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Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) Report 1559 - June 29, 2007
Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1559 with a release date of Friday, June 29, 2007 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1. The following is a Q-S-T. Ham operating mobile in New Jersey win an exemption from a tough new cellphone law, hams in California practice their emergency communications skills in a mock bird flu exercise and on the FCC dismisses a pair of Regulation by Bandwidth petitions but leaves the door open to future requests. Find out more on Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) report number 1559 coming your way right now. (Billboard Cart Here) ** RADIO LAW: HAMS WIN MOBILE IN MOTION EXEMPTION IN NEW JERSEY Amateur Radio has won an important exemption in New Jersey. One that should keep the states hams running mobile for a long time. Amateur Radio Newsline's Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, reports: -- New Jersey Assembly Bill A 4146 and Senate Bill S 1099/2764 were introduced in the New Jersey legislature to restrict cell phone use and text messaging while driving. The twin measures were passed on June 21st and await the governor's signature. As originally introduced, the bills would have prohibited the use of any and all electronic communications devices for talking, listening or text messaging while driving. This could have meant that New Jersey hams would have effectively been banned from operating while mobile in motion. But that won't be the case. This is because the combined measure as passed includes a sentence that makes Amateur Radio the only service exempt from the all inclusive ban. That hard fought for exemption reads -- and we quote: "For the purposes of this section an 'electronic communication device' shall not include an Amateur Radio". Talk about getting a broadly worded exemption that covers every aspect of Amateur Service communications. More important it means that use Amateur Radio while driving will continue to be permitted in New Jersey. The only caveat is that it is done safely and the ham operator is not engaging in inattentive driving. The new law goes into effect four months after the governor signs it. From that point on, hams are advised to keep a copy of the measure and their Amateur Radio license in your glove compartment if you drive in the Garden State. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Henry Feinberg, K2SSQ, in West Orange, New Jersey. -- The exemption for Amateur Radio came about thanks to the work the hams in the Northern New Jersey and Southern New Jersey ARRL sections who contacted their legislators. This, to make sure that Amateur Radio mobile operations weren't adversely affected by the then pending legislation (Published reports) ** RADIO LAW: REGULATION BY BANDWIDTH PETITIONS DISMISSED BY FCC With little fanfare, the FCC granted separate requests to recall two petitions for rulemaking dealing with Regulation by Bandwidth. On June 25th the commission approved requests from the Communications Think Tank and the American Radio Relay League to withdraw petitions RM-11305 and RM-11306 respectively. In a brief notice issued on June 27th, the FCC stated that both Petitions for Rulemaking are dismissed without prejudice. Without prejudice is legal term. It means that a claim, lawsuit, or law proceeding has been brought to a temporary halt but that no legal rights or privileges have been determined, waived, or lost by the result. In this case it means that these two parties can file petitions on this matter again, if they choose to do so. (FCC) ** RESCUE RADIO: MOCK EPEDEMIC CHALLENGES CA HAMS The scenario of a mock bird flu a pandemic was the basis of a simulated emergency exercise, called "Operation Kung Flu." This, involving about 200 Santa Barbara California County public health and disaster planning officials along with medical service representatives and of coarse a number of ham radio volunteer communicators. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the rest of the story: -- The drill took place on June 20th. In past exercises members of the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Emergency Service have played an important role in the Health Department's backup communications between it and the local hospitals. In this drill officials realized the only contact they had with medical clinics and facilities for the was by telephone and cell phone. Neither would be very reliable if all members of the community were to try to use these services at the same time. So they requested the ARES group conduct a communications survey during the exercise to evaluate how effective it could be as a backup. ARES members identified 34 facilities in the area and sent a team out to each location to record G-P-S coordinates. They also drew a map of directions to each location, conducted a radio check using mobile and handheld gear and sent back a slow scan television picture of the site. The exercise proved ARES could establish solid communications at all locations tested. The data will be used to develop an information packet containing details on each facility for ARES members to use should they be deployed in an emergency. During the actual drill, the County's Emergency Operations Center was activated. It dealt with the challenges of coordinating health, logistics, communications, law enforcement, and information distribution to the media and public. Because of this the ARES radio station at the E-O-C was itself brought on line. It was used for both voice communications and to receive slow scan pictures from the teams in the field. