Opinion: The ARRL By-laws Need Changin’

Current basic membership is $49 per year, which is less than $1 a week. Seems affordable for the working man, eh?

 

I've been a member of the ARRL for a number of years. As with all organizations, it has its good and bad points. The things I find most valuable are their publications (QST, QEX, Handbook, etc.) as well as their infrastructure for licensing exams (test booklets, uploads to the FCC, etc.).

As I read QST each month, I'm especially surprised, if not disheartened, by what I seen in their QuickStats section each month. While I don't know the actual sample size of each survey, I'm shocked to see how little hams are really engaged in the hobby. Reading this section month after month, you get the impression that hams just hold a license and do nothing with it.

Before we start burning the house down, we (the ham radio community) should begin to express to the ARRL what is important to us. That's going to require an honest assessment of where we want the hobby to go, rather than just rehash the same old activities and organizations. Similarly, we (the ham radio community) need to work with the ARRL to establish, build and nurture new activities and organizations. Steady pressure will produce steady progress.

 

They do indeed. We have at least a couple hundred active licenses in our city, but the repeaters are crickets, and there are only four or five people that I have heard on HF with any kind of regularity. When local stations get on the air, it is usually obvious in the panadapter (the local guy is the BIG signal), but that happens rarely.

If that is a cross-section of the license ranks, then your impression is quite correct.

That's a two-way street. When I contact the League leadership (which I have done many times on various subjects), the results are either no response, or "we can't talk to you about that." I made the effort to reach out, and was repeatedly ignored or pushed away. If there is an engagement issue, it would appear to be in Newington, not with the membership. If the majority of other members' experiences were more positive, I doubt we would have all these ARRL threads running now.

 

As much as Fred is DEAD ON in his proposal, it likely won't happen, Just like we aren't likely to see good change in the rotten politics here in Kalifornia!!
Once power is granted to people, they aren't about to give it up willingly.
They want plenty of money to squander at their whims.
So NEWINGTON is just like KALIFORNIA in this matter.

Everyones suggestion it to MOVE OUT of here, but I would miss the great weather.
And I am not about to abandon the ARRL with all the good they do. So I guess I will have to put up with the BS like I do here!

 

It might change if ARRL moves to a red state ... like TEXAS!

 

I guess the ARRL could use a "tune up" in its operations. The Glassdoor review for the ARRL is interesting to read...
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ARRL-American-Radio-Relay-League-Reviews-E345426.htm

 

I can hear it now, but, but that's only 3 malcontents bashing the league with FUD....think that covers everything .

 

I have been a ARRL Life Member for too many years to mention. I can't say that if I did not already have Life Membership that I would not consider it today in view of all that I have been reading. I am not sure that the ARRL has the best interest of the members in mind. I do like what AA7BQ outlined. Seems more reasonable approach considering today's technology.

Fred - KNOA

 

"KB4QAA, post: 4525112, member: 314805"]Wayne would have written anything that sold more magazines!"


Oh Dear , not quite true as if nothing else Wayne was reliable in opinion and certainly not afraid of controversy , major reasona as to why so many enjoyed his writings and and remember he was very positive about radio and its benifits

 

Good Idea!

You can go 100 miles in any direction in Texas and everything changes. This is not a criticism of Texas; it is a good thing and I like it. And if the area in Texas is chosen correctly, a lot more outside time would result because of the much better weather in Texas compared to New England, especially right now. This would then result in more antenna articles, I believe, and that ain't a bad thing...! Also, having a much better personal income tax burden in Texas (there is none!) for the ARRL people/staff should perk them up to the idea.

 

After reading that link, it appears that the ARRL has some tendency to be like politics in Washington where representatives are sent to help their constituents but migrate into the Good Ole Boy position of helping themselves to get into prominent seats and get reelected. I am not talking about the middle management people at the ARRL, though; they seem honest enough per that link but they reveal that upper management is somewhat isolated, even from those who do the work and certainly from the ARRL membership at large.

As with Washington politics, some outside force has to go to work on the problem if any significant/positive change is to be realized. In both cases, it is evident that the problem will not fix itself or change by casual influence from the membership.

What quickly gets the attention of political animals is the bottom line. When they see the membership and sales (voting levels) slipping, it gets their attention but will it be enough or in time to avoid a much worse situation to develop?

I wonder if the ARRL is counting on fear that a change could result in something worse and not for betterment of the Ham Radio Community. Hams here and worldwide need some kind of leadership to keep the course and move always in a positive direction that is satisfactory to the membership at large.

It is somewhat galling to think that the leadership may not be what HP Maxim had in mind for the ARRL and I wonder what he'd have to day about the current state of affairs of his brainchild... Would he approve in whole or only in part? I suspect he'd like parts of it as it results today just as we all do but in something as big as the ARRL, some improvement is always a consideration where dealing with a living organization.

 

I had four articles published in 73 Magazine and was occasionally in touch with Wayne, almost up to his last days. He was a promoter, not only of Ham Radio but also of personal computers. At the end, he was still promoting a series of health-related supplements that he sold and believed in.

Here is one thing that we can thank Wayne Greene for:

He had an editorial where he commented that his computer-based printing enterprise had problems where he had to have the computer worked on almost every year. Then his techs told him that because he had four workers in the computer room that smoked, their cigarette smoke was fouling up the board and switch contacts and caused the computer failures. He then made the room off limits to smoking and for the four following years, up to the date of that editorial, there had been no problems with the computer operation.

This evolved in our seeing in advertisements of ham radio items the phrase: "From a non-smoking home." It came to be seen as positive for electronics and has improved the functionality and life of our equipment overall. It may possibly also save some hams' cigarette money so they can buy more radios.

 

Yes, I could second that motion with exceptions.
Here they are:
You can go over 600 miles , that is six HUNDRED miles, west from Houston and the SCENERY stays same.
And you encounter "Dairy Queen" more often that REAL "rest stops".

After living in TX for over 10 years I like to replace the highways signs saying "Drive friendly" with "Caution - your are in Texas , (the) I don't care state ".
I have lived in few states and the people's attitude towards neighbors ( Harvey WAS an exception ), each other , environment and amateur radio is DEFINITELY different in TX.

The ONLY real advantage moving ARRL to TX , you can get average hamburger, great BBQ ( very popular in amateur gatherings ) and you can change Saturday club eatin'g meetin'g often.

And if you are OK calling craw fish seafood, ARRL common down to TX.

But home is where you hang your hat and it's up to you what you make it.

Moving problems never resolved them.

73 Shirley - long time ago former member

 

Fighting with ARRL is like wrestling with a pig, you get dirty, the pig gets dirty; but the pig likes it. Save your energy, vote with your feet.

 

When I said going 100 miles in any direction in TX and everything changes, I also must modify this to say any direction from Central TX where I lived for many years. Everything changes through time, though.

Where I lived, people were mostly friendly. Like many places, though, the most unfriendly people are those who are not natives of that area but people who move there and found it not to their liking when compared to where they came from and [too] many of them developed an acid attitude.

I have returned to visit several of the places where I had previously lived and they had changed drastically to where much of it was unrecognizable. This only takes ten years or so, I found. This is the price of "progress."

In my experience, the people in TX are/were very friendly. The first thing one has to do is make friends with them. But this is the case in most places here and around the world.

The Drive Friendly signs is not descriptive in its intention, it is mostly suggestive. For people to move over and drive in the pull-off lane so you can pass is a common practice in TX and this alone is worthy of note. And waving at them gets a return wave in every case.

Everyone's taste is in his own mouth...