I'm beginning to wonder if I'll get my money's worth for the Life Membership
that I was proudly able to finally afford just a few short years ago.
I think the end of the ARRL is near, and regrettably ham radio will
follow... I'm speaking of Ham Radio as we've all loved it since our youth,
and imagined enjoying in our retirements.
I'm very sad and looking for other hobbies.
73,
N5NJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leigh S. Jones, KR6X" <kr6x@kr6x.com>
To: <CQ-CONTEST@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 3:04 PM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] I watch with interest, but with great sadness
>
> QST magazine used to print the DXCC listings once each month. When
> they first began this practice there were no DXCC members yet, only a
> race to be the first, and the race was quite limited in number of
entrants.
> In those days, I was told, the average ham picked up the magazine and
> skipped directly to the DXCC listings page for his first half hour or so
of
> reading. The same 3-4 callsigns over and over.
>
> QST and the ARRL grew up on reporting "Section News", which was
> basically anything the SCM wanted to report -- usually the traffic handled
> by section ORS stations together with short notes about Bessie the cow
> knocking down Jake's dipole and news of the upcoming swap meet.
> Anything that came in on those little cards we all used to mail. Reams
> and reams of it. Then there was the DX News. Although some of the
> best content in QST was in the DXHPDS report, a lot of the DX News
> was tired reporting about how some WB6 worked KH6 regularly on 40.
> We can certainly trace the present move to cut contest coverage out of
> the magazine to those little post cards and the reputation QST got for
> printing all of that stuff.
>
> Really, the problem at HQ right now was reflected in the move to get out
> of the business of issuing the DXCC certificate. Someone at HQ
> complains about the money it's costing to review QSL card submissions
> at ARRL division conventions. Some HQ staffers actually are reimbursed
> for airline tickets and hotel rooms and lunches. Word gets around to the
> Board, and they have to decide whether to cut the DXCC certificate out
> of the ARRL program. Since it's a coin toss whether they have been
> informed correctly over the issue, it's a coin toss how they'll decide.
>
> So the DXCC certificate is in danger of elimination. Someone produces
> data that says the cost of sending HQ staffers to the convention isn't
> being offset by all of the money being spent by DXers on their DXCC
> stamps. Someone produces statistics saying that only a fraction of the
> ARRL members have DXCC certificates -- therefore certainly only a
> fraction must believe that the ARRL should continue to underwrite the
> cost of administration of the DXCC program. How's DXCC going to
> survive in this climate?
>
> So one by one the ARRL is considering eliminating each of the programs
> that made the ARRL great. Step by step the stature of the ARRL is cut
> down by this shortsightedness until finally all services to members are
> gone except perhaps the book sales -- they pay for themselves. Then
> pretty soon the stature of the ARRL is so low that Wayne Green could buy
> it.
>
>
> --
> CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
> Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST@contesting.com
>
>
--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST@contesting.com
|