Last week, 16 ARRL registered instructors convened to kick off a new program to help new hams get into the hobby. We haven’t really come up with a snappy name for this program, so I’m just calling it “Helping New Hams.” The idea is to organize instructors all over the country and spread out the work. That way, the onus doesn’t fall on one or two instructors in a club who may already be up to their necks in teaching exam classes.
We’re focusing really basic topics at first, including:
- Having fun with amateur radio: an overview of all the fun things that you can do in amateur radio–and what kind of gear you’ll need to participate in them.
- Choosing a first (or second) radio
- Programming a VHF/UHF radio using Chirp
- Improved antennas for handheld transceivers (telescopic whips, mobile, roll-up j-pole, …)
- Getting on the air (VHF repeater and simplex)
I’m going to be presenting a couple of trial runs of “Having fun with amateur radio”–via Zoom, of course–on Friday, December 4, at 7:00 pm EST and on Monday, December 7, at 9:00 pm EST. I’d like to invite any and all of you to attend. To get the Zoom meeting info, send me your email address, and I’ll send you the Zoom meeting info before the session. If you want more information about what I’ll be talking about, you can download the session outline.
Finally, if you’re an instructor and you think that you might like to be part of this effort, you can subscribe to our mailing list by going to https://ham-instructor.groups.io/g/NewHams. I’m planning on holding a second organizational meeting on Tuesday, December 8.
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