KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Clubs

The spirit of cooperation

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Today, I attended the Michigan Nonprofit Association conference. At lunch, I happened to sit with someone from the Washtenaw Red Cross.

We got to talking a little bit about the history of ARROW and the Red Cross, and I gave her the short story about our little disagreement five or six years ago. It was all news to her. She also told me that the person who was Director of Emergency Services at that time is no longer with them.

That, couple with a recent mention of a reconciliation between ARROW and the Red Cross has emboldened me. After Field Day, I’m going to call and talk to them about how ARROW and the Red Cross can begin to work together again.

I’m not getting my hopes up that they’ll offer us space for a club station just yet, though. The first steps may be us teaching a class for them or perhaps participating in some kind of emergency exercise. Still, I’m going to be positive about this development.

Stuck for a Club Presentation?

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If you need to plan a presentation to your club, but are stuck for a topic, check out the new additions to the ARRL Multi Media Library. They recently added five new presentations:

  • Well known contester and DXer, ARRL Assistant Technical Editor Dean Straw, N6BV, has two new programs on HF Contesting For The Beginner and DX-pedition to Venezuela.
  • Allen Wolf, KC7O, showcases the communications provided for a 24 hour endurance run in the mountains of California.
  • Mark Spence, WA8SME, ARRL Technology & Education Program Manager (The Big Project) shares his program on the fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing (DSP).
  • There is also a program that covers the basics of repeaters for new hams. Most new hams first contact is through a local repeater. This program is designed to be an introduction to repeaters for the brand new ham.

There are a bunch of other programs that look very interesting.

Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, the ARRL Affiliated Club/Mentor Program Manager, [email protected], 860-594-0230 notes that they are always looking for fresh new programs to add to the Multi Media Library. If you have a PPT or video that you would like to submit for consideration, please mail it to ARRL, Attn. Field & Educational Services, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111.

No Ham Left Behind

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Here’s the text of an article I recently sent in to the ARRL for publication in QST’s Op-Ed section…

No Ham Left Behind

Dan Romanchik, KB6NU
Michigan Section Affiliated Club Coordinator

A recent item on QRZ.Com reported that the number of licensed radio amateurs on April 3, 2005 was 667,318, a net loss of 20,542 from the peak in April 2003. There are 28,869 Novices; 318,221 Technicians; 137, 093 Generals; 76,706 Advanceds; and 106,238 Amateur Extras.

Some of those that replied to this post used the decline in the number of licensees to predict the imminent death of amateur radio. While I’m not quite so alarmist as these guys, I do think the numbers point to a problem. The problem is not, however, the number of amateur radio licensees, but the number of active amateur radio operators.

While there have not been any scientific surveys, some have estimated that the number of licensees who are inactive-however you define that term-at between 25% and 50%. For whatever reason, these folks lost interest and are amateur radio operators in name only.

This is a shame, if you ask me. I think it is more important to have active, engaged amateurs than to have a large number of licensees. Inactive hams don’t show up for public service events or work CW or experiment with circuits. I would even argue that having a large number of inactive hams does more harm than good.

The question then is how to encourage amateur radio operators to be more active. The rules changes over the last ten to fifteen years have enabled many to obtain licenses, and I think overall that’s a good thing. But getting that first license is only a start, not an end in itself.

Let’s face it. If all an amateur knows is what the Technician Class license manual covers, all that he or she is really prepared to do is to buy an HT and talk on a repeater. That’s fun for a while, but the novelty quickly wears off. I’d bet that a very large percentage of Technician class licensees have simply abandoned amateur radio. I’d also bet that the majority of Novices are no longer active as well.

Note that more than half of all licensed amateurs are either Novices or Technicians. This means that more than half are still on the first rung of the amateur radio license ladder. Unfortunately, we really don’t have any programs for getting these hams involved. In effect, we’re leaving these hams behind.

If we want these folks to become active amateur radio operators-and I am going to assume that a more active amateur radio community is a good thing-we’re going to have to give them more help. It’s no small task to set up an HF amateur radio station; many things can go wrong, and without experienced help, it’s easy for new hams to give up in frustration.

One thing that I think the amateur radio community can do to help new hams is to develop more classes. I’m not talking about classes to teach people what they need to know to pass a test, but what they need to know to be successful amateur radio operators.

I’m talking about basic topics, such as how to solder, how to make voltage and current measurements, and how to make a dipole antenna. I think another very popular course would be how to choose an HF radio. This course would describe the terms manufacturers use on their spec sheets and help new hams (and undoubtedly some old ones) evaluate what’s on the market.

