[QCWA] A Challenge
Matt Tinker
matt.tinker at enduroscope.com
Tue Dec 19 12:03:49 EST 2006
Hi Norm, Great Idea, another good idea that needs to be thought out by our
leadership. Maybe someone should contact you, and ask you for a
presentation of your idea to the Board of Directors or the committee that
would oversee this idea. Nothing ventured nothing gained ! Congrats on 69
years, and I hope you have 69 more Norm, Great Idea !!! 73 Matt AA8P
At 11:30 AM 12/19/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>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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>
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