radio at some point in their lives, and they are now near retirement or
> fully retired.  They now have the time and money to buy and use a station,
> That has been the background of almost every new ham I've met in the past
> decade. We may as well go after the demographic group actually joining the
> hobby instead of trying some social experiment destined to fail. It's
> simply a losing battle fighting demographics and I won't vote for a
> candidate who thinks that's possible.
> I'm voting for Tom, K1KI.  He's done a great job with the New England QSO
> Party for the past 20 years. That tells me he can stick with a project and
> he has the needed time to devote to the job. We also know he's been a very
> active ham for decades.
> 73,
> Chris  NU1O
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Ewell <ewelljohn188 at gmail.com>
> To: HCRA at mailman.qth.net <HCRA at mailman.qth.net>
> Cc: AB1OC Fred Kemmerer <ab1oc at ab1oc.org>
> Sent: Sat, Sep 18, 2021 1:15 pm
> Subject: [HCRA] ARRL Director election - my view
>
> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden County Radio Association-------
> -----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
> ______________________________________________
>
> To my fellow HCRA members regarding the upcoming ARRLDirector election
>
> Beginning in October, ARRL members will have the opportunityand
> responsibility to elect a new Director from the New England Region.
> Ourregion has 3 candidates for the Director position. All of them are very
> smart,very accomplished and active hams. We are very fortunate to have an
> actualchoice in candidates for our region.
>
> 2 of the candidates have held the Director position (FredHopengarten, K1VR
> is current, Tom Frenaye, K1KI is previous). Fred Kemmerer,AB1OC is the
> President of the Nashua Area Radio Society.
>
> I met Fred Kemmerer AB1OC, as I took a 3-day Ham crashcourse to get my
> Extra license a couple of years ago. He held the class at hishouse, and
> provided multiple examples of equipment and its use from his hamshack. We
> went through test equipment, various types of antennas, satellite
> communications,all in a hands-on fashion. His team of instructors was able
> to explainelectronic to this poor steam and water based mind (my background
> is in powergeneration, not electronics).
>
> We also had demonstrations of some of the projects andsuccesses that he
> has had with NARS, such as ham boot camp, ISS &ndash; school contacts,and high
> altitude balloon tracking.
>
> Fred has a background in corporate management at the toplevels in the
> electronics industry. He has plenty of experience building a teamto
> accomplish a goal. He has turned NARS into a fantastic resource for
> hamradio, which is freely shared online. He knows the value of radio clubs
> inmaintaining activity, education, public interaction and involvement,
> andgrowing radio. He has used social media to share and grow his club, and
> others.He has reached out to other clubs and hams to share their talents
> and ideas.
>
> Fred has recognized that in order to grow, we have to lookbeyond the
> traditional ham &ndash; beyond older middle class white men, and startlooking at
> the overall population and try to mirror that. His success withyoung and
> school age entry into radio speaks well for him and us.
>
> I feel strongly that Fred Kemmerer is the strongestcandidate in the field.
> He knows how to build a team, how to motivate people,how to inspire that
> wonder that started many of us in radio. He is also one ofthe best speakers
> I have seen in radio. He has a plan, he has set goals forhimself, and has a
> history of succeeding at what he puts his mind to.
>
> I wanted to wait until just before the voting start to sendthis out. I
> didn&rsquo;t want it to come out too early and be forgotten. So,beginning October
> 1, until November 19, we have an opportunity and an obligationto choose
> where our organization goes. Continue the status quo, or move to anactive
> and diverse future.
>
> If you are an ARRL member, please treat this election seriously.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John Ewell N1JIE
>
> n1jie at arrl.net
>
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