[QCWA] New 2010 Roster Statistics

[Dave - VE3JX]

Hi Jeff,

Just a quick note.  It appears that you and I started in ham radio the same 
year: 1967.  In Canada, that was our Centennial year; getting my ham licence was 
my Centennial project.

I'm a little older: 63.  Not dead yet, though.

Hi Val:

Good points.  I think we lost quite a few hams to computers & the internet, 
before & around Y2K.

Point #4 is very valid: CC&R's are the norm WRT newer townhomes and condos, 
which housing is attractive when one is aging.

Cheers,

Dave.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Val Erwin" <dallasqcwa at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'QCWA Reflector'" <QCWA at mailman.qth.net>; <jangus at suddenlink.net>
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 7:58 PM
Subject: Re: [QCWA] New 2010 Roster Statistics


Howdy Jeff !

I trust this Texas heat is doing the same to you in Ranger as it is to me here 
in the Dallas area!!..........

"You don't even need to have been continuously licensed. So where is everybody?"

Jeff that is a question I ask myself all the time! But, when one weeds-out just 
a few 25-year tenured hams, it starts to make a little more sense as to why the 
numbers are lower than we would like:

1. Not everyone is a "joiner".
2. How many hams were licensed but never went on the air?
3. How many lost interest in ham radio in their senior years?
4. How many lost interest in ham radio due to our modern tower/antenna 
restrictions?
5. Many are now on a second+ spouse who does not like ham radio!
6. I have found that many have taken on full time Grandma/Grandpa 
responsibilities with no
extra time for ham radio much less meetings!
7. etc. etc.

As for you being a mere child of 56 years old, I can identify with 
that............10 years ago when I was also in the QCWA. Then, I was the 
youngest Member in Chapter 41 here in Dallas, in effect the "kid"......ha ha As 
for you being referred to as an "extra-lite", don't forget we are amongst a 
group of mature hams many of which are very set in their ways and in effect some 
still living in the past. Please consider turning a negative into a 
positive.......I am confident that you would find that many of those that try to 
downplay your license would feel ill at ease in operating a computer on any of 
the digi-modes, unlike you at your younger age who tends to be more computer 
literate.. These are the same "old boy" operators that can operate CW at 20+ 
WPM, an admirable trait, but would say: "Operate a radio controlled by a 
computer?.............Dunno' how to do that!!"......... Thus Jeff, the "old boy" 
operator and the "new boy"
 operator, can each hold their heads high but for different reasons!

BTW Jeff, you missed a good hamfest down in Austin this past 
weekend.........Austin Summerfest. Keep an eye on the front door of your 
hardware store there in Ranger as I plan to visit you one day on one of my trips 
out to W. TX.........

Regards,

Val Erwin / W5PUT
QCWA Natl' Director


--- On Fri, 8/6/10, jangus at suddenlink.net <jangus at suddenlink.net> wrote:


From: jangus at suddenlink.net <jangus at suddenlink.net>
Subject: Re: [QCWA] New 2010 Roster Statistics
To: "'QCWA Reflector'" <QCWA at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Friday, August 6, 2010, 5:54 PM


Declining membership?
What a surprise...

I've been continuously licensed since 1967 yet I've never been made to feel 
welcome
by the older members of the QCWA.

Sorry folks, I'm only 56, that leaves me out of having served time in WWII.

Nor do I appreciate being referred to as an extra-lite because I didn't prove to 
the FCC
that I can send and receive Morse code at 21 WPM.

Now, let's see, some quick math here... 2010 - 25 = 1985. A lot of things have 
both
happened and changed since 1945. But still I feel as though I'm being held to an
unreasonable standard for acceptance into an "Old Boys Club."

Now suddenly there is a "We're losing membership numbers." There is a large pool
of people that have been licensed prior to 1985, yet where are they? Have they
all been chased off as not being "real enough" to qualify in some secret cabal?

The requirements aren't that difficult. "If you hold a current amateur radio 
license
and you were licensed, as a ham, 25 years ago or more, you are eligible to join
QCWA." You don't even need to have been continuously licensed. So where is
everybody?

Jeff
wa6fwi
QCWA lifer

--
Fox's Mercantile, Ranger TX
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