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 Previous: Amateur Radio Direction Finding Championship Event a Hit |  Next: LA Section Manager Re-Elected; New SMs Picked in West Virginia, Wyoming |
NEWINGTON, CT, August 11, 2005--It's August. It's vacation season. It's sizzling outside, but the bands aren't so hot. Your shack is silent, and your gear's been collecting dust all summer. When it's fall and you're back into the mood, you'll turn on the rig, and--propagation notwithstanding--you know the Amateur Radio bands will still be there. One big reason that's true, says ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, is that the League never quits defending Amateur Radio spectrum from threats such as broadband over power line (BPL) or "Little LEO" satellite schemes. No matter the time of year, spectrum defense is an ongoing ARRL obligation that depends on the generosity of the Amateur Radio community.
"Even though it's summertime, the need to defend our spectrum doesn't go on vacation," Hobart emphasized. "What we enjoy now is because others have stepped up to the plate. It's time for you to step up to the plate!"
Unfortunately, too few have done so during the 2005 Spectrum Defense campaign, which the League hoped to wrap up by the end of July. According to Hobart, this summer only about 1.5 percent of ARRL's members--some 2270 individuals--are helping to maintain the solid front against threats to amateur spectrum for the rest of the Amateur Radio community.
"I'm sure that the rest of our members care just as much about protecting our spectrum," she said this week. "They just need a little nudge."
This summer, ARRL members have received solicitations in the mail seeking their support in the 2005 Spectrum Defense Fund. Hobart concedes that there's nothing sexy or headline-grabbing about beating the drum for donations, and she knows better than most how many fund-raising letters end up unread and in the trash.
Nonetheless, she says, a donation to the Spectrum Defense Fund helps enable ARRL to serve as Amateur Radio's voice on behalf of members and nonmembers alike. The League, she notes, is the only organization representing Amateur Radio on the national and international levels.
"If we want to be heard on an issue like BPL, we have to have 'face time' with the players in official Washington," she pointed out. "We have to demonstrate that Amateur Radio is a force to be reckoned with." The Spectrum Defense Fund makes that happen.
It takes many dollars, plain and simple. Among other things, the Fund helps maintain a Technical Relations Office in the Washington area. It also ensures an international presence at meetings such as World Radiocommunication Conference 2007--just around the corner. It also makes possible contact with federal regulators and helps earn the respect and support of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Rep Michael Ross, WD5DVR, of Arkansas has introduced a resolution in the US House calling on the FCC to "conduct a full and complete analysis" of radio interference from broadband over power line (BPL). The resolution, H. Res 230, says the Commission should comprehensively evaluate BPL's interference potential incorporating "extensive public review and comment," and--in light of that analysis--to "reconsider and review" its new BPL rules.
Some of the money the ARRL devotes to spectrum defense activities comes from the dues that League members pay. These days, however, the lion's share comes from individual donations each year, and some, Hobart notes, give very generously. But she acknowledges that high rollers are the exception, not the rule, and the Spectrum Defense Fund needs and appreciates any and all financial help.
"It all comes down to individual radio amateurs asking themselves, 'What can I do to ensure the future of Amateur Radio?'" Hobart says. "After all, without spectrum, there is no Amateur Radio."
Hobart allows that some radio amateurs may hold back from becoming League members or from donating to the Spectrum Defense Fund because they don't agree with ARRL on some issue.
"Given that we're a national association, it's virtually impossible to be all things to all people," she said. "Ham radio is so diverse not everyone can--or ever will--see eye to eye on a particular issue." But, she maintains, "individual radio amateurs need to see the bigger picture."
"If you love Amateur Radio, put differences aside and become part of the solution--the future."
Donating via the ARRL Development Office secure Web site is easy. For more information, visit the ARRL Development Office Web page.
| Previous: Amateur Radio Direction Finding Championship Event a Hit | Next: LA Section Manager Re-Elected; New SMs Picked in West Virginia, Wyoming |