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Following the exercise Bruce Carter, the Manager of the Office of Emergency Services for the County of Santa Barbara issued a letter praising the ARES hams. He said and we quote: "ARES is always there, willing and up to any task." (N6ZKJ) ** RESCUE RADIO: MORE HAMS MAY BE NEEDED IF WEATHER SAT FAILS Ham radio severe weather spotters could have additional responsibilities come their way. This, if an aging weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes fails. According to published news reports, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chief said the failure of the QuikScat satellite could bring more uncertainty to forecasts. Also that it could force his agency to widen the areas that are placed under hurricane watches and warnings. If the QuikScat were to die on-orbit, then forecasters may have to rely on less accurate satellite observations and alternate sources of data. Experts estimate that the accuracy of two-day forecasts could suffer by 10 percent and three-day forecasts by 16 percent. This could translate into miles of coastline and the difference between a city being evacuated or not. As of now, plans to launch a replacement satellite have been pushed back seven years to 2016. And if QuikScat dies before that launch takes place it will likely also mean that many more severe weather storm spotters would be needed along coastal areas of the United states. This is a job that has traditionally fallen to ham radio volunteers. (Science Online) ** HAM RADIO TRENDS: LEAGUE CITES NO-ODE AS REASON FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Thee ARRL Letter says that its membership in the League is up and the trend is toward continued growth. With now close to 152,000 members, Customer Service Manager Amy Hurtado, KB1NXO, says the League is a viable, up-to-date organization that every ham should be a part of. Hurtado credits the rise in membership in part to the FCC rule changes earlier this year that eliminated Morse code testing for the General and Amateur Extra license classes. She says that since more people are upgrading their licenses as a result of there being no Morse code requirement, the League is now successfully able to show them the benefits of being an ARRL member. (ARRL) ** BREAK 1 From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Net serving Lancaster, California. (5 sec pause here) ** THE BPL FIGHT: SARL SPEAKS OUT IN OPPOSITION TO BPL Broadband over Powerline Internet access is not an acceptable system while interference to High Frequency communications is potentially high. So says one of the worlds most respected national ham radio societies. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, has mo -- Broadband over Powerline is not an acceptable system to provide Internet access connections. This, while the interference potential to High Frequency communications remains high. This was the message that the South African Radio League delivered to a Broadband Conference held last week. One where the proponents of B-P-L see it as the solution to bridging the digital divide. These people must think again, says the S-A-R-L's Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV. van de Groenendaal told delegates that bridging the digital divide is about access to Personal Computers and computer literacy and not about cheap broadband delivery. ZS6AKV said that the South African Radio League is not against new technologies. This, as long as these technologies are not at the cost of the High Frequency spectrum which he terms as a scarce national resource. van de Groenendaal said that radio amateurs are always embracing new technologies. It is part of being an communications experimenter. With so many successful and more mature technologies available, ZS6AKV concluded by saying that it is difficult to understand why PLT is still pursued so vigorously. At the studio in Los Angeles, I'm Bill Pasternak reporting for the amateur Radio Newsline. -- Currently there is no Broadband over Powerline equipment "type approved" by for use in South Africa and no licenses for it have been issued. The South African Radio League and the South Africa ham community are hopeful to keep it that way. (Southgate) ** ENFORCEMENT: SAN DIEGO FCC OFFICE JUMPS ON THE LATEST 96.9 MHZ UNLICENSED STATION Back in the United States, the San Diego FCC field office lost no time in going after the latest unlicensed broadcast operation on 96.9 MHz. A Notice of Unlicensed Operation was issued June 12th to Jose Partida