Ham radio instructors also need more support. Better materials for instructors will enable instructors to more easily set up and conduct training courses. Some training on how to teach would also go a long way.

I also think that the amateur radio community must provide better support for clubs. Clubs are where the action is. Good clubs bring hams into the hobby and turn them into active amateur radio operators. Bad clubs turn people away from amateur radio and foster bad stereotypes about amateur radio and amateur radio operators.

One way that the ARRL could help support clubs is by providing club officers with leadership training. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) makes available leadership training for its section officers. Here in the Michigan Section, we hope to offer a program like this very shortly, and I think it will help our amateur radio club officers and strengthen their clubs.

We should take a page from George W. Bush and vow to “leave no ham behind.” Increasing the number of licensees does no good if they lose interest and abandon the service, and helping those currently licensed will do more for ham radio than simply making more hams.

Brother Ham Radio Clubs

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Earlier this afternoon, I read through an item on QRZ.Com that talks about the number of licensed amateurs in this country. This is quite an interesting item, and one that I’ll write more about later.

In reading through this item, Jim Haynie W5JBP, ARRL President, describes a recent visit to Nicaragua. He notes that they must make do with little or nothing in the way of equipment and materials. By comparison, we have an embarassment of riches here in the U.S.–oftentimes hams here have more equipment than they know what to do with.

One thought that came to mind was perhaps the ARRL could start a “brother clubs” program somewhat similar to the “Sister Cities” program. The program would pair clubs around the world with clubs in other countries. My original idea was that the program would pair clubs in developed countries with those in less-developed countries, with a a view to the richer clubs helping the poorer clubs.

Of course, the program need not be limited to that. Clubs in developed countries could also become “brother clubs,” and these could exchange information about club activities and other cultural information. In either case, both clubs stand to get quite a bit out of this type of program.

Update 3/26/05
After posting a comment similar to this post on QRZ.Com, I got an e-mail and then a phone call from Jim Haynie, W5JBP, the ARRL president, on this topic. He sent me some two documents describing a program developed by the IARU, Region 2, called Partnership for Amateur Radio Societies (PARS). This program was developed by Rod Stafford, W6ROD, now president of IARU Region 2.

Unfortunately, there’s no publicly available information on this program, and it’s limited to Region 2. Also, the way that the documents I’ve seen are worded, it looks as though the program is geared to funneling equipment from “active societies” to “less active societies.” There’s not much consideration for cultural exchange, and it’s not clear whether the program is to work at the national society level or the local club level.

I’ve been in touch with W6ROD about this, and I hope to hear back from him shortly.

Open Shack Nights

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One of the problems amateur radio faces is that people are all very busy these days, and when push comes to shove, amateur radio is one thing that often gets shoved. It’s just not a priority with people.

This is understandable. Amateur radio takes a lot of time. Setting up a station, building antennas, and then actually operating all take time. BUT, so do other activities. To get the maximum enjoyment and benefit out of any relatively complicated activity, you have to be willing to put in the time.

Assuming that it’s a “good thing” that those with amateur radio licenses become more active amateur radio operators, the question then becomes how do you get people to put in the time? I think it’s a matter of education.

We’ve made it very easy for people to get amateur radio licenses. While it’s debatable as to whether or not it’s too easy, I don’t think you can argue, that nearly anyone of average intelligence can get a Technician class license. Unfortunately, many do not progress beyond the Technician license.

Yes, you can do many cool things with a Technician class license, but because the test is so easy, many Techs just don’t have the tools to do those cool things. So what happens is that their experience of amateur radio is a lot more limited than those who do know more and can do more.

For some hams, this is OK. They enjoy the camaraderie of belonging to a club and talking to their friends on a repeater. For many, however, they quickly find ham radio–at least their experience of it–to be boring. They file their license away and stick the HT in a drawer. Some even become critical of ham radio. This is not a good situation.

This is a shame because those of us who are experienced amateur radio operators know how much fun it can be. If you’re like me, you want to share your experience with others and help them have fun with ham radio. The question is how can we do this?

One idea that I either came up with or stole from someone (I honestly forget which) is “Open Shack Night.” The basic idea is to invite people into your shack, show them your equipment, make a few contacts, and answer their questions. The goal might be to talk about a specific topic, such as operating CW or PSK-31, or about operating on the HF bands in general.

I hosted my second Open Shack last night. Four hams–all Techs–who are currently in my General Class license course came over. None of them, I don’t think, had ever been on HF before, so my goal was to try to show them how cool it can be, and since I’m a big CW guy, I was trying to show them how particularly cool CW could be.

