[QCWA] A Challenge
Norm Gertz
k1aa at cfl.rr.com
Tue Dec 19 11:30:25 EST 2006
Thanks Matt...well said.
Recently I suggested that QCWA institute a program of visiting prestigious
amateur radio clubs to encourage a liason and generate new members.
I have heard nothing back in this regard from anyone.
I am a licensed amateur radio operator for 69 years.....I have had my share
of mentoring and being an Elmer of which I derived much satisfaction.
I am still in love with amateur radio and always will be.
73 Norm K1AA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Tinker" <matt.tinker at enduroscope.com>
To: "Discussion of QCWA" <qcwa at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: [QCWA] A Challenge
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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