of Chula Vista. In it the regulatory agency warned Partida to cease operation at once or face sanctions that could include heavy fines, seizure of station equipment and criminal sanctions including imprisonment. Partida was given ten days from the June 12th date of the notice to respond. (CGC) ** RADIO LAW: FCC DENIES UFO CALLSIGN The FCC has denied a request that the call sign NM5UFO be assigned to the New Mexico's Saucer Ridge Amateur Radio Association. In filing its request the club had maintained that the assignment of NM5UFO would be in keeping with the theme that Roswell, New Mexico which has been known since 1947 as the site of a UFO crash. In denying the request the FCC simply said that the requested call did not follow the agency's sequential callsign assignment system. (HandiHam News) ** HAM RADIO TRENDS: THE ICOM ON-LINE SURVEY Icom is conducting an on-line survey to find out how, where and when hams operate their stations. And as an incentive for taking part you will be entered to a drawing to win one of two IC-R5 portable receivers. The survey is quite simple and takes only a few moments to complete. And you do not have to own or use any Icom brand gear to take part. All you need to do is take your web browser over to www.icomamerica.com/amateur/survey and follow the simple instructions. According to Icom your opinions are very important to its Product Development Team. Again, the URL for the Icom survey is www.icomamerica.com/amateur/survey Just fill it in and one of these days you might find yourself listening to an IC-R5 that you won for simply taking part. (Icom Release, WB9QZB) ** HAM RADIO BUSINESS: KENWOOD SAYS ITS HERE TO STAY Once again the bloggers are wrong. Contrary to what some hams have conjectured on the Internet, Kenwood Communications has no plans to leave the ham radio marketplace. Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the rest of the story: -- Kenwood, which has just announced that is acquiring famed consumer electronics manufacturer J-V-C from Matsu****a Electric says that it sees ham radio as an important part of its overall future business plan. And in a letter to the Amateur Radio community, Phil Parton , N4DRO, who is the Kenwood's National Sales Manager for Amateur Products makes it clear that the company is in ham radio to stay. Parton writes -- and we quote: "I would like to take a moment of your time with this open letter and help dispel rumors, and falsehoods that have been stated as fact. I have been assured from Top Management in Japan and the U.S. and I can assure you that the Kenwood Communications Sector has no intention of exiting the Amateur Radio Marketplace. It is a viable market. The Amateur Division has been running in the black since our restructuring several years ago. In fact, even with the loss of models over the last four years the Amateur Division has grown in market, speaking highly of Kenwood quality and the loyalty of our customers." -- End quote. Parton goes on to say that at the recent Dayton Hamvention, Kenwood introduced its new dual band TM-V71A and that dealers report many were sold at the show. The TM-V71A is billed as the worlds first Echolink ready transceiver with ten dedicated Echolink memory channels as well as Echolink sysop mode of operation. Parton also notes that the company also had a pre-production prototype of the Dual Band TM-D710A was under Plexiglas. This radio, due out in late August, will serve as a replacement for the soon to be discontinued TM-D700A. In his letter, Parton also touches on the reason Kenwood has been taking its time in bringing our new models. He says that a good portion of the delay is because Europe has already adopted a Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive and the rest of the world is likely soon to follow their lead. The directive sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic electronic waste. This means that all new consumer electronics that you will buy in the coming years will have to meet the directives criteria. Developing products to meet the new standard has taken a bit of time, but since ham radio gear is a world wide market Kenwood believes that it is imperative that any new products it brings to that marketplace do comply. The bottom line says Parton is that Kenwood is very much alive, well committed to serving the needs of the world-wide Amateur Radio community for years to come. He ends by saying to please standby for more quality products bearing the Kenwood name. For the amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, in Lima, Ohio. -- One thing you can be sure about. Whatever new products Kenwood introduces will be environmentally friendly. Phil Parton says that some of them will soon be coming your way soon. (ARNewsline(tm) from Kenwood open letter to all hams.) ** NEW PRODUCTS: HEIL SOUND ANNOUNCES THE PR-R Another new product from ham radios own Mr. Audio. This with word that Bob Heil, K9EID, the president of Heil Sound has announced the model PR-R omnidirectional microphone designed specifically for Electronic News Gathering and news reporting. The PR-R is 12 inches long