KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Clubs

Amateur radio in the news: Grand Strand Radio Club, Morse Code shoes, CA RACES

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Carolina This Week: The Grand Strand Radio Club. Gordon Mooneyhan, W4EGM, with the Grand Strand Radio Club, talks with Trey Paul about the role that amateur radios play in the community, especially during the Great American Solar Eclipse back in August.

This ham radio operator could save your life one day. When the Big One hits — and that’s when, not if — you might as well kiss your cellphone goodbye. It’s more than likely emergency officials will shut down all use except for first responders. We’ve already seen the chaos of jammed phones when people rush to check on loved ones during wildfires and debris flows. But a big quake will topple cell towers and that means zero cell calls. That is when you might find yourself thanking Josifek, 75, and the other volunteers who run something launched when William Howard Taft first became president in 1909. These men and women — as well as an increasing number of teens; who knew? — call themselves amateur radio enthusiasts. Trained and licensed, they are the volunteers for our country’s Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

No wonder ARRL membership is falling!

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Yesterday, a reader contacted with a bit of information that I found almost incredible. He wrote:

You may have seen the video of N6AA at the Yuma hamfest (ARRL Forum). One tidbit he shared from the latest Board meeting is that each year there are approximately 30,000 new FCC amateur licensees. 3,000 of these join the ARRL, and only 600 of them keep their ARRL membership into the second year.

This is way worse than I would have expected. That’s a 2% capture rate. Using my advanced strategy skills, I submit that it is not what we call a sustainable business model. :-)

I replied, “Those numbers are truly bad, almost to the point of being terrifying.” I daresay that there are more than 600 ARRL members pass away in a given year.  With numbers like that, it’s no wonder that the ARRL membership is falling.

What really gets me is the cavalier attitude that the League seems to have about this. They’ve known for years that membership has not kept pace with the number of licensed radio amateurs, and yet they haven’t seen fit to do something as simple as set a membership goal.

It gets worse

Here’s the video. It starts at the 42:00 mark, where N6AA begins talking about this issue.

Apparently, this study was done by Mintz & Hoke, an Avon, CT public relations firm. (Why the ARRL hired a PR firm to do a membership survey is kind of puzzling to me. They do list marketing and branding as one of their “capabilities,” so I guess that’s how they got the gig.)

Mintz & Hoke’s study noted that one of the problems is the lack of Elmers (“Elmer” is ham radio lingo for mentors). D’uh. Haven’t some of us been saying that for years? Did the Board actually have to pay a PR firm tens of thousands of dollars to hear this?

What really got my goat was the PR firm’s proposed solution – a website! They actually proposed that the ARRL pay them more than $400,000 to set up some kind of “lifelong learning” website. But the real kicker is that this money was just for the framework. The ARRL would still have to provide all the content!

There were a number of suggestions from the floor, including:

  • Publish a list of Elmers on the ARRL website.
  • Publish more information for newcomers on “The Doctor is In” podcast.
  • Give a year’s free membership, then reduced membership for some number of years after that.

There was also the suggestion that every radio club should have Elmers. While that’s certainly true, just saying that’s the way it should be isn’t going to improve the situation. I’ve blogged many times about how poorly the ARRL supports clubs.

I’ve blogged in the past about how the ARRL should be Elmering Elmers. Amateur radio technology has gotten pretty sophisticated. Asking a ham to not only master the technology, but also have the people skills to be a good Elmer is a tall order. Providing some training to hams who would like to be mentors would go a long way, I think, to producing a solid corps of Elmers, who would then do the job of helping more people have fun with ham radio….and become ARRL members.

The decline in membership is only going to get worse if the ARRL doesn’t take steps now.  I really hope that the Board takes this lesson to heart and figures out what to do here. I stand ready to help in any way that I can.

Amateur radio in the news: HS students compete, storm spotters brave elements, Hamcation highlights PR emcomm

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Berthoud High students go ‘ham’ with amateur radio competition – In the school’s first year competing, 90 students signed up to participate. Sequestered behind a room divider in the corner of the Berthoud High School library, a group of students, teachers and adult volunteers leaned over a radio. “CQ, CQ, this is high school station Whiskey Zero Bravo Hotel Sierra,” Sergey Eggers, a junior at Berthoud High School, said into the radio microphone. “Standing by for a call from anywhere.”

