RV Service Net International

Released electronically last week (and speeding on its way to the printers now), we updated The Bulletin today with just received photos and articles.  We were able to stop the presses and get this updated edition to the publisher in time, and we updated the electronic edition too.

The changes are important — we received just two days ago the picture we were hoping for of Jack KF5GW (SK), and we added a very important short article of thanks to our SK Managers, Frank KE4TIL and Sonja Meistrell.  Sonja and Frank capably carried this job four years, and have handed it over to Jamie KJ4JK.

See these new items, and all the news, in the May 2013 edition of The Bulletin, for members only.

N4RTG and I travel all over Canada and the USA, meeting people in all sorts of venues.  One of the questions we hear the most is, “is amateur radio shrinking?”  Let’s see, radios are miniaturizing, yes.  But the number of licensed amateur radio operators in the USA has never been higher.

ARRL reported recently the total number of licensed hams in the USA through end of 2012 reached over 709, 000, the highest total EVER.  AH0A has a nifty website showing FCC licensing numbers by month and shows a steady monthly increase since the beginning of the year.  Ham radio is not diminishing.  It appears amateur radio is becoming more popular.

In a similar vein, clubs all over the country have been bemoaning for the past two decades.  Their members are aging or losing interest, and the clubs aren’t successfully recruiting new members.  Three elements interplay here:  loss of interest, dying, and recruitment of new members.

How is WBCCI ARC doing?  Our club is off to a rousing start for this year — we have fifteen new members in 2013.  Overall our total membership number seems to be growing slowly.

It is not necessary to own an Airstream or any other type RV to join the ARC.  The requirements to join WBCCI ARC are the following:

1. You must hold an amateur license (any class) and
2. either own any kind of RV or have an interest in travel and camping.

That’s all there is to it — well, and a prospective member fills out an application for membership, submits it with their fee.  Membership application forms are available here.

What can we do to keep our club full of active, interested, engaged, friendly members?  Two things come to mind immediately:

1. Have you invited a ham to join the friendliest amateur radio club in North America?
2. Do you try to be an active, interested, engaged and friendly member of clubs to which you belong?

posted 20130411 by Jim n5rtg

_____________________________

Below is a small representation of articles published over the past twenty years about membership declines:

http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x155063752/Civic-organizations-fight-national-declines-in-membership  how to attract and retain members despite nationally declining enrollments

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=224  declining social capital caused by radical individualism

http://werussell.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/decline-of-americas-service-organizations/  caused by the disengagement of our nation’s young people?

http://www.kansas.com/2012/06/20/2381119/aging-members-lack-of-interest.html  decline of civic groups in Wichita

http://www.app.com/article/20130401/NJNEWS/304010094/Ageless-Membership- decline-may-spell-end-Beach-Haven-First-Aid-Squad  not enough joining, too many dying or leaving

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123923154717002917.html  country clubs not so clubby anymore, many closing or morphing to survive

http://w3lww.org/  ham radio clubs merging from three into one

According to The ARRL Letter (April 11, 2013):

On April 1, Idaho Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter (R) signed Senate Bill 1065 into law. This new law is amendment to a current Idaho law regarding guyed towers, which states that guyed towers “shall be lighted, marked and painted or otherwise constructed to be visible in clear air during daylight hours from a distance of not less than 2000 feet.” With the passage of SB 1065, both guyed Amateur Radio and CB antenna support structures are exempt from these regulations.

According to ARRL Idaho Section Manager Ed Stuckey, AI7H, Governor Otter signed the original legislation into law in 2012, but there was an exemption for telecommunications towers. “This year, we went back [to the legislature] to specifically define Amateur Radio towers as one of the types of telecommunications towers,” he said, “ARRL Idaho Section Government Liaison Rex Green, K7DMV, put a huge amount of effort into firming up the groundwork behind the legislation. We also had the good fortune to have Senator Lee Heider, KE7GAG, take an interest in the legislation, and he acted as the Senate sponsor for the bill.”

Green told the ARRL that quite a few hams in Senator Heider’s district contacted the senator about the amendment. “These hams asked Senator Heider to carry the amendment that would clarify that Amateur Radio towers would be included in the telecommunications exemption,” he told the ARRL. “As the ARRL Idaho State Government Liaison, I contacted the Idaho Division of Aeronautics and others to explain our position and gain their support. The letter of support from the Administrator of the Idaho Division of Aeronautics opened a lot of doors for us and was critical to the amendment’s passage.”

