The ARRL Club News
ARRL Club News for April 2008
ARRL Club Newsletter
March 31, 2008
____________________________________________________________
Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, Editor
IN THIS ISSUE:
+ Interdependency
+ Field Day Locator
+ Nettiquette
+ Show Off
______________________________________________________________
Interdependency, The Need For Others In Order To Succeed
By Norm Fusaro, W3IZ
All relationships require effort from all who are involved. Member
recruiting and retention has long been a challenge for local clubs
and cultivating interpersonal relationships with your club members is
important to achieving the goals of the club and its members.
As people we are independent, capable of our own thoughts, actions
and opinions but as members of society we are interdependent and rely
on others to fill certain needs. As radio amateurs our
interdependence is as basic as the need to have another radio
operator to establish a contact. The local club fills a need beyond
this basic illustration and provides where we can go to meet with
friends and share knowledge and experiences.
If the needs of the individual are the Ying then the Yang must be
needs of the club as an organization. Clubs need members to manage
club business and perform the jobs required to operate a successful
club. One does not have to look too far to see that successful clubs
rely on synergistic roles that benefit both the individual and the
organization. If a club provides a way for non hams to get licensed
then the club will recruit new members. The club that offers classes
for licensed hams to upgrade will retain members. Active hams that
are willing to share their experience will teach the newcomers who
then become club members and so-on and so-on.
Clubs that seek perfection and a world all the members get along and
agree on everything are striving for an unrealistic goal and often
end up in discontent. Healthy and active clubs tend to work together
as a group toward a common goal. Setting the goal can be a
democratic process, which in itself is a healthy activity, however
once the objective is set it takes the effort of everyone to achieve
the result. For club leadership, it is your job to keep the members
focused on the mission. Club members also have a responsibility to
the club by supporting the mission and not undermining the project
just so they can say "I told you so."
People joined your club to get involved. One of the best ways to
keep club members is to include them in club business and activities
and most importantly, recognize your people for their contributions
to the club. Your club newsletter is a terrific vehicle for
recognizing members who participate in club activities and programs.
Sometimes a special presentation or award may be in line with a
member's exemplary involvement. The actual deed is not as important
as is the recognition of the people who make it all possible. When
others see that the club appreciates the work of the members then
more people will be willing to take on jobs and run for office.
Mutual effort must be ongoing if a club is to recruit and retain
members.
_______________________________________________________________________
Station Locator Service New For Field Day 2008
From ARRL Letter
This year, for the first time, the ARRL has put together a Station
Locator to help amateurs or those interested in Amateur Radio find a
Field Day site near them. According to ARRL Field Day Manager Dan
Henderson, N1ND, many amateurs have been asking for something like
this for many years.
If your group would like to be a part of the Station Locator Service,
it's easy to get started. Just go to the Field Day Station Locator
Web site <http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php>
and follow the instructions.
To help you out, Henderson has prepared a FAQ for the Field Day
Station
Locator.
Q) How does our Field Day site get listed on the map?
A) A club official or Field Day Chairman needs to go to the Web site.
Once there, click on the link for "Add a Station" and follow the
instructions.
Q) I put in the name of the park where we will be holding Field Day
but
got the message that the program can't find it. What do I do?
A) You should use a street address for the location. Unfortunately,
the
mapping program doesn't have a 100 percent complete database of park
names and public site names. You may use a latitude/longitude --
enter
the values separated by a comma (e.g. 42.345N, 85.445W) and set the
city
to NONE).
Q) I put in a street address but the map locator put me it in a wrong
location on the street. What do I do?
A) While in the data input or edit screen, use your cursor to move
the
red "pin" to the correct location on the map.
Q) What if I put in the wrong information or something about our
Field
Day operation changes?
A) The person who input the data will be able to edit the entry.
Simply
follow the "Add a Station" link and then select "Edit this entry"
next
to the one to correct.
Q). I tried to enter my club's information, but I was denied access.
What do I do?
A) To help ensure that only one person is managing a club's entry,
you
must be logged onto the site with your ARRL member ID and password.
If
you are not an ARRL member, ask a member of the club who is to be
responsible for adding the club's information to the site.
Q) I am looking for a Field Day operation to attend. How do I use the
site?
A) Begin by typing in the city and state where you would like to
search,
something like "Brooklyn, New York" or "Anaheim, California."
Depending
on the geographic location, the map will take you to the area you
list.
If a Field Day operation has been registered for that general area, a
red "pin" will show on the map. If you click on the red pin, the
details
for that site will appear in the box on the right hand side of the
screen. If you don't see a red pin, scroll out a level to find one
near
the location you listed. It is also possible to drag the map to other
areas by holding down the left button on your mouse and then moving
the
map around. You can also scroll in and out using the +/- buttons on
the
left side of the map. You may also zoom in and center by
double-clicking
with the mouse near the red pin.
