[SEDXC] A Comment

[w4jbr at bellsouth.net]

Hat's off to the SEDXC for making this effort to increase interest in the goals of the club.  
I remember as a "not-so-young" but, yet a longtime licensee, having been bitten by the DX bug back in 1978.  My earliest mentoring came from members of the SEDXC.  I have many fond memories of those "meetings after the meeting" at the Hofbrau Haus and all the stories of DXing.  Far too many of those stories are only memories in the minds of some of us....as sadly, most of the story tellers are now SK's.
No code is not really a bad thing, remember that there is room for all in this hobby.  I am not very interested in most of the digital modes but if that's your "thing" then it's just fine with me.  I am not really a CW operator, but I can pick my callsign out at 30+ WPM and can manage an exchange that will score a couple of points in a contest or snag that Dxpedition that is working CW only on a particular band.....
Look around, we are "aging" and the only way to keep the hobby alive is to encourage new blood to come aboard.  
Just this past weekend, on 20 meters, I had a qso with a station in Ireland for over an hour, we found that we had many common interests and when one topic had been discussed another would come up and off we would go again.  I am quite sure that if I had been planning a trip to Ireland that this ham would have welcomed me into his home.....try that with someone you've just met on some bulletin board site on the Internet!  
I commented to my XYL that it had been quite a while since I had done more that a couple of quick exchanges and a signal report on 20 Meters.... So welcome these newbies into the wonderful world of DXing! 

There a'int nothin' like it!!

73,

Jack