ARRL 'Radio Communications' billboard promotes Ham Radio on I-40

You are CORRECT:

It says nothing about leisurely pursuit--that is, "hobby".

Looks like it didn't NEED to....

 

OK...

Here ya go, 'hobbyists'.... ;-)

 

http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio


"What is Ham Radio?
Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby..."

 

...and this was cited earlier in the thread.

Take the bag off the cat and read the thread please.

 

The sign need AMATEUR RADIO and ARRL.ORG in big letters. doing 70 mph you can only read so fast.

 

The sign need AMATEUR RADIO and ARRL.ORG in big letters. doing 70 mph you can only read so fast.

 

It's way too bad the Graphics Artist made the WEB ADDRESS so complex and SOOOO TINY that it would take STOPPING on the Interstate to write down the address...

KISS

Erika DD

 

I know,... it seems you didn't see it earlier

 

Of course I saw it.

I responded to it.

You seem to feel I am responsible for the alleged contradiction between what the SIGN says is 'ham radio', and what the COPY on the ARRL website says is 'ham radio'.

I pointed out to you the most likely scenario, which you have obviously ignored. Go look it up.

The billboard was a well thought-out result. The fact that it does NOT say hobby is just something that almost none of you seem to fathom.

It doesn't say hobby --because it is not a hobby.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Erika, the sign could have just been the ARRL diamond with BIG letters asking "What is ham radio?" to inspire the question. Or "What is Amateur Radio?"

(Kinda like the billboards in Atlas Shrugged that asked "Who is John Galt?" who we suspect is secretly @W1YW )

Interestingly, the first return for me on Google searching "What is ham radio?" is a different ARRL web page than searching for "What is Amateur Radio?"

They should have used the latter URL on the sign, although its a few characters longer. IMO, the text content definition in the first paragraph for Amateur Radio is more appropriate,

What is Amateur Radio?

"When cell phones, regular phones, the internet and other systems are down or overloaded, Amateur Radio still gets the message through. Radio amateurs, often called “hams,” enjoy radio technology as a hobby. But it's also a service –a vital service that has saved lives when regular communication systems failed."

Many others enjoy radio technology as a hobby, but obtaining an AR license means becoming part of the service.

 

I know John, when I was working with political campaigns we found out that people only have less than 1 second to get all the information off the sign at 30 MPH... And we were working with signs 4X larger in square footage than than this "WALL DRUG" special 10X20... As you know.... at 80 MPH on I-90 even the wall drug billboards have ONLY ONE thought on each sign and they place them repeatedly every few miles with EACH idea... Like ICE WATER, what made a drug store in the middle of the badlands famous. hahahaha.

You think BURMA SHAVE would have been so much fun for us kids if the whole jingle were on ONE picket Fence sign? We used to see Burma Shave signs ALL THE TIME here in IOWA in the 60's a fun treat of going to Grandma's... Eventually highway thieves pilfered all those signs as collector items. EVEN Paul had one nailed up on one of his buildings.

ARRL.ORG up in the corner would have gotten it done and the pretty sign might have been worth it. I can't remember WHY I just walked into the bathroom half the time until I'm going ah S***.... You think they will even REMEMBER to look up What is Ham Radio???? by the time they get home? It really is a pretty sign though. I like the layout, message sort of OK, Important stuff as in CONTACT INFO poor.

I will say this... I HAVE CALLED "LAMAR" sign company when I needed to check on the availability of a particular sign... Somebody Could Call the company if they HAD the sign NUMBER but that looks shaded out too...

Brother..

Erika DD

 

Not many people will understand what the billboard is attempting to say IMHO. Of course hams will. ARRL - Communications - radio skill - service?
Where is an invitation to the general public to get involved? Driving by at highway speeds, it's just another billboard that doesn't attract attention. No one driving will remember the ARRL's URL. The billboard is a great idea, but lacks anything to get attention. It lacks impact and a call to action.

 

I think the sign was a waste of money! The sign promotes Radio Communications. Okay, so what? What kind of Radio Communications? It should have said something like: Ham Radio! A fun hobby. arrl.org. That's it! Simple and short. People only have seconds to read a sign as they pass by. The sign needs to be easy to decipher.

The words Ham Radio are shown in the smallest size letters on the sign. It's difficult to decipher at highway speeds. Plus, people need to know Ham Radio is a hobby. If the sign just said: arrl.org people could Google search that and find the ARRL site. Then they could find the section introducing them to Ham Radio.

The ARRL logo should have been the smallest thing on the sign. The one shown took up valuable space. People can find out what the logo means when they get the the ARRL site.

I don't think the sign was very well thought out!

de
WJØM

 

My first reaction was that the Billboard may have been designed by a Web Page designer trying for "click bait"; but forgetting that there's nothing on a Billboard that you can click!.