Let’s organize a nationwide new ham “boot camp”

I’ve helped hundreds of students get their licenses or upgrade their licenses over the past 15 years. I’m proud of that, but I realize that getting them licensed is only part of the process. To become successful hams, and to have as much fun as possible with ham radio, they have to learn a lot more. I always offer to help my students with selecting a new radio or setting up a shack, and some of them actually take me up on the offer, but I’m only one guy. There are only so many that I can help in this way.

Over the years, there have been several proposals to help newly-licensed hams. For example, the Spring 2017 issue of Radio Waves, the ARRL newsletter for amateur radio license instructors, included the article, “Making a good hobby better through post-licensing enrichment.” In this article, Tim Busch, N0CKR, proposed a series of short classes, each teaching specific skills relating to amateur radio, including how to program a radio, how to solder, how to use a multimeter, and more. I blogged about this article back then.

More recently, QST published the article, “Ham Bootcamp” by Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, in the October 2020 issue. It describes a program developed by the Nashua (NH) Amateur Radio Society that aims to provide the “mentoring that many hams need to get active. It includes many of the same topics that N0KCR listed in his program, but is a little more geared towards operating.

I think both of these are great programs, but the number of teachers needed to run these programs is the limiting factor. Back in 2017, I sent an email to local clubs, inquiring as to whether there would be any interest in organizing a region-wide new ham program. My thinking was that if I could get each of the clubs in Southeast Michigan to take responsibility for one or two of the new ham classes, we could provide the necessary training and get more of our new Techs and Generals on the air. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a big response to my first email and then just failed to follow up.

Taking the bootcamp online

I’d like to try this again, but this time, take the bootcamp online. Since June, I’ve been teaching license classes online. I’ve taught four Tech classes and one General class, and while I still prefer teaching in person, teaching online license classes works. I don’t see any reason why an online bootcamp wouldn’t work.

The key will be getting enough instructors to teach. If we’re all teaching online, though, it doesn’t matter where we are. If I could recruit a dozen instructors, we could get this program rolling, I think. I’m planning on sending out a mailing to ARRL registered instructors to see if I can gin up some interest in this. If YOU’RE interested, please get in touch with me. My email address is [email protected].