When the first guy arrived, I was having a contact with OE5IMD on 30m. I explained what was happening, but his signal was not that strong, and we were operating pretty fast, so I’m not sure he got that much out of it. For my next QSO, I QSYed to 40m and found someone that would work me at 10-12 wpm. I think that worked better, as my guest could copy at least some of our QSO.

The other guests arrived, and I worked a couple more people on 40m CW. I’m not sure how much of an impact this had on my guests, though, because even at 10 wpm, we were operating too fast for them to make much sense out of it all.

In an attempt to keep them interested, I decided to try to scare up a phone contact. I found an empty frequency, but repeated CQs went unanswered. That was really frustrating.

Giving up on that, we just started talking. Being on the cusp of getting their General tickets, they were interested in knowing how they should decide what HF radio to buy. We discussed the pros and cons of buying used gear and then talked a bit about the different levels new gear available today. I think that proved to be interesting and useful for them.

All in all, my Open Shack was successful, but perhaps, not as successful as it could have been. I’m going to have to rethink how I demonstrate the coolness of HF. Perhaps I should concentrate on making a few phone contacts first and then making a few CW contacts.

I do think that doing this was a good thing. I’m going to do more of them, and I encourage others to do the same. I think new hams are starving for this kind of information, and no amount of reading magazines or talking on the repeater is going to provide it. They need up-close and personal demonstrations and hands-on activities to make ham radio more real.

You Just Never Know…

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One of the beauties of amateur radio is that you never know who you’re going to talk to, and what can happen as a result of a QSO.

For example, on Saturday, I worked Gary, N5PHT. As I usually do, I looked him up on QRZ.Com. On this page, Gary noted that at the VA Hospital where he works they have a club station. Well, that certainly piqued my interest. Our club has been looking for that our station could call home for quite a while now.

When I got the chance, I asked Gary about the club station, but unfortunately band conditions changed and we could only chat briefly about it. I asked if I could send him an e-mail to continue the discussion, and he agreed. On Sunday, we swapped some e-mail. I asked him how he went about getting permission to set up a station there, and he replied that several of his hospital’s employees were hams, and that the VA even had a policy on establishing club stations in VA hospitals. He said he would try and get in contact with someone here in Ann Arbor and introduce me to him or her.

This morning, I was copied on an e-mail he sent to the director of the Ann Arbor VA Hospital, and an hour later, I got a call from the hospital’s chief of police! He listened very intently as I described ham radio and what services we could provide to the hospital, including recreational opportunities for the patients and emergency communications. While it’s certainly not a done deal, I’m very encouraged by this turn of events. With any luck, this will turn into a win-win situation for both the VA Hospital and our club.

Gary noted that there are three VA hospitals in Texas that he knows of that have amateur radio club stations. It seems to me that this is something that other clubs looking to set up club stations should look into.

Make Club Meetings Interesting AND Useful

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One of the things that has helped me in finding speakers for club meetings is my experience as an editor with Test&Measurement World magazine. My job as an editor was to first figure out what topics the readers were interested in (or should be interested in) and then find someone to write the article. My job as club president is to come up with ideas for club meetings and then find guys willing to giva a presentation.

Generating ideas is not all that hard. All you really have to do is think a little about what interests you or what would be useful to you and before long you’ll have more ideas than you could ever use. For example, the other day I was preparing a lesson for my General Class license course. The lesson was to cover antennas and feedlines, and I was cutting hunks of different feedlines to pass around at class.

At the same time, I was talking to our club’s technical coordinator on the repeater. I asked him if he knew how to determine the characteristic impedance of a feedline. For a second there, I had him stumped, but in the end, he came up with a reasonable answer.

The answer is that the characteristic impedance of a feedline is the impedance that a source would see if the line were infinitely long. Think about this. If you connected a power supply to a piece of coax or ladder line, a current will begin to flow. It will, however, flow for only a short period of time because sooner or later that current is going to reach the end of the line and have nowhere to go.

If, however, the feedline were infinitely long, the current would continue to flow. Determining the impedance of the line is then very simple. Z = V/I.

From a practical point of view, you can measure the characteristic impedance with a time-domain reflectometer or an oscilloscope and a pulse generator. For the test method, take a look at this article from Test&Measurement World. Putting together such a test setup, shouldn’t be difficult to do, and I bet that it would make a great presentation at a club meeting. I’d be willing to be that one or more of your members have an oscilloscope that you can use. Finding a signal generator with enough drive might be a problem, but not on insurmountable one.

Not only would the presentation be interesting, but it would be useful as well. You could invite members to bring in their coax and test them to see how close the feedlines are to their nominal impedances. Taking it a step further, you could then measure the feedlines with antenna analyzers and see how close the measurements turn out to be.

