I send this communication to you in the hopes that it finds you well and that it finds you still very much in love with amateur radio.
Some of you know me and to the others that do not, you will know me very well by the time you finish reading this communication.
My hopes are that after you have completed your reading that you will be once again filled with the excitement, awe, and love of amateur radio that I have known for over 42 years.
For the last several years there has been something eating away at me and I have not been able, until most recently, to bring it to the forefront and verbalize just exactly what was stirring around in my head.
As you know amateur radio is multifaceted and an ever changing thing. There are operators who are holding on to the tried and true basics of amateur radio and operators who are embracing new technology. What is true of both of those skilled operators is they are rapidly diminishing in numbers.
Newly licensed operators today suffer from lack of technical training, lack of basic operating skills and practices, and an almost complete lack of a living knowledge source. It’s not their fault. It’s just the way we have all let amateur radio slide into a comfortable and dusty corner.
I tried to fill this void of basic operating skills and technical knowledge by suggesting mentoring programs at local radio clubs. That effort was met with indifference to limited interest to no interest at all.
Those who know me know that I’m not one to sit around and wait so I started a series of mentor classes over the past several months at my home. Those classes have been met with good participation and enthusiasm.
However, after the classes had finished most of the operators filed away their new skill sets and knowledge learned.
One thing has become clear to me…
Amateur Radio is in jeopardy!
Most amateur radio “club meetings” have turned into entertainment venues sourced from a small catalog of presentations that are making the local club circuit with some presentations not even about amateur radio related topics.
The last thing we need is another cookie-cutter amateur radio club. Don’t take me wrong. Most of the local ham clubs do amazing things in terms of public service and our country needs all of the trained service related operators that we can get. However, that’s not enough.
We need to get back to the birth of amateur radio with similar mindsets of those with names like Maxim, Tesla, Armstrong, Fleming, and Marconi.
We need to increase the knowledge, operating skills, and techniques of newly licensed and long term amateur radio operators.
We need to sustain a knowledge base for the future and guarantee that we do not lose past skills, experiences, and our heritage to the march of time.
We need to bring into our membership like-minded operators who want to preserve the goodness and romance of amateur radio.
We need to bring into our membership those operators who still have the love of amateur radio and those who yearn to embrace it.
We need to bring into our membership those who want to share and pass on their life-long experiences and knowledge to those who so want to learn and do.
We need to bring into association newly licensed operators so that we can plant the seed of membership in QCWA.
We need to make QCWA the Gold Standard for Amateur Radio.
We need to make QCWA synonymous with the learning, preservation, romance, history, and goodness of Amateur Radio.
What will it take? A commitment from everyone to meet regularly with other members and be a mentor and history teller.
What will we do? Mentor, Educate, Reflect, Socialize, and have fun!
What do we need? We need members like you to jump up and rise to the call to help make this happen.
If I have whetted your desire...
If I have peaked your interest...
If I have awakened something in you...
then come to our February 6 meeting and be part of the next revolution in Amateur Radio.
Larry Essary K5XG
President QCWA Chapter 41 - Dallas, Texas