Storm Spotters brave elements to get a first look at severe weather. Tornado sirens might send most Iowans scrambling for their basements, but they send Chuck Wagoner out to his pickup truck. Wagoner, along with his colleagues in Newton’s ham radio club, the Amateur Radio Association of Newton have been assisting emergency management personnel in Jasper County for years, heading out to track and monitor deadly storms. In April, the association will sponsor a free class designed to teach residents more about storm spotting, and how to recognize dangerous weather events. “It just gives you a good idea of what to look for in a storm and not be terrified, because it may not be as bad as it seems,” Wagoner said. During the class, participants will learn how to spot funnel clouds, the best way to contact emergency officials and how to accurately measure wind speed.

Orlando HamCation event: Ham radios offered lifeline to Puerto Rico after Maria. For decades, ham radio operators have been vital during disasters, when all other communications fail. How to handle disasters was one of the topics that radio operators discussed. Those at the event heard from the man who led the amateur radio effort to help Puerto Rico immediately after Hurricane Maria in September.

Clubs and the ARRL……again

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UPDATE 2/22/22: In June 2021, Mike Walters, W8ZY, joined the ARRL as Field Service Manager. One of his duties is to re-engage with affiliated clubs. One noticeable development is that ARRL Field Services has started publishing the Club News email newsletter again as of November 2021. To see the current issue and back issues, go to http://www.arrl.org/club-news.

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Our club banner hanging on the public information tent at the entrance to our Field Day site.

In the latest message from our division director, our vice director, Tom, W8WTD, wrote:

And how can we strengthen our clubs in a time when people don’t want to join anything, and don’t want to volunteer for anything inside a club they do belong to? Throughout the Great Lakes Division, we see examples of clubs that are thriving, and then some that aren’t doing so well. Trying to understand what works to get people interested in a challenge for all of us.

I replied:

In your section of the latest Dale’s Tales, you ask, “How can we strengthen our clubs….” I can tell you one thing. If you and the ARRL are really serious about strengthening clubs, I have yet to see it. League officials like to say things like “clubs are the lifeblood of amateur radio,” but do little or nothing to back that up. Yes, there are a couple of pages on the website exhorting club leaders to do better jobs, but seriously, shouldn’t they get more?

Here’s an example of how the ARRL is letting clubs down. The ARRL used to publish an email newsletter called ARRL Club News. It is, in fact, still an option under the Edit Email Subscriptions tab in your ARRL user profile. But, it hasn’t been published regularly for at least a decade.

I brought this up ten or twelve years ago, when I was simultaneously our local club president and the Michigan Section Affiliated Club Coordinator. The answer I got was that the ARRL didn’t have the staff to produce it. If that’s true, then I guess that shows how far down the priority list clubs are since Contest Update, the Instructor/Teacher E-Letter, and VE newsletter appear regularly in my inbox.

At the time, I volunteered to edit the ARRL Club Letter for the League at no cost. (In case you’re wondering, I am a professional writer and editor, and have been writing about technology for many years.) I don’t think that I even got the courtesy of a reply to my offer.

I recently became aware of another instance of how low a priority clubs are to the League. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was an Assistant Director of the Delta Division. He was working on a project to geocode all US hams in the ULS license database from 2000-present, and he raised the issue of how weak the connection between the League and local clubs was. In order to try and make a better connection, his director requested a list of clubs in the division, and Norm Fusaro prepared and sent the list.

However, just the name and address of a club doesn’t tell much about them—what they offer, what they do, and so forth. He then requested that Norm Fusaro send him the latest set of reports that each affiliated club must submit to the League each year (or so) to maintain their affiliated status. Fusaro phoned him, and he learned that those paper submissions are merely put into a file drawer and NOTHING else is done with them. Fusaro said that he just didn’t have time to copy the reports, and that was that.

When I was the Michigan Affiliated Club Coordinator, I was often asked if there were any benefits to being an affiliated club. Being honest, I would tell them the only real benefit was that if the club had a hamfest, the ARRL would put their hamfest on the hamfest calendar and donate a few prizes. When you get right down to it, that’s really about all there is.

I take that back. Clubs do get a commission on ARRL memberships when they collect them. The $2 commission for returning members is a joke, though. I think that very few club treasurers consider it worth their while to collect a measly two bucks.

