[NLRS] NLRS Survey Results (long)

[W0ZQ at aol.com]

Hello NLRS land

As of today I have  received and tabulated survey data from 35 NLRS members.  
 Last time I  checked our club roster we had about 100 club members.   The 
following  survey report contains three main sections.   The first section is an 
 executive summary, the second section contains the survey data, while the 
third  section contains suggestions and thoughts for improvement.

Please take  some time to read through this report and  provide me with any 
thoughts and  comments that you may have.    

73,  Jon
W0ZQ

Executive Summary
The average NLRS member is both an ARRL  & CSVHFS member, participates in VHF 
contesting, uses CW for weak signal  work, enjoys HF, more than often is 
chasing grids for VUCC, and is most likely a  member of another club.   At the 
same time they rarely use EME or  digital modes and tend to believe that the ARRL 
does not understand  them.   The average NLRS member is active on six 
different bands (!!),  most likely 6, 2, 222, 432, 1296, and 10GHz.   The most recent 
band  they have added is 10GHz and it was added within the last 28 months.    
The average NLRS member feels very strongly that being a club member adds fun 
to  their hobby, that they would recommend NLRS to a newcomer, and that we 
should  continue with our hamfest club table.   The average NLRS member feel  
strongly that our club charter and goals are well communicated, that the club  
officers are “doing the right things”, and that on occasion the NLRS should 
host  a major event such as Central States.    The average NLRS is not  sure, or 
is unsure, if we are well balanced in the World Above 50 Mhz and  wonders if 
we are sometimes overly absorbed in microwave operations.

The  Details:   I have ranked this in descending  order.
YES      NO
Do you generally participate in  VHF contest and submit logs  ?            
94%        6%
Are you a ARRL member  ?                                                      
          91%       9%
Do you, or can you, employ CW for  weak signal VHF use  ?                  
88%     12%
Are you a Central States VHF Society member  ?                               
80%      20%
Do you operate HF as well as VHF  ?                                           
       74%      26%
Do you chase grids for VUCC  ?                                                
         63%       37%
Do you belong to any local radio club other than NLRS  ?                      
57%      43%
As a VHFer, do you believe that the  ARRL understands you  ?             43%  
     57%
Do you operate any of the digital modes for EME, meteor,  etc?            34% 
     66%
Do you operate EME  ?                                                         
             20%      80%

The following list shows the  percentage of survey responders who reported 
being active on these  bands.   The list is sorted from highest occurrence to  
lowest.
2m   =  97%
6m   =   94%
432  =  94%
222  =   69%
1296  =  54%
10G   =   54%
902   =  37%
2304  =  34%
3456   =  23%
5760  =  23%
24G   =   17%
LAS   =   6%
47G   =     0%

The following list shows what was the last band that survey responders  last 
added, sorted from highest occurrence to lowest:
10G  n =  9
24G  n = 5
432   n = 5
1296    n = 4
222   n = 3
50   n =  1
902  n = 1
2304  n = 1
5760   n = 1

For the next set of questions the following weighting was  use:
Strongly Agree =  5
Agree =  4
Neither agree nor disagree =  3
Disagree =  2
Strongly Disagree = 1

I would  recommend NLRS to any VHF new comer.
Average  score = 4.6
Std Deviation = 0.5

We  should continue to maintain a NLRS club table at major ham  events.
Average score =  4.6
Std Deviation = 0.6

Being a member  of the NLRS adds fun to my amateur radio experience and  
activities.
Average Score =  4.5
Std Deviation  = 0.7

I believe  that the current NLRS officers are “doing the right things” and 
are taking our  club in a direction that I agree with and find  enjoyable.
Average score =  4.3
Std Deviation = 0.7

On occasion,  such as every three to six years, the NLRS should work to host 
major events such  as the CSVHF Society conference and Microwave  Update.
Average score =  4.1
Std Deviation =  0.9

The NLRS  charter and goals are well communicated by the club  officers.
Average score =  4.1
Std Deviation =  0.8

The NLRS  is appropriately balanced in the World Above 50 Mhz activities and 
encourages  and supports all activities equally such as 6m Dxing, EME, digital 
modes,  contesting, microwave operations, and  more.
Average score =  3.5
Std Deviation =  1.0

I find  that the NLRS is often overly absorbed in microwave operations that I 
have no  interest in.
Average score =  2.9
Std Deviation =  1.2

Rank each  of the following five club communications tools as  follows 
5 = Very  useful to me
4 = Useful  to me
3 = No opinion,  don’t use, or don’t  attend
2 = Is of no  value to me or  dislike
1 = Useless,  perhaps we should consider  eliminating.

