maybe some ham magazine will pick this up and print it hint hint hint:
Some Ideas on Attracting New Hams
Henry Ruhwiedel AA9XW and thanks to many who e-mailed comments.
5317 W 133rd
Crown Point, IN 46307
It seems to me that we may not have noticed how we can attract, promote,
Elmer new hams with little or no cost. There just seems to be so many ways
that the grass roots ham can apply a little effort to help things along. Are
you doing any of these activities?
When you administer a ham license test, do you follow up? Isn't it rather
simple to give each applicant the club newsletter and meeting information at
the time of the exam? Maybe a list of club or group activities in the area,
dates of the next local hamfests and a personal invite from the examiners?
Ask the applicant if they need help finding equipment, Elmering their first
on-air experience, of a list of equipment dealers or locally known used
equipment is all the person needs to feel they have JOINED ham radio, not
just taken a test.
How about asking them if they are going to put up an antenna and offering
some advice or help in doing it so it is done safely? Do they know how to
connect coax, put on connectors, tune up, or have any experience? Just ask
them!
When the newly licensed get on the air, do you talk to them? Do you invite
them to local club meetings? Do you ask them to drop by on Field Day or other
FUN activities?
Its nice to take a rig to a Scout meeting or a classroom, but how about
getting the Scout troop or class to a local ham store and let them just look
around at all the stuff, watch as the demo rigs are used for contacts, and
encourage them to ask questions? Make them sit there and read a book or
magazine from the literature racks. Let the OM's tell them of fun happenings
in each hams activity, that rare DX, the VHF contest, your first ATV or SSTV
contact, why you like CW or SSB. Let them look at all the mobile stations in
the parking lot. Get them to participate in the QSO, something besides
asking the name, rank and QTH. What does the other person do for a living,
is ham radio a part of their career or just a hobby and what other hobbies do
they have? Get them to actually converse with another ham over the radio.
Here's an easy one. Buy your local high school a subscription to the ham
magazines. QST, CQ, World Radio, ATVQ, and ask them find the scientific
errors in the 73 editorials. Encourage them to become amateur scientists in
their own homes.
If you have a radio store, how about a blurb in the local paper for a learn
about ham radio day? Invite the public, have some extra demo gear out. "You
are invited to explore the fascinating world of Ham Radio at the XYZ radio
store. Come see how communications have changed over the years and the new
fun and excitement to be found in being a ham. Free soft drinks and chips" or
some other imaginative ploy to attract the unlicensed. Invite the media.
They don't have much else to do on a weekend anyway.
Is your club bogged down in politics? Meetings as exciting as a barb wire
collection? Then cut to the chase, eliminate the business meeting and get to
activities or have a segment for business and a fixed starting time for
general stuff so those who want the details arrive early, those that want the
activities arrive later. If each officer and board member can't cut their
report to 50 words or less, vote them off. Learn how to be brief and not
drag out every little nickel and dime detail.
There have been a couple of clubs that have had their own cable access TV
show. Why not contact the local cable company and do one of your own.
Interview various hams and others affected by ham radio. You might even get
a local sponsor if you ask around town.
Many years ago I tried to promote hams getting LPTV stations. These low power
TV stations could have been had for about $3,000 each. Today most are worth
a half million or more. One LPTV station is now a major market ABC affiliate
and worth millions. You could have made money as a home Shopping channel
affiliate and sprinkled in your own ham radio club meetings, televise
(legally broadcast) your ham events, etc. Today there is still an
opportunity for a low power FM station to do the same thing. A 100 watt FM
station with a 100 foot high antenna would fit on may ham towers, buildings
etc, and costs about 10 cents an hour to operate. Interference free coverage
is about 6 miles radius and typically receivable up to 15 miles radius. That
covers just about any town in the country outside of the top 20, and a
sizeable portion within the top 20.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's I made a TV PSA 60 seconds long, and
sent copies to about 200 TV stations. They get tired of running the same old
spots for the same old charity, a cup of coffee a day can feed thirty filthy
rug rats spots. With the inexpensive but high quality consumer TV gear today,
you could take a DVCam and edit a simple spot to promote ham radio and your
local club on local TV and cable channels. With a little group you could
easily produce a simple program for cable access. You don't have to produce
a "Ham's Wide World" just concentrate on a fun aspect of the hobby and
explain it in simple terms. If you aren't up to video, do it for radio. In
1970 A few hams and I recorded a series of ham radio shows called the Marconi
Experiment, and distributed it on tape or CD to stations to air during those
non profit hours on Sunday AM It meets their public service requirements! It
cost about $5 a week to do. You can ask the stations via letter or a phone
call to air your free program. The tapes can be sent from station to station
so you don't need a lot of tapes. With internet file transfer, you could
record it on your PC and send the audio file to the station for zero cost.
Did you ask the local Radio Shack store if they would put up a poster
listing your local club meeting days and times? How about the local book
store? Do you send notices to local schools for inclusion in their school
papers, or activity boards? Do you even contact the local schools? How
about inviting a school class or science club to your home shack for a demo?
Simple project: using algebra, a measuring tape and compass have them figure
out how high your antenna is or verify your rotor heading.
Do you fox hunt? Did you ever invite non hams along for the ride? "Hey lets
go for a beer and pizza, oh by the way, I have to find a transmitter along
the way. Here, hold this while I turn the antenna." Maybe give the fox hunt
receiver and antenna to the Scouts or school group, show them how to use it
and let them find the fox!
Just about any fun ham activity can be a fun activity for a non ham if you
invite them to participate, show them how or what to do and let them in to
the circle of ham radio. That's how we get new people to JOIN ham radio, not
just throw license tests at them and challenge them to get the right answers.
Be friendly, pass on a smile and a bit of knowledge. They may want to buy
your old rig when you want a new one! Now come up with some ideas of your
own!
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