That’s where I left it. The point of all this is that if the ARRL really was serious about supporting clubs, then they would do something about it. At the very least, they need to get the ARRL Club News up and running again. Another thing that I’ve advocated in the past is providing club officers with training on how to do their jobs better. I’d love to start this dialogue and help our ham radio clubs work better, so that they can make ham radio more fun for their members.

 

Amateur radio in the news: Hams choose GMRS for CERT team, practicing for disaster, Orange ARC celebrates 70th anniversary

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Hams choose GMRS for CERT team. Instead of amateur radio, BeCERTAINN — Berkeley CERT & Inter Neighborhood Network will be using GMRS radios for their operations. “There are many licensed hams in Berkeley, but it proved very difficult to actually get a significant number of people involved in this effort,” Perlman added. “It was even more difficult to attract new hams, due to fears about the level of knowledge required to pass the licensing test.”

Practicing for disaster. Various agencies came together at the Civic Center on Saturday to deal with a mock disaster. The 24-hour mock disaster simulation was held during the annual Winter Field Day event. The theme of the day was public education and awareness, disaster preparedness, crime prevention and amateur radio.

“The goal of this event was to simulate a communication failure that required amateur radio operators to set up and maintain a communications system for 24 hours,” said Gary Young, Cove deputy fire chief and emergency management coordinator. “Many people are not aware of the steps to take during a disaster.” The event allows people to take part in the simulation, gain important information and become a part of the process.

There is nothing amateur about amateur radio. Tastefully restored Orange Train Depot Museum at 1210 West Green Avenue was a perfect setting on a perfectly sunny, chilly day to host the Orange Amateur Radio Club’s 70th anniversary Saturday and Sunday. Accompanying the sign advertising the club’s two day event, numerous radio antenna populated the depot grounds, making it possible for club members working their radios inside to reach far and wide in their search for contacts throughout the county, and well beyond.

Sutton & Cheam Radio Society hears about how to have fun with Morse Code

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On Thursday, January 18, I spoke to the Sutton & Cheam Radio Society (SCRS) via the magic of Skype and the Internet. I reprised my talk on Having Fun with Morse Code. It was my first time speaking to a club outside the U.S.

I was invited to speak to the club by Martin M1MRB, Martin M0SGL, and Chris M0TCH. In addition to being SCRS members, they’re also my co-panelists on the ICQPodcast.

As you can see from the photo, they put me up on the screen on the left. My PowerPoint was displayed on the computer monitor in the middle of the room.

As I mentioned, we used Skype to put me in the room with the blokes of the SCRS. We had a few false starts, but the connection was solid throughout the entire talk. One little annoyance was that they had a couple of mics there in the room, and I could hear myself talking. Mostly, I just plowed right through it, though.

According to reports, my talk was well-received. M0TCH said that they got, “lots of positive feedback from our club members,” and M1MRB noted that the discussion went on for an hour after I’d signed off. Well, that non wonder. The meeting was held at a local pub, and no doubt, the discussion was facilitated by some adult beverages. I joked with them that we need to figure out how to hold our club meetings in a bar around here sometime.

I’d be happy to do this for your club. If you meet somewhere with an Internet connection fast enough to support Skype, and are interested, e-mail me and we’ll see what can be arranged.

Amateur radio in the news: Radio Shack re-opens, UT radio club going strong, county to upgrade ham gear

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Manager reopens Jefferson City RadioShack. It is not often that you see a company go out of business and quickly reopen in the same location, but that is exactly what Jeff Pederson and Trevor “Reed” Freers have done with the Jefferson City RadioShack.

I like this story. Stores like this can really fill a void. Here’s another story about an entrepreneur keeping his RadioShack stores open. According to the story, there are more than 400 independent franchise stores still open.

When I read stories I wonder how difficult it would be to open one here in Ann Arbor. I’m always being asked if there are any local sources for things like coax, connectors, etc…..Dan

Radio Club reflects on past accomplishments, looks to future. In a room tucked under Neyland Stadium, the UT Amateur Radio Club reaches over 200 countries. Members of the Amateur Radio Club meet weekly in East Stadium Hall, where they have an antenna and a radio system to broadcast from UT campus.