Q) I found a red pin near where I will be. Where do I find the
information on that site?
A) Each entry has a contact person with either an e-mail address or
phone number who should be able to help you. It will appear on the
right
side of the box when you click on the red pin for an entry.
Q) I found an entry with wrong information. What should I do?
A) Please contact the person whose name appears as the contact person
for that site. ARRL HQ does not have detailed information on the
site.
Q) I want to check on our club's information. What should I do?
A) Type in the call sign that will be used and you will be taken to
the
location and club information.
ARRL Field Day will be held June 28-29. For more information, please
visit the Field Day Web page <http://www.arrl.org/fieldday>.
_______________________________________________________________________
Netiquette
Today many people use e-mail reflectors and internet forums as a way
to share ideas, thoughts and opinions on just about anything and
everything. There are literally millions of people participating in
this virtual town hall.
Too often we look at words on a screen and forget that we are
actually interfacing with human beings. When people used to use pen
and paper to exchange ideas there were numerous opportunities to
explore our emotions and organize our thoughts before we sent a
message to another person. However today many are quick to react and
in a split second can fire off an often hurtful and degrading
message.
Here is a great web page about etiquette on the internet or
"netiquette" as it has been coined.
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
Next time, think about it before you hit the send button.
_______________________________________________________________________
Looking For Ways to Show Off Ham Radio?
Ward Silver, N0AX
We all know about Field Day and many clubs make an extra effort to
set up in a public place, just to publicize our favorite hobby. But
outside of Field Day, the opportunities may not be quite so obvious.
Here's a story about a club that scored big for Amateur Radio and had
a great time in the process.
Readers of Make Magazine (http://makezine.com/) know about the massive
demonstrations of hands-on do-stuff activities called Make's Faire.
(http://makerfaire.com/) With a theme of "Build, craft, hack, play,
make", I'll bet you're interested already! Make is just one of the
many "do-it-yourself" centers of activity - magazines, Web sites,
blogs, TV shows - that are enjoying a resurgence of interest as folks
take an interest in "what's under the hood." Maker Faire draws
thousands of motivated, interested, tech-friendly attendees that
wander the aisles soaking up the various activities on display. They
sound like ham radio's kind of folks, don't they? Yes, they do, and
more than 25,000 attended the Austin Maker Faire in October 2007.
If you browse the Maker Faire Web site, you'll see that under the
"Participate" menu, in the "Call for Makers" selection, Ham Radio is
a prominent entry! Last year, the Austin Amateur Radio Club
(http://www.austinhams.org/) took the lead in setting up shop for
Maker Faire and drew a steady stream of visitors, from kids eager to
shout into the microphone connected to an oscilloscope to adults and
teens interested in learning more about Amateur Radio. Led by Jeff
Schmidt N5MNW, the club did such a good job of illustrating the many
interesting activities of ham radio that the organizers awarded them
an Editor's Choice prize! Well done!
There is an upcoming Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA and last year the
event drew over 40,000 makers. These large events are a small
portion of the many smaller events around the country that take place
in every town in every state. There are science fairs, technology
demonstrations, career days, street festivals, and so on. The
organizers are often seeking interesting displays and exhibits,
particularly from local groups. They are not so much interested in
slick, commercial displays - they want real people, just like you, to
show off their skills and what interests them. It's not necessary to
assemble a huge and intimidating display of equipment - just start
building a kit, hook up a meter and let people measure their skin
resistance, set out some books and fliers (many available from the
ARRL), and prepare to answer lots of questions! Space is often
available just for the offering - send an email or make a phone call
and find out.
For a good look at the enthusiasm generated by the Maker Faire, watch
the Quicktime movie at
http://www.rocketboom.net/video/maker_faire/austin/bre.mov. (This
takes a little while to load...) The do-it-yourself ethic is
returning, like the swallows to Capistrano. Your club will enjoy
presenting ham radio - where hands-on lives on! As the Maker Faire
folks say, "This is the place to be, right now, in the world today!"
Does ham radio have a place in that world?
Are you kidding - we helped invent it!
_______________________________________________________________________
ARRL Affiliation Milestones for March 2008
50 Years
*W4
NFL Panama City Amateur Radio Club W4RYZ
*W6
SV North Hills Radio Club K6IS
60 Years
*W2
WNY Rochester DX Association W2RDX
*W6
LAX Crescenta Valley Radio Club WB6ZTY
*W0
MO Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club W0EBE
75 Years
*W8
MI Motor City Radio Club, Inc. W8MRM
*W9
IL Central Illinois Radio Club of Bloomington, Inc. W9AML
=============================================================================
The ARRL Club News is published on the first Wednesday of each month by
the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur
Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax
860-594-0259; www.arrl.org. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.
The ARRL Club News is an e-mail digest of news and information of
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Page last modified: 03:09 PM, 15 Nov 2006 ET
Page author: clubs@arrl.org
Copyright © 2006, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