and features a moving-coil dynamic element with an internal shock mount that reduces handling noise. It also has a non-glare, slim profile; and zinc die-cast body construction. The latter means that it can withstand physical and environmental conditions encountered during field production operations. Frequency response is 50 Hz to 16.5 kHz, sensitivity is -68 dB and output impedance is 600 ohm balanced. Additional features include a foam pop shield and extended frequency response with rising high end. Heil Sound says the mic is now in production with delivery expected in August. Amateur Radio Newsline had a chance to try out a pre-production unit at the recent Dayton Hamvention. Even just connected to our $30 G-E microcassette recorder the PR-R really proved its ability to make interview audio easy to understand even in the noisy environment of the Hara Arena. To us, that says a lot. (RW) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: WB4GCS WINS TECH AWARD Some names in the news. First up is Jim Sanford, WB4GCS, who has been named as this years ARRL Atlantic Division Technical Achievement Award winner. Sanford was selected for this honor in recognition of his involvement with AMSAT where he is currently serving as the Project Manager for the OSCAR Eagle project. Eagle is the next generation high earth orbit satellite under construction now by AMSAT North America. (K3IO, Southgate) ** NAMES IN THE NEWS: PAVEK MUSEUM HONORED FOR PRESERVING ELECTRONIC MEDIA Meantime, Minnesota's Pavek Museum of Broadcasting has been presented with the Richard M. Uray Alpha Epsilon Rho Award for Excellence for its efforts and achievements in preserving the history of electronic communication. The museum is said to feature one of the world's finest collections of early radio, television, broadcasting and recording equipment, as well as an archive of regional radio and television program material. Pavek also is home to the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame. The award is given by the National Broadcasting Society and Alpha Epsilon Rho. The latter is a national honor society of electronic media students. (RW) ** BREAK 2 This is ham radio news for today's radio amateur. From the United States of America, We are the Amateur Radio Newsline with links to the world from our only official website at www.arnewsline.org and being relayed by the volunteer services of the following radio amateur: (5 sec pause here) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: GOOGLE MAP IMAGRY GOES TO THE STREETS Want to see your antenna farm from street level from the comfort of your hamshack? Well Google has announced that it will soon be introducing street-level map views of various U.S. cities, giving Web surfers a panoramic, 360 degree images as well as the overhead views Google Maps has offered. With the new "Street View" feature in Google Maps, street level images will be available for maps of the San Francisco area, New York, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami. The service will then expand to other metropolitan regions nationwide. Users looking at Google Maps through a Web browser will be able to navigate around a city,. This will mean web surfers can virtually walk the streets, check out restaurants and landmarks and even zoom in on street signs to make travel plans. No word as to how often the street level images will be updated or if they will be clear enough to pick out rusty mounting hardware on your tri-band quad. (Google) ** EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: APPLE SAFARI BROWSER NOW FOR WINDOWS Apple has released a new version of its Safari Web browser for Windows-based PC. The free program is the latest move by Apple to expand its reach beyond its Macintosh computers and, at the same time, attract new converts to its products. Safari, was released a few years ago for Apple's Macintosh computers. It has so far captured about 5 percent of the world's market share for Internet browsers with more than 18 million users. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the dominant browser with a 78 percent share, while Mozilla's Firefox has rapidly climbed to gain about 15 percent of the market. The release of Safari for Windows is seen as yet another part of Apples multi-pronged encroachment of what has long been held to be Microsoft's almost private turf. (Published news reports) ** WORLDBEAT - AUSTRALIA: VK6XW NEW WIA INTRUDER WATCH COORDINATOR Karl Hennig VK6XW has been appointed by the Wireless Institute of Australia Board as its new Intruder Watch Coordinator. The WIA operates the Intruder Watch program as a centralized regional clearing house for reports on intrusions from non amateur activities in the ham radio bands. Hening replaces Glenn Dunstan, VK4DU, who retired from that post at the recent Wireless Institute of Australia annual general meeting. (WIA News) ** WORLDBEAT - JAPAN: TOKYO TO HOST WORLDS TALLEST TOWER Wired.com says the tallest broadcasting tower ever built is coming to Tokyo, Japan.. The 2001 foot high structure, which still doesn't have a name, will host the digital radio and