© DELARA News a monthly publication of the Delaware Amateur Radio Association
DELARANEWS

Club Coordinator

Tom Sly, WB8LCD

We had a recent experience at PCARS which really made me wonder about the future of our hobby. We had a VE session on a Saturday morning that had 7 people show up for their tests. Five of the 7 were there for the Technician class test, and the other 2 were there to try for an upgrade. Seven out of 7 left with either a new license, or an upgrade. Every one of them there that day was age 55 and older! That seems to be a common phenomenon. I talked with every one of them and their stories were all pretty similar – “I was a novice back in the (50’s, 60’s or 70’s) but I let it go. I’ve always been interested but now that I’m retired, I have the time for it”. When you think of all the ways that people spend their leisure time, why is it that they only have time for it now? Obviously Amateur Radio has a Public Relations problem. It’s all about our Image. But who’s responsible for that? A lot of it has to do with our culture and society. The early 1900’s up until the 1970’s our society was fascinated with scientific and technological advancement. A lot of which happened in basements, garages and back yard outbuildings at an individual’s residence. As it got more advanced, more complicated, much of the technical stuff had to be done in the industrial labs. As a society we looked for other ways to entertain ourselves and left the “scientific” stuff to the professionals. We shifted our leisure time activities to more fields of “pure entertainment”. Amateur sports, watching professional sports, movies, TV programming, video gaming……. For the most part endeavors that don’t require too much intellectual/scientific/mathematical involvement. There are exceptions, but not many. These are just my observations and opinions, you may agree or disagree, but the point remains that Amateur Radio has not positioned itself to where many people in our society are aware of, or have a real perception of, what Amateur Radio really is. This is “OUR” fault. After the 1970’s is about the time period that Ham Radio began to disappear from the mainstream of hobbies and personal entertainment. People retiring who “always wanted to do Ham Radio” but didn’t have the time to, will no longer exist if they haven’t been exposed to it. If we want the hobby to survive, we need to start recruiting a younger generation and we need to start building a “public perception” of what Amateur radio is and why it’s a valuable piece in our society. As we move into the new year, let’s make a resolution to personally be a part of the solution! Here’s a simple way to start: smile, be positive and be open to all new hams and people who have an interest. Look past age, gender, technical ability, social status, personal issues, whatever. Concentrate on the art, science and activities of Ham Radio! Never should be heard a discouraging word. Let everyone know that they are welcome, and we want them to be a part of us. Local clubs can be instrumental to bringing new people into the hobby. We all have club meetings every month. Those should be opportunities for showcasing our hobby! You do have interesting meetings, don’t you? If you do, then you should advertise and invite. I’ve seen many club meeting announcements that certainly wouldn’t pull me off the couch to show up. The announcement should include an invitation to nonmembers along with the information that there will be something of interest going on at the meeting! If not, how are you even going to get your members to show up? So maybe your meetings should have a presentation that would be interesting to both hams, and ham wannabes? All of our club activities should include an invitation to those who are not hams. Let’s try to build some interest in the things that we are doing. I’ve already mentioned our monthly meetings, how about operating events? Field Day, OSPOTA, Sweepstakes, DX Contests, State/Section QSO parties – we do a lot of operating! Set up at public locations and invite the public to come check it out. Better yet, invite them to sit in the chair and get on the air. Add in some digital modes, satellite q’s and maybe even a Space Station contact and now you’ve got some people interested in what we do. Like to build things? Next build day invite the public (especially the kids) and offer a couple simple, inexpensive projects along with simple training on how to use hand tools, how to solder, how to identify electronic components. Send them home with something they built themselves and I guarantee they’ll have a smile on their face when they leave! What has your club done? What ideas do you have? Send them along to either Scott or myself so we can share them with the other clubs in the section! The Ohio Section is already the largest Section in the ARRL. All I want for Christmas is this: By the end of 2020, I would like to see the OH Section recognized for being the fastest growing Section in the ARRL, and, for bringing down the average age of a ham in the section. If we could make a dent in those two issues, it would go a long way to keeping Ham Radio alive for future generations. I want to wish you all a Merry and Blessed Christmas with your family and friends, and I hope that the new year brings you Joy, Happiness, low SWR’s and High Sunspot numbers!
DELARANews

