This subject has been on my mind lately too. People don't want to sit in meetings discussing (and probably arguing about) administrative business. They want to have fun using their radios and sharing the hobby with like-minded people in real-time. I think the typical model of a traditional ham club needs to change to attract, and keep, younger hams. The Meriden Amateur radio club here in CT has been doing some of the things you outlined in this video and it has been VERY successful. And as you pointed out, this type of thing doesn't have to be lead by an established club. Any group of hams can plan an event and invite others to join in. Great video and great message!
Thanks Rob. I think the majority of time in a club meeting should be spent on "demos" (excluding death by powerpoint) and planning the next actual radio outing. There are so many things to do in the hobby that we shouldn't have to wait for field day to get together for a day of radio.
As I am sitting here with broken leg bones and a dislocated ankle because of hidden ice under fresh snow being months away from some sort of retirement this video has my wheels spinning. I just have to seek out some local operators and be able to get around again. Six weeks to go!
I've belonged to several clubs. Some have been very focused on the activities/reason for the club while others have had me wondering if I joined a radio/astronomy/car etc club or a buisness admin club. True, some buisness is important and has to be discussed at a meeting but have it at the end and keep it short.
The best Ham Radio club I was ever in was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We were a bunch of hams who gathered Sunday night at a burger joint that was never busy on a Sunday evening till we got there. We had laughs, exchanged technical info even had a couple of "DX Weekends" at a member's cabin. No president, no offices, no elections, no cliques, just a bunch of people with a common hobby having fun. Every club I've gotten involved with since that group has been unwelcoming to new faces unless you knew a couple of long time members, nobody shows any interest in the new guy, done with ham radio clubs, I'll give a local club a try but I don't hold much hope for long term membership.
My problem with clubs/groups is that too many folks get sidetracked on BS and very little time is spent on the alleged "activity" at hand. Usually about 70% BS and 30% actual "focused time." Kind of like the folks that can't leave their house to do something without stopping to eat (after they leave the house). They are just focused on socializing and getting away from "their lives" instead of the activity. Drives me nuts.
If your local ham radio club is “boring,” then it’s up to you to try and “spice it up!” Volunteer for things (like events); find interesting radio-related guest speakers for monthly club meetings; run for office (like the executive board), so that you have more leverage to make changes; organize a “fox hunt”, or a POTA or SOTA outing, etc. Ultimately, any hobby club, whether it’s ham radio or a quilting club, is only as “boring” as it’s members let it be. To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, at his inauguration speech: “Ask not what your club can do for you, ask what can YOU do for your club.”
Be the change. I am a new ham (3 years). My club never did POTA. I joined the club and set up a POTA operation once a month. Sometimes people come, sometimes they don’t. But since it has started, other club members have shown up. Now another club is setting up a POTA event this summer. Interest continues to grow. The newer hams are taking to POTA
Sota is fun as an individual. POTA puts you out in a public place. There is much more interaction and normalization of Ham Radio. When I SOTA, I might see 2-3 people. When I POTA, I can interact with dozens. But whatever you do, be a good ambassador, get others involved. 73
I have tried, with my club, to introduce new topics as much as I can. I have given talks about SSTV (to my home club as well as another local club), MMDVM hotspots (where I actually assembled a kit in front of everyone) and Ham Radio on a budget. I have even shown off my LiFePO4 battery build. My next presentation will be about NVIS antennas and I plan on building one of those dipoles with the BNC and banana jack modules that you have in your tool bag. It's all about getting people to try things to find their niche in the his hobby.
I spoke briefly, (not at a meeting) to the then President of the local club about what they do. I suggested holding some type of tower climbing classes; everything from the basics to the advanced topics such rescue techniques, fall-arrest gear, Microwave safety, etc. He said no one would be interested. Apparently, no one else has a desire to scale a 1,500 foot tower.
The club nearest to me is a bunch of old grumpy 🎉hams. Only event of the year is now Field day. There isn't enough new hams to vote new events or fun things. I have moved on and done my own things. No one to interact with by yourself. I have met with friends and set up in local forest preserve in my area it's a lot of fun. 73s
The club near me once canceled their Field Day activation because bad weather was forecast. No sense practicing emergency communications in less than optimum conditions 🙄. I can't even find Hams in the area to do SOTA/POTA with.
