But what disappoints me is the fact that I left this meeting knowing
absolutely no more than I did when I walked into the door. I had been led to
believe that one of the best ways for a new guy just becoming involved in
this hobby to get practical advice on things like your first purchase of
equipment, which bands are best for what, and the different applications of
amateur radio, was to join a club. Well, unfortunately, the majority of the
meeting I attended was, in my opinion, controlled by a group of 7 or 8 ham
"veterans" trying to impress one another with their technical knowledge.

Hunt around for other clubs. Some will be "old boy" frats, others more
technically
minded.


So, I guess what I would like to do here is give my views on what I have
seen so far, and invite anyone who is more informed on these matters to
correct me.

1) The Amateur Radio Service is not an essential element in our society.
Even in times of emergency, there is nothing you can do with a ham radio
that you can't do with an internet connection, fax machine, land line
telephone, or cell phone in similar circumstances.

True for some situations, but when a bigger disaster takes out the
infrastructure that
the land lines, faxes, internet and cell phones depend on, enough ham
stations usually
survive the disaster that emergency communications can still happen.
Ham radio
requires no infrastructure other than the radio, mic or code key,
antenna and a power
source (battery or a car) to function.

Cell phones work pretty well if you need to report a car accident, but
an earth
quake will likely take out the system the cell phones need to function.