What does the League do for #hamradio?

Has the American Radio Relay League done stuff you don't agree should have been done?

Probably everyone will answer that question with YES!

However, the ARRL remains the only truly active voice for amateur radio operators in the United States.

Please ask yourself these questions.

1.  Who has an office in Washington, DC and staff to advocate for amateur radio before Congress?
2.  Who has the ear of the Federal Communications Commission for amateur radio operators?
3.  Who has the most active volunteer examiners who recently held a record-setting VE session?
4.  With over 700K licensed amateur radio operators in the United States, why do International amateur radio operators join the League but only about 20% of USA hams have joined?
5.  Who has the most active awards program in amateur radio?
6.  Who has the most active field organization in the hobby?
7.  Did you know about the Social Media links?

Now, ask yourself one more question.  Why have I not joined?

Hamvention HO!!!!

Who's going to Hamvention?

With retirement comes adventure.  The wife has agreed to join me on a road trip to the Buckeye State.  One can follow along on APRS, Echolink, IRLP, and Allstar.  Tune to the South Coast Amateur Radio Service resources.

If anyone needs a room, I have reserved a few that will be unreserved at the week's end.  

When the trip is done, that's one item on the bucket list done.  

When too much is too much

Back in the day, there was ONE repeater in an area supported by ONE club.  When one wished to know something, one listened to the one repeater and the club covered the meetings, social and otherwise.

Now there are over a dozen repeaters in a 25-mile radius (according to RepeaterBook and Rfinder) most of which remain quiet except for the morning, noon, and evening kerchunks.

The clubs have a variety of social events which remain unknown except for a few.  Meetings are not published in local newspapers, radio stations, etc., including the repeaters mentioned above.

Folks really need to help folks enjoy the hobby.  Are you having an antenna party?  Are you having a burger burn?  What's the topic at the next club meeting?

Is your club needing help with a project?  Ask your neighbors.  That HF DX club might be willing to help with that Bicycle Rally.

Every ham can be a public information officer.  A bunch of you are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Blogger/WordPress.  Light up those tubes and transistors with information that Scanner and Shortwave Listeners can use.  Lets work together for the Best Hobby On the Planet.

Falling League Membership @KB6NU

At his popular blog, KB6NU made a good point about the need of elmers in amateur radio.

While that's true, the League also needs to enhance membership and elmers too.  There's a problem with folks thinking the League is only QST.  It's not.

Enhancing the membership experience is important.  An important step came with the ARRL branded VISA card.  It was a good first step.

When one joins AARP, AMAC, Farm Bureau, and a host of other "You Pay Me" groups, one gets a plethora of membership discounts.

The more members one has, the greater number of AVIS, Hertz, and Enterprise vendors line up to give discounts to the membership.

The problem is that the League is in a Catch 22.  In order to get more members who want discounts, more members need to join.

The vendors don't seem to get that the League is THE voice for amateur radio for a lot of the world.

This Little Engine That Could is doing this:
Become a Sustaining Member and get discounts from participating companies. Here's how. @K0STH
#hamradio 100wattsandawire.com/donate/

Could we start in the amateur radio community?  If equipment dealers, distributers, and the like would give a discount to League members, the program could get a start.  The more discounts, the more value the membership could see in an already good program.

Hams, join the League.  It's the best National organization representing you in the Nation.