By Dave Jensen, W7DGJ

There’s a sweet side and a bitter side to Amateur Radio. Perhaps this is why so many people have had the experience (as I have) of great interest at certain times while later their station gathers dust. The pandemic brought back an interest in radio for a lot of operators who had neglected it for years and many of these went immediately to the niche that they were already familiar with. When I came back into radio, I found my knowledge of the code had been permanently seared into my brain and Morse came back instantly, although at a much slower speed than I had been achieving as a kid.  

When you are coming back to an area of interest that you were aggressively interested in earlier, you already know those activities that will interest you and you get back into those quickly -- this renews your love for radio. But if you are totally and completely new to the ARS, it’s easy to get sidetracked in short order by some of what I call the “buzz-killers” that (arguably) exist and in some cases dominate. I hope we can get a good discussion going on this topic in the attached forum.

What’s my definition of a buzz-killer? Here’s an example . . . new ham operators pick up a book and study, get their license and (perhaps even before their license is awarded) they’ve invested $30 in a cheap radio from Amazon or eBay. Their expectations often lead to disappointment. The “buzz” they felt about being able to communicate with the world has experienced a great let-down, as they turned on those new HT’s and “didn’t hear anyone talking.” While those who are more familiar with the numbers will know better than I, it seems to me that this could be one reason why we have so many technician class hams who haven’t upgraded.

In this Short Takes column, I’ll mention three of the most obvious areas that kill the buzz of new ham radio operators, and hopefully start a few discussions as well so that we can turn the tables on these buzz-killers and move them to the category of sweeteners.

The 2-Meter Band: Nothing shoots down an interest in communications faster than an inability to communicate. As I said in the introduction, it’s quite usual for a newly licensed ham to invest in an inexpensive HT and “get on the air.” Unfortunately, the 2-meter band differs dramatically in various regions. While in some cases the band is active and new users can get great experience in the protocols involved in radio communication, in other regions the band is nearly dead. It’s only on occasional evenings where the new user can hear anything happening, and jumping into the fray is complicated by the “weird” programming required by their HT. It’s far from the ideal introduction to the world of radio communications, and despite whatever you can say about how much fun VHF can be, promoting 2-Meters to new hams is just putting makeup on a pig.

And yet, despite these shortcomings there are ways that the 2-meter band can be a great part of the learning experience for new operators. For one, it’s an easy platform for teaching new hams about propagation and how building and playing with antennas can almost be a hobby in itself. Operating an HT from inside a bedroom or workshop using its supplied antenna is almost always a big letdown. But with a bit of guidance, a new operator can connect that little radio to a home-built J-Pole or other antenna and they’ll start hitting all the repeaters in their area. Often, it is after playing with antennas and discovering the real-life aspects of propagation (not textbook any longer) that new operators get the drive to move into more of what they are licensed for. Either that or they begin the study for an upgraded license.

The Clique Factor: I got stung on this one and almost dropped out of amateur radio. Whether you have the interest for the first time or perhaps you’ve re-licensed, you’ll need support. You look outside your own backyard for help from others who appreciate what you’d like to accomplish with your new interests. That’s when you discover that many existing hams are not all that welcoming to newbies.

A good radio club would be the ideal solution, but often it’s in the club atmosphere where the clique factor is most obvious. In my case, I attended a couple of club meetings and expected that someone would say, “Hey, let’s say hello to our new members . . .” but that never happened. A dozen meetings later, the club President still didn’t know my name, and this from an organization with perhaps one hundred members. I watched as old timers sat together and did nothing to welcome and talk to the newer (and often younger) members of the club. Sure enough, I stopped paying dues and contributing to the club, and no one ever noticed.

My friend Marty Buehring (KB4MG) is President of the Cherokee Amateur Radio Society in Georgia. It’s a club that has a long history of building relationships with their community and engaging participation from new members. When I asked Marty about this a year or two ago, he told me that there were several categories that resonate with new members. To move this buzz-killer into the sweeteners category for your club, have those with common areas of interest be responsible for taking new members under their wing. By associating new members with those who share a second area of interest, the ties that bind them together from day one will be much stronger.

For example, bring together those who are interested in emergency communications, or in one of numerous “crossover hobbies.”  Cherokee recruits from 4-wheeler groups and those interested in the outdoors (camping, hiking, mountain climbing – all of which resonate with SOTA and POTA). They also find new members coming in from STEM programs, or people with an interest in rocketry or drones. Throughout the year, special events promote the contributions of newer members and the Cherokee integration process goes much smoother than the experience that many clubs have had.

80-Meter Lid-Fests: I opened my shack one evening for a few friends who were dining with my wife and I that night. Someone had expressed an interest in my radio hobby, and there was a general call to see what the station looked like and “hear how those radios sound.” I made the mistake of dialing into 80 at a time and frequency where the most outrageous shenanigans were occurring. Yes, you guessed it, the “conversation” I turned up the volume on was a non-stop cuss fest from loose operators who have nothing better to do than down a few drinks and yell at each other across hundreds of miles. Ugh. What an embarrassment it is to our Amateur Radio Services that these people exist and that we can’t self-manage our airwaves better. In no more than a few seconds, I heard every racist, homophobic and swear word that exists.

Imagine you are a budding operator of age 16 and you’ve just assembled your first HF station. How would you feel about hearing this – does it change your perception of the Amateur Radio Services? You bet it does. It’s a strong buzz-killer and I can’t think of any way that we can move this to the sweeteners category. However, we should be able to do a better job of self-managing our frequencies. The age-old advice of “just ignore” hasn’t worked, as they’re still out there. It will take local radio clubs to put those wackos out of business by finding out who they are and gathering the evidence needed to shut them down. The FCC has shown us that they will react if handed the evidence. But they’ve also shown us that they won’t do a lot of work to gather that themselves.

Let’s Keep Amateur Radio a Rewarding Experience

When I interviewed Ward Silver (W0AX) about where our newcomers come from, Ward told me to remember the three S’s . . . Science, Service, and Skills. I would add a fourth S to Ward’s list, for Security. For a person with an interest in STEM technologies, it’s the science that attracts them. For someone who wants to contribute something back to their community, it’s the Service angle. For many of us, it was the new Skills that caught us up in the hobby . . . perhaps contesting, building equipment, antennas and so on. Finally, Security brings many to the fold -- those who are interested in communications for personal safety. All of these new operators deserve to find their place in amateur radio and it is the responsibility of the rest of us to ensure that we keep our “buzz-killers” to a minimum.

73 for now,

Dave W7DGJ

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