Idaho Section leadership supported Senator Heider at the meetings of Idaho’s House and Senate Transportation Committees, providing with examples of why the exemption for Amateur Radio towers was needed. “I feel without Senator Heider’s support, we would have had a difficult time in getting traction for our proposal,” Green said. “The sponsors of last year’s legislation were not exactly supportive of any exemptions, but once we explained to the committees that we had the support of the low altitude aviation operators, such as crop dusters, then we were able to move ahead.”

The bill passed the Senate with unanimous approval before going to the House, where it passed with a 62-3 vote.

[from The ARRL Letter for April,  http://www.arrl.org/news/guyed-tower-legislation-in-idaho-to-exclude-amateur-radio-towers, accessed 20130411)

We have found a new supplier for our club’s name badges.  They are located in Dunellon Florida, we’ve received two of their badges and can attest to the quality and good appearance.  You can opt for magnetic backing instead of pin for a small up charge.  They have our club’s logo in their machine and it looks good on the new badge.

For more information and how to order, see our club’s name badge page here.

This morning we updated the Net Control Stations list for our daily (364 days per year) 40m net on 7191 MHz. The information changes periodically as our net control folks migrate north or south or have equipment changes.

If you are interested in becoming a Net Control Station, please send an email to Garry W8OI.

We’ve had a good first two months of 2013, adding more than one new member per week.  You can see the new calls/names on our web site at the Member List menu selection at right of your screen, as well as view all members and download PDF file of membership.

Note:  this page is only accessible to our members.  If you don’t have the access code and think you should, please email the web master.

We’ve added two new pages to the club’s website.

One is for test sessions conducted by any section of our club — if you are scheduling one and want to post it here, let Jim n5rtg know.

The other is a copy of 2013 Preamble for one of our morning nets.  We had a few requests for this and it is easy to provide.  You need your member-only access code to get to it.  Let Jim n5rtg know if any questions or problems reaching this page.

Debbie N4RTG and Jim N5RTG are at QuartzFest with a number of other members of WBCCI ARC including Bob K9WMP, Bud NP2CT, Harley N0AJO, and Jack K8JXG, among others. Sorry to miss seeing Leo K9GDI, he would usually be here but is in Tucson visiting with family. Hope to see Leo in Orlando in a few weeks.

Steve KO4QT has done a super job organizing this ham rally. Great programs, two large fire rings, two movie screens in the evenings, a special event station (W7Q?), coffee every morning, and free camping. Oh, and just about every type of mobile (and some not-so-mobile) antenna configuration as well as great looking solar and wind energy set ups are all in place here. Cool stuff to look at as we wander about.

Let’s see, this is also the week of the huge Quartzsite RV show. How about a 69,000 square feet tent with almost every sort of vending for RVers? Need more? Okay, the tent is ringed with tents on the outside with more vendors with stuff for your truck, your RV, your pets, and your belly. Good thing we’re full-timers and exempt from buying all this stuff — it would be really tempting otherwise. We just don’t have a place to put it.

Great news, we are also recruiting new members and signing up renewals while here. The recruiting is largely thanks to Bud NP2CT, one of our members from the Rocky Mountain section of the RV Service Nets. Thanks, Bud.

Next year maybe we should bring a club banner and sponsor an ice cream social. If you would like more information about QuartzFest, here is the link. There are 400 rigs at this ham rally, why wouldn’t we think recruiting?

Jim n5rtg
posted 20130122

We’ve updated the member list, corrected a couple of calls, added new members MO AE6MO, Joyce KE4MWU, and Tex KA5Y

The list is available for view only by current dues-paid Members and Life Members, using their personal access codes.

Mark Your Calendars!

We are offering a one-day Tech Class and Exam on August 10 2013 at our WBCCI Region 1 Rally. The rally is open to all Airstream owners and will be in Berlin, CT.

This is a great opportunity for caravaners to get their first license and start with a useful communications mode and fun hobby. See the flyer with full info by clicking on One Day Technician License Class for Club

Hope to see you in February at the Orlando HamCation. I will have the QRP ARCI booth there again next year, and also the booth in Dayton at the Hamvention.

Raymond Richard – W4RPR
Region One President
WBCCI # 211
raycynrich1@aol.com