You hit the nail on the head. Our last club meeting was all about the future club Hamfest. In fact, the Hamfest experience is paying $8 to look at tables and tables of over -priced junk. No classes. Is that supposed to be interesting? It's a challenge to support the local club.
The worst thing about my club is they insist on doing zoom in parallel with the live meeting. Most of the meeting is spent trying to get it to work and repeating themselves. Zoom was started during COVID. It really needs to stop.
Though we have a local club, I have never had a desire to join. I have met several of the members and have gotten the "vibes" that it is an established group of individuals and newcomers are not particularly welcomed. The other reasons are that the meetings are held just about 1 hour after I get off work, and after working a 10+ hour day, I am ready to get home and relax adding the fact that I have responsibilities at home that need to be taken care of. Saturdays are out of the question as well. Being a single home owner, I have far too many projects and chores that I need to take care of that prevents me from having the time for "fun" stuff. Not trying to be negative about the whole activity thing, mind you. In fact, I envy those who have the time for such activities, and to those who do these things, enjoy! Lastly, we did have a DMR club here a few years back, (it has since been dissolved) that I did attend a few meetings. They were fun, but again, work kept getting in the way so I had to stop going. I still talk to the guy who started the club. He told me that the attendees got fewer and fewer and didn't see any reason to keep the club alive, so they disbanded.
I reached out to my local club over 4 years ago when I was getting started (north-central Indiana). They weren't interested in engaging with me whatsoever until I "come to a meeting, join the club, and pay the dues." They didn't even address any of the questions I asked. As far as I can tell, all they seem to really do is play on their two repeaters anyway, and I'm more into HF. I've been club-less ever since with the bad taste they left in my mouth.
You can't get people to show up for anything anymore unless it benefits them. You may give some prizes and lure a few extra in, but the majority of ham radio operators aren't going to participate unless it benefits them somehow. If you got a 50-member club you've probably got 5-7 active members and two of those are carrying the weight for the rest of the group. Seen it happened more times than one.
We do a weekly Winlink. This time of the year we are doing weather. When we have a Tropical storm Winlink is used to send information from shelters to the EOC!
I’m actually a member of a very similar club, the SASQ Southern Appalachian Summit QRPers! We do many SOTA activations and encourage members to participate as often as possible. It’s pretty tight knit, but we are definitely interested in meeting up with these mountaintoppers as we mostly work in the North GA, TN and Carolinas summits
I support my local club by paying dues, but leave it there. Not interested in the politics of the club. Not interested in meetings, or operation of club.
I am very new to ham radio (received call sign on 12/13/2022). I joined several ham radio clubs in my area. I am very happy with my choices. Our meetings consist of no more than 20:mins of boring administrative crap and the next hour is very informative and usually fun! I have learned about POTA and have even been on a club planned activation, where a seasoned operator walked me through my first activation! No complaints here!
Doing radio rocks. Clubs are all over the map but I have been lucky in my area, I have identified 3 good clubs, and one more to go to next month to checkout.
I love what the club you visited is doing to get people out into the field! One takeaway is that you went out and had a great time with them because they invited you. Very few people want to show up and crash a party; most hams are quite appreciative when someone reaches out to them and asks them. Could more clubs engage in active outreach, not just to local hams but also to hams on vacation or traveling? Thinking about Tenn, I bet lots of hams drive through Tenn and would love to be able to schedule a stop where they could meet new hams and operate in the field with them. We hams love contests and events where we earn points or certificates. How about a club challenge where clubs get points for every non-member ham they help operate at a field event?
Great ideas! I was invited but the group has an open invitation to everyone. All you have to do is get on their email list. If you might be in the area, I can put you in touch with them. mycall at arrl.net
@@KM4ACK Well, that is the rub. Old hams say we have a great club and we welcome new members, but nobody comes. New hams wait for an invitation or, worse, go to a meeting where they are not made to feel welcome. It is a chicken and egg problem. That is why I suggested gamifying it by awarding points to clubs who actually get new hams out and operating in the field.
@@JohnTarbox You pointed out the exact reason why I never joined our local club, the feeling that a new person, (if they show up alone and not as a guest of an existing member) isn't really welcomed. The same holds true on the local repeater here, (at least in my case.) I hear them all the time on the local VHF repeater, rag chewing, but if I reach out to them on the air, it may be just a quick 30 QSO before they have to go. The only one's that I connect with is our local ARES members, to which I am one.