Club Coordinator

Tom Sly, WB8LCD

We had a recent experience at PCARS which really made me wonder about the future of our hobby. We had a VE session on a Saturday morning that had 7 people show up for their tests. Five of the 7 were there for the Technician class test, and the other 2 were there to try for an upgrade. Seven out of 7 left with either a new license, or an upgrade. Every one of them there that day was age 55 and older! That seems to be a common phenomenon. I talked with every one of them and their stories were all pretty similar – “I was a novice back in the (50’s, 60’s or 70’s) but I let it go. I’ve always been interested but now that I’m retired, I have the time for it”. When you think of all the ways that people spend their leisure time, why is it that they only have time for it now? Obviously Amateur Radio has a Public Relations problem. It’s all about our Image. But who’s responsible for that? A lot of it has to do with our culture and society. The early 1900’s up until the 1970’s our society was fascinated with scientific and technological advancement. A lot of which happened in basements, garages and back yard outbuildings at an individual’s residence. As it got more advanced, more complicated, much of the technical stuff had to be done in the industrial labs. As a society we looked for other ways to entertain ourselves and left the “scientific” stuff to the professionals. We shifted our leisure time activities to more fields of “pure entertainment”. Amateur sports, watching professional sports, movies, TV programming, video gaming……. For the most part endeavors that don’t require too much intellectual/scientific/mathematical involvement. There are exceptions, but not many. These are just my observations and opinions, you may agree or disagree, but the point remains that Amateur Radio has not positioned itself to where many people in our society are aware of, or have a real perception of, what Amateur Radio really is. This is “OUR” fault. After the 1970’s is about the time period that Ham Radio began to disappear from the mainstream of hobbies and personal entertainment. People retiring who “always wanted to do Ham Radio” but didn’t have the time to, will no longer exist if they haven’t been exposed to it. If we want the hobby to survive, we need to start recruiting a younger generation and we need to start building a “public perception” of what Amateur radio is and why it’s a valuable piece in our society. As we move into the new year, let’s make a resolution to personally be a part of the solution! Here’s a simple way to start: smile, be positive and be open to all new hams and people who have an interest. Look past age, gender, technical ability, social status, personal issues, whatever. Concentrate on the art, science and activities of Ham Radio! Never should be heard a discouraging word. Let everyone know that they are welcome, and we want them to be a part of us. Local clubs can be instrumental to bringing new people into the hobby. We all have club meetings every month. Those should be opportunities for showcasing our hobby! You do have interesting meetings, don’t you? If you do, then you should advertise and invite. I’ve seen many club meeting announcements that certainly wouldn’t pull me off the couch to show up. The announcement should include an invitation to nonmembers along with the information that there will be something of interest going on at the meeting! If not, how are you even going to get your members to show up? So maybe your meetings should have a presentation that would be interesting to both hams, and ham wannabes? All of our club activities should include an invitation to those who are not hams. Let’s try to build some interest in the things that we are doing. I’ve already mentioned our monthly meetings, how about operating events? Field Day, OSPOTA, Sweepstakes, DX Contests, State/Section QSO parties – we do a lot of operating! Set up at public locations and invite the public to come check it out. Better yet, invite them to sit in the chair and get on the air. Add in some digital modes, satellite q’s and maybe even a Space Station contact and now you’ve got some people interested in what we do. Like to build things? Next build day invite the public (especially the kids) and offer a couple simple, inexpensive projects along with simple training on how to use hand tools, how to solder, how to identify electronic components. Send them home with something they built themselves and I guarantee they’ll have a smile on their face when they leave! What has your club done? What ideas do you have? Send them along to either Scott or myself so we can share them with the other clubs in the section! The Ohio Section is already the largest Section in the ARRL. All I want for Christmas is this: By the end of 2020, I would like to see the OH Section recognized for being the fastest growing Section in the ARRL, and, for bringing down the average age of a ham in the section. If we could make a dent in those two issues, it would go a long way to keeping Ham Radio alive for future generations. I want to wish you all a Merry and Blessed Christmas with your family and friends, and I hope that the new year brings you Joy, Happiness, low SWR’s and High Sunspot numbers!