television transmissions plus a mobile TV network. When completed in 2011 the concrete-and-steel tower will be the highest free-standing antenna in the world. (RW) ** WORLDBEAT - UK: VOLUNTEER COMMUNICATORS NEEDED FOR THE TOUR DE FRANCE The United Kingdom's Raynet emergency communications system says that ham radio volunteers needed for the British leg Tour de France bicycle race. Hams free on July 8th are invited to apply. If you can help contact Dennis Spalding, by e-mail to as soon as you possibly can possible. (GB2RS) ** WORLDBEAT - UK: GB2RS TO DISCONTINUE PACKET NEWS Call this one the end of an era. This with word that the Radio Society of Great Britain's GB2RS News Service will no longer be distributed via Packet Radio. This, after Roger Harris, G3ZFR, is no longer in a position to distribute the weekly GB2RS news bulletin via that early digital mode. The GB2RS news will continue to be distributed with scheduled on-the-air broadcasts and via the Internet. The RSGB also hosts a subscription remailer on yahoogroups for those who want their news to come to them by electronic mail. (GB2RS) ** WORLDBEAT - UK: HAM RADIO COMEDY ON YOUTUBE Still in the U-K, an episode of the 1960 BBC TV comedy series 'Hancock's Half Hour' starring Tony Hancock as a bungling ham radio operator is now on YouTube. This classic episode shows Hancock as a ham radio enthusiast who receives a mayday call from a ship in distress but keeps getting distracted just before he can take down its position. The episode is split into three parts. To view this and other classic Hancock clips, go to www.youtube.com and enter Tony Hancock in the search box. (GB2RS) ** ON THE AIR: SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR WEST COAST QUALIFYING RUN On the air, the ARRL has announced that there will be a slight change to the July 2007 West Coast Qualifying Run schedule. The Run will be transmitted by the Maritime Radio Historical Society station using the call KPH stroke K6KPH. This station is the same one that sends out the W1AW Field Day Bulletin for the benefit of West Coast amateurs. Look for K6KPH to transmit the West Coast Run on three bands on July 12 at 0400 UTC. That computes as 9 PM PDT on July 11th. The Morse code speeds will remain at 10 to 40 Words Per Minute with transmission made on 3.590, 7.047.5 and 14.047.5 MHz. All Qualifying Run submissions should still be sent to the ARRL for processing. (ARRL) ** DX In D-X, UA4WHX is once again active from Uganda as 5X1VB. As always there is no indication on how long he will be there but he has been heard this past weekend on 80, 17 and 12 meters mostly CW. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the bureau. It is recommend to send direct cards after he has gotten home from his travels. And word that the 3B7 Dxpedition to the Brandon Islands was expected to have gone Q-R-T on June 21st. If you worked this one please QSL via SP9SX. EA5RM, has announced that a multi-national team is planning to be on the air from Kigali, Rwanda later this summer. Details will be shortly. Susan Meckley, W7KFI, who is sailing her boat the USS Dharma to Johnston Island has been forced to return to Honolulu because of a bad toothache. She told the O-P-D-X newsletter that the pain was so unbearable that decided to return to Hawaii to see an oral surgeon. Meckley tells the OPDX that she will again attempt her trip to Johnston Island in less than two weeks. It will take about a week to travel there. Listen out for her on C-W 36 Kilohertz above any High Frequency ham band edge and on SSB on selected voice frequencies. She plans on visiting a number of rare DX spots over next 3 years in the South Pacific. Lastly, HB9QQ, will be active portable HB0 from Lichtenstein between June 29th and July 2nd and again between July 6th to the 9th. Activity will be on the High Frequency bands along with 6 and 2 meters. QSL via his home callsign address. (Above DX news from various DX sources) ** THAT FINAL ITEM: FIELD DAY 2007 And finally this week, Field Day 2007 seems to have been a mixed bag. Most hams report less than good conditions with the upper High Frequency bands fairly quiet over the entire operating event. The opposite was true on the lower bands like 40 and 75 where contact runs like this one were common in the hours after dark: -- Contact audio here -- While the ARRL bills Field Day as an operating event to test the emergency preparedness skills of radio amateurs, hams themselves have other reasons for taking part. Some look at it as yet another contest to see how many stations they can contact from a location away from home. Others look at it as a public relations event to make the public aware that Amateur Radio is out there, ready and willing to serve in time of crisis. Many like James Osment, W6OZZ, of the Santa Clarita Amateur RadioClub in California have another reason for taking part. They see it as a chance to share time with some very special friends: -- Osment: "For me, I guess its about comoradory. The people I have met in Amateur Radio are to me long lasting friends, I mean that they are forever-lasting friends and to me that's