I have found that the best way to meet people who share my interests is to, well, be doing what I enjoy. People with those interests will be doing them too. I have met many fellow kayakers that way. As for ham clubs, I have found that the best clubs (for me) are the ones that operate as umbrella organizations for SIGs (special interest groups). We can all share together and then also share our particular interests with like minded people. And interests change. I can seek out those other SIGs as my interests evolve. I may be exposed to something that I did not know would interest me. Thx for sharing your adventure. Safe travels and have fun!
I would love a group like this. There are 2 area groups for me. One is extremely political and never does anything but bicker over what they could do but never do anything because no one can agree on what they want to do and the repeater is in sever disrepair. The other group just likes to tinker with the repeater refuses to do anything unless it's to leave the meeting for food. While the repeater is top notch and performs like no other in a wide area. The other issue is that it's a very tight knit group that's much older, don't want new younger members in the group because what could we possibly know. I mostly stick to HF in my shack. My other fun is there is a fantastic group across Lake Michigan from me. I have visited them a couple times but with it being a 4+ hour road trip I don't get to visit often. When conditions are good I am able to hit their repeater and will join in on their nets.
Good idea! Agree that some old school clubs are boring. One recent newsletter had the Pres rant on hams not ID'ing properly on 146.52 - that just wins no one to your cause and club. Lots of hilltop opportunities here in the SW, excellent idea. Lots of SOTA stuff but maybe some park and play would be best for newbies. 73!
out here in cal anything above 3000feet is under four feet of snow ( this is a very wet year).. this summer i plan on going up to the sonora pass summit. almost 9K feet. Yosemite is higher, but costs to get in, and is always has crowds but a club i tried to get into years back was a dry dull deal. the club was a bunch of very old hams. me in my early 40’s i was very junior.. been thinking about a local club to me . but wish to get my general first. ( new area so hope a better club).
You should certainly pursue your general license but don't let that stop you from getting out there now. I have made some great contacts with elevation and an HT. Invite a friend or two along and you will be well on your way to getting a group of "Mountain Toppers" in your area :-)
We had a local 'club', GADARS, and met in a pub. It was just an excuse to have a few pints. I only remember one event we did at a tiny local steam railway museum, long since shut, where we put on a radio station. There was once talk of going out on the moors to activate a rare square, fairly easy to get to but taking 100 Watt tcvr and aerials and a petrol generator. Petrol on moorland! Imagine lugging an FT101 uphill on a path. I said take QRP and batteries. It never happened. They didn't seem to think QRP works. The 'club' ceased after a few years. I am a member of the G QRP Club and we have a yearly meeting, one or two talks, and a simple Build-A-Thon project. G4GHB
There is/was a local weekly net that I used to work, but haven't in quite a while. I know some people that would be interested in zoom-type meetings more than face-to-face. In that kind of meeting, you can accomplish most of the 'regular' 'reading of the minutes' stuff, but if you have the right setup, you can do nice education sessions, planning for the POTA-type events, and similar. This is 2023, and we have a LOT of digital knowledge to share, and it doesn't have to be 'strictly' radio related. If I had transportation, I'd love to help others get Pis online and usable in a shack, or portable shack...
We just stated a monthly zoom call where we are learning FLDIGI/FLMSG together. Zoom is ok but I find it easier to troubleshoot radio/software problems that may arise if we are in person.
@@KM4ACK Oh, I know. But the troubleshooting usually slides down into a 1-2-1 situation, and anyone else drifts off or out. Zoom is not my first choice, I like TeamViewer and several other similar apps. I know F2F can be more advantageous in some circumstances. I really like that group's POTA-type meetings. Before my mobility issues, I went to every hamfest and event I could to get exposure, and finally licensed. I really want to 'give back' but it's only been on a 1-2-1 basis, so far. I recently picked up a Digirig and am having fun getting it and a new SDR up to give Digipeating a go so I can start helping others get similar systems set up.
