Last week, I went to lunch with a ham friend of mine. This fellow has been a ham for more than 60 years, and an ARRL member for most of that time. As we were waiting for our food, he says to me, “My ARRL membership is up soon, and I don’t think that I’m going to renew.”
When I asked him why, he said, “Well, it used to be that you sent them 30 bucks and you got a book. Now, you send them 60 bucks, and you get nothing.”
It’s more than just that, though. He said that he hardly reads QST anymore. “There’s just not that much of interest to me in QST,” he said. And, he went on, you have to read it with a special reader.
This, and a recent episode of the DX Mentor podcast featuring ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, has got me thinking that the reason ARRL membership is shrinking is that it’s losing touch with its membership and with potential members. Two things stuck out for me. The first was Minster’s description of his operation of the super station on Bonaire during some DX contest. I suppose it’s a normal thing for a rich guy like him, who is pulling down $350,000 a year from the ARRL, but how many hams are going to get a chance to do this?
The second thing that stuck out is that at about the 1:33:30 mark, DX Mentor host, Bill, AJ8B, commented, “It appears to me that there’s a real strong growth in The Technician Class license. So, overall, that’s got to be pretty exciting.”
Minster re-directed the conversation immediately into a discussion of ARRL membership. He said, “I get asked the question pretty regularly that you know, there’s 750,000 hams and there are only 150,000 in the ARRL. (Note: It’s well below 150,000 right now.) You guys are terrible.”
He tried to blow this off by noting that many members of the Mormon Church and Orthodox Jewish communities get licensed for emergency preparedness and disaster communications. At He said flat out, “They’re not hams.” To blow off anyone with an amateur radio license as “not a real ham” just doesn’t seem like the right attitude to me, and isn’t emergency and preparedness communications supposed to be one of the pillars of amateur radio?
Now, he did go on to say that new Techs need mentors to help them get more involved with amateur radio. I agree completely with him on that, and I tell everyone that takes my class to consider me their mentor, and if they ever have a question or need help, to contact me. I’m proud of the fact that many people who’ve taken my classes are now active hams and having fun with amateur radio.
At any rate, the impression I get is that Minster isn’t all that concerned with membership. He certainly didn’t give any indication of that in his DX Mentor appearance, and I don’t see the ARRL taking any serious steps to increase membership. Instead of truly being the “national association for amateur radio,” they’re becoming an ever-smaller association of guys they consider to be “real hams.”
They’ve lost touch with long-time members like my friend and who knows how many potential members. What this means is that, in the future, ARRL membership will continue to fall, both in the percentage of licensed radio amateurs and absolute numbers.
Speaking as one of those members of the “Mormon Church” who got licensed before hearing anything about it from the Church, and who has gone on to get several others involved (including my father, AG7QP, who is now the EC for Eastern Washington and works hard to tie ARES and Church efforts together) I’m gobsmacked by the shortsightedness.
As soon as the head of the ARRL says that Technicians and those in Emcomms are not “real hams”, you know there is a problems. IMHO Short Wave Listeners, Scanner listeners and indeed anyone that plays around with radio is part of the Ham Community. They become an operator when they pass the exam to get a licence, but (again in My personal opinion) as soon as someone is interested in radio, they deserve to be part of the Ham community, but Hell what do I know? I’ve only been licenced 53 years hold full licences in three countries across two continents, but I did know to allow my ARRL membership lapse last November as the ARRL didn’t even send a reminder.
Ed DD5LP / G8GLM / VK2JI.
Let it go folks! ARRL is the national oganization for about a quarter if the US ham popultion. They cater to the older demographic.
Cmon- field organization, magazine where the news is at least 2 months old, a website that’s just embarassing.
I can learn more, faster and have access to knowledgeable operators and technical help for free, just by cruising a few good websites and podcasts.
ARRL is to modern ham radio as an HT is to a cell phone. And there’s no way that HT will ever catch up.
It’s time to invest your money in information and technology that’s formatted to the modern ham.
Stop trying to save things that no longer work.
Greetings , I am a 49 year ARRL. life member . QST has left me behind . Most of the articles are too technical for me … maybe it’s my fault by not keeping up with the new Tech . Thanks for your ideas . How about a RT 4500 HD Rotor at $2600.00 for a young starting Ham . 73, Nick , WD8KNW … Kalamazoo , Mi.
In another example of how out of touch the ARRL is: “I get asked the question pretty regularly that you know, there’s 750,000 hams…”
As of 4-22-2025, according to the FCC ULS database, there are *actually* 830,919 licensed individuals and 12,141 clubs.
We all know that the ARRL’s computing abilities are dismal, but how have they misplaced 130,919 people?
It is appalling to me that the leader of ARRL, the organization that’s supposed to be an advocate for the hobby, treats his stakeholders and would-be stakeholders in such low regard.
I will admit that I could not get through the interview on ‘DX Mentor’.
I lost faith in the ARRL as an organization years ago, and Mr. Minster did nothing in the 45 minutes of the interview that I listened to want me to join back up and support it.
It’s a shame, because the organization has legislative pull; I don’t think it’s to the benefit of the members or amateurs anymore.
Hi Dan, I’m also in the same boat as your friend. I’m also not an ARRL member anymore either. I’m not financially destitute, but neither do I have money to burn. I’m not happy that membership dues have doubled…if you want the print version of QST, which I do. I can certainly understand an increase…. But doubling it?! No… You can now keep it, I’ll keep my money.
There’s not a lot for me to add here, just a note of sadness that for all of the reasons given here and elsewhere, I too let my 12-years of continuous re-subscription to the ARRL – the entire duration I’ve been a ham – drop this past December. I hold out hope for a change in the leadership (perhaps ‘management’ is closer to the term), but I don’t really expect to see it.
Sooner or later we’re going to have to put together another organization, if only to lobby for keeping the Amateur Radio bands legally intact. It’s not my field of expertise, but I’ll be watching for some such group to get started and will join as soon as is practical.
Dan
I think your article is fair, and I do understand where your friend’s decisions have come from. I watched the interview with ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, on the DX Mentor podcast.
I think he is a typical CEO, only answering the question he wanted to. When by-laws were mentioned he chose which by-laws to talk about. I’m sorry to say he is not a leader, and I would not want to follow him. Therefore, I will not be joining the ARRL.
We canceled our ARRL membership very soon after Mr. Minster came on board. His many arrogant statements, his treatment of members and lack of vision are deplorable. We believe Mr. Roderick must be removed from the BOD; that should have been done years ago. The remainder of the BOD should be replaced also.
Ham for 34 years and a member of the ARRL as long. I renewed a few Octobers ago. A few weeks after that, I get an email from ARRL saying they are making the print QST an additional cost starting in January. My one-year renewal would not be honored. That is, in any other business, fraud.
Sure, I understand it is expensive to print magazines. But phase it out in a way that people who already paid for it are still honored through the end of their subscription year.
I did renew last year. Why? Like them or not, the ARRL represents us. If the ARRL goes away, soon what we know as ham radio would change for the worse. I was also an ARRL scholarship recipient way, way back, and to the extent that my dues contribute to that, I’ll pay.
But I still think what they did was fraud.
Where does the membership money go to? (I’m a new member)