very important. Its very important in your lifetimre to have friends that you can turn to for any problem in the world, and they are there itt seems to help you, no matter what." -- It will be a few months before the scores are tallied and we all know who won in each operating category. No matter. With Field Day all who take part win something, in one way or another. And this operator is already looking forward to Field Day, 2008. (ARNewsline(tm)) ** NEWSCAST CLOSE With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the RSGB, the Southgate News and Australia's W-I-A News, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline(tm). Our e-mail address is . More information is available at Amateur Radio Newsline's(tm) only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline(tm), P.O. Box 660937, Arcadia, California 91066. Before we go, a reminder of our latest on-line poll. It asks what is your favorite major U.S. ham radio magazine. You vote at www.arnewsline.org. For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors desk, I'm Jim Davis, W2JKD, saying 73 and we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. |
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William M. Pasternak wrote:
HAM RADIO TRENDS: LEAGUE CITES NO-ODE AS REASON FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Thee ARRL Letter says that its membership in the League is up and the trend is toward continued growth. With now close to 152,000 members, Customer Service Manager Amy Hurtado, KB1NXO, says the League is a viable, up-to-date organization that every ham should be a part of. Hurtado credits the rise in membership in part to the FCC rule changes earlier this year that eliminated Morse code testing for the General and Amateur Extra license classes. She says that since more people are upgrading their licenses as a result of there being no Morse code requirement, the League is now successfully able to show them the benefits of being an ARRL member. (ARRL) This is a relatively late reply to this post, but it bears a reply nonetheless. I would have to agree with the league's assessment of why they are getting an increase in membership. This will probably be an overall good thing for the league, and probably Amateur Radio in general. I have always been a little concerned that more Hams were not members. I think this bears some discussion. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - |
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![]() "Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... William M. Pasternak wrote: HAM RADIO TRENDS: LEAGUE CITES NO-ODE AS REASON FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Thee ARRL Letter says that its membership in the League is up and the trend is toward continued growth. With now close to 152,000 members, Customer Service Manager Amy Hurtado, KB1NXO, says the League is a viable, up-to-date organization that every ham should be a part of. Hurtado credits the rise in membership in part to the FCC rule changes earlier this year that eliminated Morse code testing for the General and Amateur Extra license classes. She says that since more people are upgrading their licenses as a result of there being no Morse code requirement, the League is now successfully able to show them the benefits of being an ARRL member. (ARRL) This is a relatively late reply to this post, but it bears a reply nonetheless. I would have to agree with the league's assessment of why they are getting an increase in membership. This will probably be an overall good thing for the league, and probably Amateur Radio in general. I have always been a little concerned that more Hams were not members. I think this bears some discussion. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - A cautionary note here though. This is still less than 25% of all licensed amateurs. We will have wait and see. Dee, N8UZE |
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"Dee Flint" wrote in
: "Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... snippage This is a relatively late reply to this post, but it bears a reply nonetheless. I would have to agree with the league's assessment of why they are getting an increase in membership. This will probably be an overall good thing for the league, and probably Amateur Radio in general. I have always been a little concerned that more Hams were not members. I think this bears some discussion. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - A cautionary note here though. This is still less than 25% of all licensed amateurs. We will have wait and see. Certainly it is a "quick look" assessment. But I think it is a step in the right direction. My rationale is this: Around half of all Amateurs were/are Technicians. When I was a Technician, I saw the League as an interesting thing, but I did not join until I got my General license. The reason why was that I saw it as more relevent to my evolving interests. So while there are always going to be people who are only interested in the VHF/UHF portions of the spectrum, IMO the "prize" of the ARS is HF access. And once you get serious about that, the ARRL, and QST is of much more interest. Once you get HF access, and you get interested in the league, you get more info on what is going on, and a positive feedback loop is generated. We might debate over the qualifications of the qualified, but my experience so far is that the new crop are fine gentlemen and ladies. I'm pleasantly satisfied so far. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - |
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![]() "Mike Coslo" wrote in message 36... "Dee Flint" wrote in : [snip] A cautionary note here though. This is still less than 25% of all licensed amateurs. We will have wait and see. Certainly it is a "quick look" assessment. But I think it is a step in the right direction. My rationale is this: Around half of all Amateurs were/are Technicians. When I was a Technician, I saw the League as an interesting thing, but I did not join until I got my General license. The reason why was that I saw it as more relevent to my evolving interests. So while there are always going to be people who are only interested in the VHF/UHF portions of the spectrum, IMO the "prize" of the ARS is HF access. And once you get serious about that, the ARRL, and QST is of much more interest. Once you get HF access, and you get interested in the league, you get more info on what is going on, and a positive feedback loop is generated. We might debate over the qualifications of the qualified, but my experience so far is that the new crop are fine gentlemen and ladies. I'm pleasantly satisfied so far. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - I've often wondered how many of the members joined for the primarily to be able to use the outgoing QSL service and be eligible for the various operating awards (WAS, DXCC, etc.)? It's unlikely that there is a way to get an accurate count on that though. Dee, N8UZE |
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"Dee Flint" writes:
"Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... William M. Pasternak wrote: HAM RADIO TRENDS: LEAGUE CITES NO-ODE AS REASON FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH Thee ARRL Letter says that its membership in the League is up and the trend is toward continued growth. With now close to 152,000 members, Customer Service Manager Amy Hurtado, KB1NXO, says the League is a viable, up-to-date organization that every ham should be a part of. ..... A cautionary note here though. This is still less than 25% of all licensed amateurs. We will have wait and see. Dee, N8UZE I'm not sure that's too bad. I've been licensed from 1974. I was active 1974-1979, and again from 2004. I.e. less than 30% of the time. The number of licensed amateur seriously overestimates the number of active amateurs - even the number of amateurs who would like to be active. That's the case here, where until a couple of years ago, there was a yearly fee to pay. Probably even more so in the U.S. 73 LA4RT Jon |
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LA4RT Jon Kåre Hellan wrote:
"Dee Flint" writes: snip A cautionary note here though. This is still less than 25% of all licensed amateurs. We will have wait and see. Dee, N8UZE I'm not sure that's too bad. I've been licensed from 1974. I was active 1974-1979, and again from 2004. I.e. less than 30% of the time. The number of licensed amateur seriously overestimates the number of active amateurs - even the number of amateurs who would like to be active. That's the case here, where until a couple of years ago, there was a yearly fee to pay. Probably even more so in the U.S. This is very true, Jon. When a number of us get together and chat about the number of hams that there are, I'm often compelled to mention the chaos that would result if all were to be active and on the air. - 73 de Mike KB3EIA - |
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![]() "Dee Flint" wrote in message . .. I've often wondered how many of the members joined for the primarily to be able to use the outgoing QSL service and be eligible for the various operating awards (WAS, DXCC, etc.)? I belong to that particular radio club because I'm interested in being in the DXCC listings. Beyond that, I consider the club to have politically marginalized itself to irrelevance. The Man in the Maze QRN from Baboquivari Peak, AZ -- Iitoi |
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![]() "Michael Coslo" wrote in message ... This will probably be an overall good thing for the league, and probably Amateur Radio in general. I have always been a little concerned that more Hams were not members. Once-upon-a-time-in-a-galazy-far-far-away I'd have agreed with you, but I believe that the days of "what's good for ARRL is good for ham radio" are past, and "being a member is the mark of an active ham" is mostly an empty slogan. By being "everything to everyone" they have steadily eroded support from their core member base and now are exposed to the realities of the publishing business which is "subscription churn". The Man in the Maze QRU from Baboquivari Peak, AZ -- Iitoi |
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