[QCWA] A Challenge

[ve6afo at rac.ca]

Good morning Matt & Mike,

You both have made some very good "though provoking" comments. I don't believe 
there is a single answer to keeping amateur radio well and alive. It is a 
combination of all. Each person has their own expertise in promoting amateur 
radio. Where one is lacking the expertise in one area - another can pick it up, 
and so on.

The short and long of QCWA Wild Rose Chapter 151 - we ARE involved with youth 
in schools. This is one of our mandates. We have helped to complete 2 ISS 
contacts (Dec. 2, 2005 and March 21, 2006). We have exposed the kids to our 
hobby. Not everyone wants to be a Ham...but, exposure to ham radio is a sure 
way of letting them know what is out there, if they are so inclined to seek out 
this kind of fun in technology.

Matt - in answer to your remark "Maybe QCWA chapters should set a goal of 
having at least one (1) Amateur Radio training class a year, or an open house 
at a Chapter members station to show interested people what Amateur Radio is all
about." ...this coming January 7th would be a good time to start, with "Kid's 
Day". I try to invite as many young kids to my place for this 'twice a year' 
event. The other day of the year for "Kid's Day" is the Father's day weekend in 
June.

73,

Ken Oelke - VE6AFO





Quoting Matt Tinker <matt.tinker at enduroscope.com>:

> Good Morning Mike,
> I agree with you, and at the same time I disagree with you in some 
> respects.  You are correct in your statement that we should be looking at 
> the big picture, the survival of Amateur Radio.  Amateur Radio is a HOBBY, 
> not a job.  The key here is the word survival.  It is up to all of us to 
> become more proactive with our hobby.  If that means going to schools to 
> show kids what Amateur Radio is, or becoming a VE and recruiting new 
> members to Amateur Radio classes, organizing and making Radio Clubs more 
> active in their communities, or QCWA Chapters becoming part of the 
> community, or just being proud and showing that pride to people you 
> know.  Let me give an example :  In the spring and summer I coach baseball 
> (ages 13-15), I have an ARRL sticker on my back window.  A 14 year old that
> 
> plays on our team asked me what the ARRL was ?  I told him what we were, 
> and if he would like, he could come over and see my station.
> He and his father came over the following Tuesday morning.  We walked 
> through the station, and I flipped on the switches, and tuned to a favorite
> 
> rag chew net.  It was amazing to see his eyes as people from Florida, New 
> York, New Jersey, Iowa, Colorado etc checked in and just chatted.  I was 
> funny that during this his cell phone rang, and his Mom wanted to have him 
> get something on his way home.  That phone was not nearly as neat to him or
> 
> his father as the radios sitting in front of them.
> 
> They were amazed at the fun and technology that they could have in their 
> own home.  He has been back to the shack, and experienced some DX, and had 
> a chance to talk on the air.  He and his father are planning to take an 
> upcoming class to get their licences.  Now, some will say that was a rare 
> instance, but I say if you are not proud of your Hobby, and tell someone 
> about it, there would never even be a chance for someone to learn about 
> Amateur Radio.  All from a sticker on the back window of your car.  Being 
> proactive is what we need to become, not static.  The ARRL needs to be 
> people freindly, the QCWA needs to become known outside of the Amateur 
> Radio fraternity.
> 
> To say I wasn't disappointed by the FCC droping the code requirement would 
> be a lie.  I hoped that they would retain the 5wpm for the Extra 
> Class.  However, we need to move forward, and bringing new people into 
> Amateur Radio, trained, and ready to operate correctly should be our main 
> goal.  CW does have its' place, and forgetting it would be a 
> disaster.  Again, we need to show people that CW can be fun, beneficial, 
> and its something they want to do in Amateur Radio.  But, we have to get 
> them into the Hobby.  Maybe QCWA chapters should set a goal of having at 
> least one (1) Amateur Radio training class a year, or an open house at a 
> Chapter members station to show interested people what Amateur Radio is all
> 
> about.  Maybe, with an effective media campaign, advertising both on a 
> national and local level, and proactive Hams we can grow our ranks, and 
> become more of a force to survive the battles yet to be fought.  A new era 
> is here, and we need to quit worrying about cell phones, and start letting 
> people know what the Amateur Radio Hobby has to offer; FUN, LEARNING, 
> FRIENDSHIPS, SOCIAL EVENTS, CLUBS, AND A LIFETIME HOBBY THAT WILL BE THERE 
> ALL THE TIME.  We have let people know who we are !!
> 
> Well, I thank you for your insightful comments, and hope we will move 
> forward and make some changes to our approach to making Amateur Radio known
> 
> to our communities. Our national leadership needs to take pause, and 
> develop a clear program for the future of our Hobby.
> 
> Best 73
> Matt Tinker AA8P
> 
> 
> 
> At 02:33 AM 12/19/2006 +0000, you wrote:
> >I was very heartened by the measured response by all those who commented 
> >on the code issue.  Frankly, I expected a more traditional response and 
> >I'm thrilled to be disappointed.
> >
> >Thirty years in Information Technology has made it easy for me to accept 
> >major changes in technology.  In 1980 I was an expert COBOL programmer but
> 
> >that skill is about as useful to the world now as the 20 WPM CW test I 
> >took for my extra ticket in '75.
> >
> >OK, OK ­ I do feel a bit superior to anybody that got an extra recently 
> >with a 5 WPM test, but that feeling is somewhat deflated by the fact that 
> >my 20 WPM test was in the multiple choice format which much easier than 
> >the 13 WPM test I took in '72 which required perfect copy for one minute.
> >
> >CW aside, I really wish the QCWA would tackle the larger issue ­ the 
> >survival of Amateur Radio itself.  Let me illustrate this with something 
> >that happened yesterday.
> >
> >I’m a private pilot and yesterday I flew a few circles around a friend’s 
> >house for photos.  Before arriving on station, I flipped my cell phone and
> 
> >called to tell everybody to "look up".  After the photo-mission, I called 
> >again to say I was heading back to home base and no, I couldn't see them 
> >at the altitude I was at.  Then I shot a picture of myself in the cockpit 
> >on the cell phone camera and sent it to folks below.
> >
> >Ten years ago, sending real-time voice and images from a private aircraft 
> >required a sophisticated Amateur or Commercial communications set-up ­ 
> >today it is routine with a cell phone half the size of the battery on many
> 
> >of our old 2M HT’s and more important, available to anybody without having
> 
> >to pass any kind of test.  Of what practical value is a multiband HF rig, 
> >tower and a ton of antenna when international Internet communications are 
> >instant, available for free in nearly every library or in every private 
> >home for nothing more than the price of an entry-level PC and an 
> >insignificant monthly ISP charge?
> >
> >Some will argue the emergency capabilities of the Amateur Service justify 
> >it.  To this I say that these capabilities, like HF communications, are 
> >just plain unneeded in the 21st century.  Sure we read, as recently as the
> 
> >Katrina disaster, heroic stories of Amateur Operators helping out - 
> >largely written by and consumed by our own community.  In reality the 
> >carriers are getting better and better at rapid restoration of wireless 
> >service and could improve even further if pushed by a more public-spirited
> 
> >FCC (I can hope, can’t I?).
> >
> >In the mid 90’s I trained soldiers going to Somalia to use a huge, clunky 
> >INMARSAT terminal for wireless voice and data communications ­ today every
> 
> >emergency service has “satphones” that fit in a briefcase.  World War II 
> >required the mobilization of Hams to serve the country with their unique 
> >skills.  Any future mobilization of such a scale (Heaven forbid) would 
> >have a huge pool of talent to choose from, given that nearly every 
> >teenager has basic computer skills.
> >
> >Thus I maintain that justifying the existence of Amateur Radio by 
> >declaring the Amateur Radio Operator essential to emergency communications
> 
> >- even with the latest technologies like WINLINK - is delusional.  Please 
> >remember that systems are currently being marketed to the Government to 
> >block all radio communications for a wide radius around a potential 
> >"ground zero" for security reasons.
> >
> >However, Amateur Radio can have a future.  The desire to operate radios as
> 
> >a hobby will not die for the same reason that horses are still ridden, 
> >small boats still sail and private airplanes still fly - because people 
> >still love amateur radio communications or riding or boating or flying and
> 
> >will continue to do so indefinitely.  THAT is the reason that Amateur 
> >Radio should be saved. Ham Radio gave me my career in IT, it was the 
> >crucible from which numerous technologies were born and can maintain its 
> >place in the radio spectrum if organizations like QCWA and ARRL begin now 
> >to take steps to actively preserve it.  This can only be done by a 
> >realistic reassessment of what we are, what we can offer and why this 
> >should be preserved.
> >
> >Hasn’t FCC’s less-than-supportive response to our serious BPL concerns 
> >proven our vulnerability? I implore the QCWA and all Amateur Radio 
> >organizations to abandon the old paradigms and embark on a realistic and 
> >forward-thinking campaign to preserve our Amateur Radio allocations for 
> >the future.  The Amateur "Service" must be redefined as a hobby that has a
> 
> >right to its portion radio spectrum in the same way that bridle paths have
> 
> >a right to exist, small boats have a right to public waterways and private
> 
> >aircraft have a right to public airspace.  General aviation is currently 
> >fighting this same fight for survival.  I deeply fear that failure by 
> >Organized Amateur Radio to respond to this challenge soon will cause all 
> >of Amateur Radio to go the way of the CW test.
> >
> >--
> >Mike Sturm KA2E
> >http://www.mikesturm.com
> >
> >
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> 
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