Mark,
Thank you for a reasoned presentation about QST plans.
However, I would suggest the following. ARRL, through QST, should be
the LEADER in amateur radio. I believe that serious contesters,
serious DXers, and several other specialized groups (e.g. AMSAT)
provide the technical leadership which drives amateur radio forward.
Therefore, if you too want to lead, the content of QST in those
fields should EXCEED the proportion suggested just by our numbers in
your readership.
Furthermore, our per-capita purchasing from your advertisers surely
far exceeds that of other readers. Have you surveyed that, and
provided the results to your advertisers to justify the importance of
strong editorial coverage?
I do agree with you that there should be greater emphasis on the
stories behind those activities, not just reams of data, for which
the internet is fine. Give us the headlines and the top scores, then
show us some heroes! Let's have more articles about contesters like
W3LPL and K1AR and their stations, DXpeditioners like OH2BH and
9V1YC, just to name a few. Give the "shack-on-the-belt" folks
something to oooh and aaah about. We try to do that within our
general clubs - you should too! It's quite surprising how many of
them get religion.
But we the readers also have something to do. Although ARRL
membership is high in contest and DX clubs (100% in ours I'm pleased
to say), it's not acceptable in most of our general clubs. I commit
to doing a better job of getting the word out, and I hope my fellow
DXers and contesters will too.
73,
John Warren, NT5C,
ARRL DXAC Representative, West Gulf Division.
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