One club I am in has a repeater system that sounds like it is not in great shape. It is a Short Mountain repeater in TN (you know the one). Outstanding location. I hear, this needs done, that, etc. Then change the conversation.... There are projects on the to do list but getting anything moving is impossible. I'm pretty new to this stuff and many of these folks have done radio for decades. Jumping in and pushing 70 year olds is like pushing a wet noodle up a hill. 😂
@briansullivan8404 😂 reading comprehension is difficult. I use readers. Maybe you need them as well. It isn't that they don't want me around. I get it, people get old. We are in a hobby that has a lot of elderly. They are super smart, but when it comes down to getting stuff done it is difficult. They physically aren't able to do a lot. Sorry if that hurts your feelings. The fact of life are tough sometimes.
Saturday 18 March 2023 three of the local Ham Clubs close to me had their go kit Challenge! It is for individual ham radio operators bring out their go kits to setup and make a couple of contacts( required). Then each go kit is judged by other hams and awards are given for the best go kits! This year was the first one I checked out. The three clubs i belong to always have something going on, one club had a demo on network based call log where a number of operators can enter their contacts into a database ( example field day) for a club! Another club this month talked about making coax cables and some members had hands on experience at adding a connector to coax. The third club not sure what is planned since the club has not had their meeting yet! This club however has a number of individuals interested in fox hunting!
Jason, Hate I missed your visit. I chose to go to Sevierville Hamfest that morning and after going regretted not going to the mountain. Hope to see you again sometime up there. N4KDW, East Tn Mountain Topper.
My issue locally is the geriatric nature of the local groups. No drive to get out, try new challenges, or Elmer or teach. They are slower to adopt new modes and tech. And seem more concerned with perception than performance of the club.
I think clubs should focus more on building equipment and radios. There is no challenge to buying premade radios. Learning and building then using what you built could breath new life and excitement into the hobby.
Ham Clubs are only as good as the people who join them. Get involved and contribute to the club. It also takes people to get involved and participate to steer a club in the right direction.
No issues what so ever with the LiFePO4 battery (Dakato Lithium) but it was kept warm until we started operating. The temps rose to just above freezing as the day progressed and I made sure the battery was in direct sunlight as much as possible.
Hey sorry I missed it!!! Glad you came and enjoyed it! Come again! Its nice just to go hang out in the mnts with friends and building relationships....oh and radioing 73's The guy with the Hardees cup😂 Sid KM4BBV
we have a great club here. We have new people every month. We have events every other month. And we have more people in the meetings every month. MGRA in Georgia
I'd probably go if more women went. I say "probably" because it depends on the type of women, of course. Alcohol needs to be more readily available too. I get cranky if I havn't had a drink for an hour.
❤ we really was encouraged by your participation Jason, hopefully we can do more events together here and in your area. You're always welcome. Kd4stt 73s
Are you with the group he's mentioning? I've got relatives in the Johnson City area and would love to try and connect the next time we're out there. Does the group have an email address I can connect with?
I gave away a Radio club which I had been a member for 30 years. The new leader was there because it suited his ego. Unless he thought of it was not right. Give that a miss. Moved to a very progressive Club which actually do things.
its because they are all just Ham radio clubs. every club ive seen just in it for ham and not embracing CB or GMRS. if they look at the CB or GMRS operators they would get more people into ham. they need to be radio clubs.
I've done more by myself than the club I mention below. I've put on special event stations several times with another amateur, our local agricultural show, Museum On The Air, at a school. G4GHB
I don't but take a look at this map haminfo.tetranz.com/map/z/42223 It shows other hams in your area. Maybe reach out to a few via email and see if they can recommend something.
Sorry mate, Clubs are 100% boring, not only are they boring those clubs are full of B.S. and petty personal politics, and they reflect badly on the hobby. My time is way too important for this nonsense.
There is a RX group in Los Angeles that used to be great but became clicky and snootie. Wish there was a better group in Socal that was fun and fostered the hobbie / obsession.
I would love to find a club that actually does cool activities like building things, doing things, making things. I have more than enough meetings for the sake of having meetings in my professional life. Those often include people that I can’t stand, but I am being paid to interact with. Not looking for more of the same in a hobby.
I think I found a club with a good mix of new and old. The old established clubs are indeed boring and typically filled with alpha hotels that I cannot tolerate. My inner dialogue is becoming more and more my outer dialogue. :)