So, there you have it, a club meeting that’s both educational and useful.

A couple of other ideas that occur me in this same vein include:

  • Checking the calibration of members’ DMMs. To do this, you could build a voltage reference with a part like the MAX6126. The MAX6126 has an accuracy of + 0.02%, which should make it more than accurate enough to check most DMMs. Another option would be to purchase a voltage standard from Geller Labs. Their least expensive model is only $25.
  • Check the spurious emissions of members’ transceivers. To do this, you’ll need access to a spectrum analyzer. Fortunately our club does have one available. If yours doesn’t, you could perhaps borrow one from a local business or test equipment rental company.

The ABCs Of Strong Clubs

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On March 19, I’m moderating a session on amateur radio clubs at the ARRL Great Lakes Division Convention. To spur discussion, I’ve come up with the following “ABCs of Strong Clubs.”

  • A: activities
  • B: (think) big, breakfasts
  • C: classes, contests
  • D: delegate
  • E: elmering
  • F: fun, friendly, field day
  • G: gear/gadgets
  • H: helpful
  • I: (get people) involved, introductions
  • J: just do it!
  • K: kids
  • L: leadership
  • M: meetings, mailing list
  • N: newsletter, nets
  • O: operating,”open shacks”
  • P: publicity, projects, public service
  • Q: QSLs
  • R: repeater, recruiting (members, officers), recognition
  • S: socializing, (club) station
  • T: t-shirts (badges, caps, etc.)
  • U: united, upgrading
  • V: vittles, volunteering
  • W: website
  • X: examinations
  • Y: (make it) yours
  • Z: zero beat, zoning

I had a lot of help with this and would like to thank all those who made a contribution, including Dale Williams WA8EFK, Charlie Chapman KB8SFR, and Bill Cahill AD8BC. If you have something to add, please e-mail me.

More stuff at Technorati.Com

Giving a Good Presentation

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OK, I can see all of you out there saying, what the heck does giving presentations have to do with amateur radio? Well, I happen to be of the opinion that giving a good presentation is one of those basic skills that apply to every aspect of one’s life. In this case, I’m writing about it here because I am in the process of trying to plan out this year’s list of presentations at our monthly meetings..

Generating a list of topics is the easy part. In fact, here’s my list:

  • PSK31 and other digital modes
  • Emergency Communications
  • 60m
  • Working satellites
  • Shortwave listening
  • Antenna Experimentation
  • License class results
  • Show and tell night
  • Construction Night
  • ARRL Videos
  • Power line safety
  • Other Ham Radio Clubs – QCWA, Fists, TAPR, NJ QRP Club, etc.
  • NTS
  • APRS
  • Public Service Events
  • Choosing and Using an digital multimeter (DMM) or oscilloscope

The hard part is finding someone to give the presentation. First, it’s a fair amount of work to give a presentation. You have to research the topic, prepare the slides, etc. Then, you have to actually give the presentation. This is what gets a lot of people. They get so nervous about it, that they just freeze up when they get in front of a group.

That being the case, I wanted to be able to point people to some Web resources on how to give a presentation. I did a Google search and came up with the following websites:

Perhaps more important than pointing people at resources is to offer your own personal support. Offer to help the presenter prepare the presentation. That makes the task easier for them and helps ensure that you get a better presentation.

Get on the repeater!

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As previously reported, I just bought an IC-207 dual-band rig. It’s a great rig, but for the first two days I didn’t make a single contact on the local repeater. I was not, of course, monitoring the whole time, but you’d think I could raise someone on a Friday or Saturday night. Maybe not, though. I guess the other hams in the area have a life. :)

I did finally manage a contact Saturday night with a fellow who was on his way to Detroit. We had a nice chat, and I found out that he’s a local guy who’d just gotten his license in June. The interesting thing is that despite living in Ann Arbor for the last four years (as a University of Michigan student), he was not familiar with our club, nor of the fact that we owned and operated the repeater we were using.

Of course, I took the opportunity to invite him to our meeting this Wednesday (for more details, see our website), and I think there’s a good chance he’ll show up. I had a similar experience last month. On my way to the club meeting, I had a QSO with a fellow ham, and I mentioned that I was on the way to the meeting, we’d love to have him attend, too. He replied that he’d been meaning to come to a meeting and join, but for one reason or another, just never got around to it. I pressed the point, and he actually did show up. In fact, he brought his checkbook along and paid his dues as well.

My point is that one of the best ways to promote your club is to monitor your local repeater and talk up your club and its activities at every opportunity. Invite people to attend your meetings. Invite them to check in to your nets. If you don’t have a net, start one. If you do some of these things, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.