On Mastodon a couple of days ago, @vk2tty commented on the recent edition of Zero Retries 0210, a newsletter written by my friend Steve, N8GNJ. VK2TTY wrote:
Most striking though, was @n8gnj’s writing on the failure of our [national associations] to keep track of the threats to amateur radio spectrum allocations. He proposes another such body to take on the spectrum fight. I’m confident only that our incumbent [national associations] will undermine any newcomer, as they have before, with all the vigour they lack for that work they claim as their reason to exist. Voting out 100% of incumbents in the next two ARRL Board of Directors elections might do the trick, though.
To which, Roland, @[email protected] replied:
I’d suggest that the big one is that individual amateurs who want to take a forward-looking view are too small in number, failing to organise, or both.
Steve, N8GNJ, then commented:
I reject that assumption. I believe that in this technological era, where most personal connectivity is radio, that some “X” development could vastly increase the numbers of amateur radio operators. And those will skew younger, techier, easier to self-organize for collective action.
To which, I repllied:
All I can say is that I hope you’re right. I’m not seeing any emerging leadership or collective action among the “younger, techier” ham population, but I certainly could just be out of touch. If they are out there, let me know what I can do to support them.
I think that this is a crucial discussion. Ideally, the ARRL would provide this leadership, but I rather doubt that they have the desire or the vision to do so. Instead, they are doing their damnedest to preserve the status quo, and if you’ve read my blog or Frank, K4FMH’s blog, you’ll see how far that’s gotten them. ARRL membership is dropping like a rock.
Hams aren’t dumb, and when they see all the anti-democratic maneuvering by the ARRL board, such as the by-law changes the board approved last week that will make any meaningful reform improbable, they just quit the League. And, I can’t say that I blame them. Why play the game when the game is rigged?
This exodus has created a vacuum that has yet to be filled. The National Amateur Radio Alliance is one group that’s trying to pick up the slack, but they’re still very small. I joined the NARA a month to give them some support, but they’re going to need a lot more members if they’re going to make much of an impact. There are other, smaller efforts, and they are doing good things, but like the NARA, unless they can scale up, I’m not sure they’re going to make much of an impact, either.
Where do we go from here?
If amateur radio is going to fulfill its promise, then we really need to start talking about this. I’m going to start recruiting some folks to hold a panel discussion on this issue at Dayton next year. Perhaps we could start a YouTube channel or podcast to start airing some of these ideas as well.
If you’re already working on these issues, let me know how I can support you. Maybe I can help you publicize your efforts or help you work on submitting an ARDC grant proposal. Maybe I can put you in touch with other folks who can help you with other things.
Without forward thinking, amateur radio is going to grind to a halt. In my humble opinion, that would be a shame. Let’s all do what we can to push amateur radio forward.
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