NLRS  reflector 
Average  score = 4.9
Std  Deviation =  0.3
NLRS  website
Average  score = 4.1
Std  Deviation =  0.8
Aurora meeting  (Spring)
Average  score = 4.6
Std  Deviation =  0.7
Monthly  Breakfast
Average  score = 3.8
Std  Deviation =  0.9
Sunday night VHF  nets
Average  score = 3.6
Std  Deviation =  0.9


Summary of comments:
a)  We need to  spend more time in local QSOs to encourage new hams to get on 
and stay on weak  signal work.
b)  Would like NLRS to consider a closer relationship with  K0BSA (ex 
Explorers)
c)  Need more emphasis on the lower VHF bands where  newbies may have some 
interest.  Have heard NLRS referred to as a  “microwave” club.
d)  Need to spread the work around.   Need a  general PowerPoint presentation 
that can be given to other clubs that shows a  balance of NLRS (not just 
10gigs).   Need a more organized outreach to  other clubs.
e)  Activity today is SO much higher than it has been in  the past.   This is 
surely due to NLRS.   I think that the  10G activity has taken away from the 
traditional VHF activity, but it IS  activity and that is good.
f)  Need to grow and welcome  newcomers.   However, program for newcomers may 
be different from the  rest.
g)  Proud to be a member.   Some of the web stuff is out  of date - maybe we 
can help the webmaster by off loading some of their  tasks.
h)  Short on EME and digital modes.   Homebrewing is a  lost art for many of 
us.
i)  For the club table, don’t scare people off  with the giga head stuff.  
Without the members in this club I would not  have the successful station that I 
have now.
j)  I know of no other  group I the Midwest that would mentor new people to 
VHF & Above.
Aurora  is still the primary local event that caters to all facets of VHF &  
Above.  10G gets most of the talk at breakfast & outings, but people  can ask 
questions they want on other subjects.
k)  Nice to have a group  of fellow amateurs with similar interest close to 
me.  NLRS members are  very helpful
l)  Role of the club is to continue to reinvent itself with  new activates 
and interests.   When microwaves states to ant, the club  will find another.
m)  Like of $5 dues.  We don’t get wrapped up in  organizational noise.   
Like the clubs informality.   Like  that we are a club that does things.   Like 
antenna tune up days,  suggest additional informal workshops in our future.
n)  For major  conferences, every five years or so may be better than 3 yrs 
in order to avoid  burn-out.


Suggestions For Improvement &  Changes
1.    The club and its officers can do a better job of  promoting our club’s 
charter.   This can be done at Aurora and at  hamfests where we often have a 
club table.
2.   We need to find a  better way to attract and welcome newbies.   Some 
ideas that come to  mind is to have a club sanctioned “chat” night on 144.250, 
perhaps look at a  mentoring program, and to reach out to other clubs to make 
more VHF generic  presentations.   Integration of a EME / digital mode program 
may  attract newcomers as well (ex: 2m EME via digital means).
3.   We  are going to push Rover mania ….. More to come on that later.
4.    Perhaps the most polarizing question was around our recent work on the  
microwaves.    Regarding the question about being too absorbed in  
microwaves, we had four members who strongly believe that to be true, seven who  believe 
it to be true, eleven who were neutral, nine who disagreed, and four who  
strongly disagreed … quite the spread !    More data - one third  of the survey 
responders are active only as high as 432 while nearly half the  club is active 
up to at least 1296.   At the same time, one third of  all club members have 
2304, 3456, or 5760 !    The issue is that  the club is actually quite active 
on many bands …. Oh what a problem  !    One possibility is to form a new 
club, the Twin Cites  Microwave Club, as a way to focus microwave activity and to 
separate the  microwavers from the VHFers.     I think this is the wrong  
thing to do, but I am curious as to what others may think about  it.     

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