[NCARC] My thoughts and ideas - Steve Henry's request for input

[Herndons]

a).  What keeps (or kept) me in the club.

Hey, that reminds me, I think I need to re-up this month. :)

The club seems to be the most likely resource for meeting local ham's and
sponsoring local projects that require more resources than any single person
can afford, e.g. repeaters, autopatch, etc.

b.)  What directions/project/seminars should we take on as a club to
make your membership in NCARC more valuable to you personally?

I loved the idea of the technical presentations.  I still do, as I am
usually unable
to make the monthly meetings.  Re-runs would be acceptable, if the
presenters
didn't mind repeating themselves.  Things that I have heard of other clubs
doing
with good results include an antenna workshop, where club members pay a fee
for materials (e.g. $15) and meet periodically with an Elmer (as a group)
and
assemble and test the antennas that they have constructed with the
appropriate
test equipment, which most technician class folks don't have access to, nor
experience
using.  It leaves the participants with a cool tuned antenna and more
knowledge
than they started with.
Another thing that I think the club members should address is advocacy.  It
seems
like not a lot of new members are being introduced to the hobby through our
club.  Perhaps if the club sponsored a few annual events working satellites
or the
ISS in the local schools this trend might be reversed in 20 years or so . .
. ?
Will give current leadership a succession plan :)

c) What are the top 2-3 issues we should tackle as a club over the next year
or so?

Echolink / IRLP efforts to completion.  If particular members want to run
with a 6-meter
repeater, provide them with resources and emotional support to complete the
job.
(By that, I mean that the club technical committee has every right to focus
on what they
currently have on their plate, and not go off into another project.   But if
a few individuals
have some resources and extra time on their hands, then by all means enable
them to
move forward with a plan on their own.  The club can help financially and
with coaching
even if none of the current gurus have time to take on this new task).

'73

Kent Herndon
KC0FWB




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