County backs grant sought for ham radio upgrades. Spartanburg County (SC) Emergency Management has applied for a $3,900 grant to upgrade its ham radio equipment. Last week, the County Council authorized the grant application. Robbie Swofford, senior research analyst for the department, said the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) has made grants available to local chapters for new software and for several “go-boxes” that contain communications equipment powered by 12-volt batteries that can be charged by small solar panels.

Nice story about cooperation between a ham club and local county authorities….Dan

Need a program for your club meeting? Here’s what other clubs are doing.

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One of the cool things about writing a monthly column for amateur radio club newsletters is that the clubs put me on their mailing lists, and I get to see all of the cool meetings and activities they have. Here are some the recent programs that I found interesting. Maybe they’ll give you some ideas for your club meeting presentations.

  • The October 9, 2017 meeting of the Fond du Lac (WI) Amateur Radio Club will feature Marty Karjala, Research Site Supervisor for HAARP, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) located in Alaska. (Marty will be speaking via Skype.) HAARP is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Its purpose is to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance.
  • The guest speaker at the Riverland Amateur Radio Club’s October meeting was Keith Butler, LaCrosse County Emergency Coordinator. He discussed ARES/RACES and emergency communications as related to Amateur Radio. ARRL section officials are often ready and willing to speak to clubs. I know that I spoke at many clubs when I was the Affiliated Club Coordinator here in Michigan.
  • Many clubs have picnics over the summer in place of a regular club meeting. Keep that in mind as a club activity next summer.
  • Loop antennas! Several clubs have recently had presentations on small, magnetic loop antennas. These are becoming very popular as they are small and easy to set up for portable operations. Of course, you’ll need someone who’s either built one or bought one to give the presentation.

 

 

Teaching CW Again

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Back in the 1980s, I taught a Novice class at Doric Scientific, the company I was working for then. At that time, of course, you had to pass a 5-wpm code test. To teach the code, I brought in a key and a speaker and connected them to a fancy Wavetek frequency generator, which probably cost about $2,000. I like to joke that it was the most expensive code practice oscillator ever.

Fast forward 35 years, and I’m teaching CW again. After much badgering from my ARROW clubmates, we’ve finally started a class based on the CWOps CW Academy program. We’re starting with Level I, obviously. The class materials—Student Handbook: Practice Instructions = Level 1 and Using Morse Trainer—are available at no charge  from the CWOps website.

CW Academy uses an online application called Morse Trainer. Morse Trainer was written specifically for the CW Academy. The built-in practice sessions follow the CW Academy program letter-for-letter and word-for-word.

While you could probably learn the code by just using the CW Academy materials and Morse Trainer, it’s more effective in a class setting. I think the students motivate one another, and, of course, it’s useful to have an experienced CW guy on hand to give advice and answer questions. (If you’re an old hand like me, and you’re interested in teaching a CW class, you can find instructor resources on the CWOps website, including “Teaching Morse Code Using A Virtual Classroom Environment.”)

When they teach a class, the CWOps advisors conduct two training sessions per week for eight weeks. The classes are held online, using oovVoo, a video chat program. Here, we are going to meet on Sundays and Wednesday evenings, using Skype.

We started our CW class on Sunday evening with four students. The class started inauspiciously. I first tried using my shack PC, holding the microphone up to the laptop speakers to capture the code being generated by Morse Trainer in a browser window. Unfortunately, only one of the students could hear the code. After puzzling over that for a bit, I switched to my office Mac, and everyone was able to hear the code. 

After that, everything went pretty well. Once in a while, the code would sound a little funny. I think the reason for that is that we were getting some feedback from one or more of the students. The CWOps recommend using headphones, partly to prevent any audio feedback from distorting the code. I think this is a good idea and plan to use them next week.

For the next class, I also want to up the character speed being sent. Morse Trainer lets you set the character speed and the overall speed (Morse Trainer calls it the Farnsworth speed) separately, and I had the character speed set to 20 wpm and the Farnsworth speed set to 10 wpm. I think that 20 wpm is probably too slow, so for the next session, I’ll set it to 25  wpm. 

The goal here is to get these guys confident enough in their abilities to make CW contacts at next year’s field Day. After we’re done with the Level 1 course, I’m going encourage them all to get on the air and make some “real” contacts. One thing I’m thinking about doing is inviting them over to my house (or going to theirs) to participate in a QSO party. Getting on the air really is the best practice method out there, and QSO parties are a good way to get into the swing of contesting. If you have any thoughts or experience to share, please comment below.