Well said, Howard.  And with that in mind, I hope everyone contacted 
congress about the Amateur Parity Act, see 
https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-congress-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act. 
Enter your zip code to find your congressman and send an email.
--
Jim, KE5AL
-----Original Message----- 
From: Howard, W A 9 Y B W
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2015 11:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Are we placing emphasis on the wrong objective?

Hi Ron,

I agree with most of what you say, however, I feel you left out a crucial
issue that hams face today which can contribute to inactivity.

The issue is the unreasonable restrictions placed on some of us by
heavy-handed homeowners associations.  Many of these power hungry ding-bats
automatically assume an antenna is going to be an eyesore or somehow offend
someone else.

Maybe the color of your car offends me and I suppose there are those
associations who say all cars must be mauve in color.

Okay, I've vented for today.  Now I must go and take my meds!

Howard #3

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dr. Ronald E. Milliman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2015 10:36 AM
Subject: Are we placing emphasis on the wrong objective?


> As a follow-up to my previous message regarding the number of hams in this
> country, and possibly the world, who earn their licenses but never become
> active, at least not on the HF bands, I think the reason is that emphasis
> has been placed on the wrong objective for which I largely blame the ARRL.
> What I mean is we always refer to the number of hams, the number of new
> hams, and our clubs take great pride in the number of people who take
> their
> classes and pass the ham exams. It is like the objective is on the number
> of
> hams that pass the ham license exams. This is placing emphasis on entirely
> the wrong objective. The objective should be on the number of active hams.
> It reminds me of when I was engaged in sales and taught sales at the
> university, I never placed the emphasis on the number of sales. I placed
> the
> focus on the number of satisfied users of the products and services the
> customers purchased. We sell products and services to satisfy wants and
> needs of our customers. It makes no difference if the customer purchases
> the
> latest and greatest multi-media wireless widget if it never gets used.
>
> The same idea applies to ham radio and the number of people we sell on
> getting their ham tickets. It is good that we make the sale, but it is
> even
> better if the people we sell on being a ham become active, purchase ham
> gear, and use our repeaters and the many bands and frequencies fought to
> get
> and maintain. Our repeaters are mostly dead, and our HF bands are mostly
> empty, unless there is a contest which seems to bring out all of the
> active
> hams in existence, making it seem like there are lots and lots of amateur
> radio ops slipping out of every corner of the globe. However, even though
> this might seem like a lot of hams, and it is, the number is still far
> short
> of the total number of licensed hams.
>
> We need to emphasize the many aspects of ham radio and encourage those who
> pass their ham license exams to get actively involved with one or more of
> those exciting and fun parts of our hobby, rag chewing, chasing DX,
> contesting, emergency preparedness, antenna and/or equipment building,
> satellite or moon bounce communications, participating in ham club
> activities, and the list is almost endless. There are numerous videos
> available from the ARRL and other sources that show these many aspects of
> ham radio and how fun and rewarding they can be. We need to emphasize the
> rewarding parts of being an active amateur radio op and step up and seek
> to
> be Elmer's to our new hams, helping them not only to get their ham
> licenses,
> but to be active hams to get the most out of obtaining their ham tickets
> and
> progressing up the ladder from Tech, to General, and maybe even all the
> way
> up to Extra class.
>
> Ron, K8HSY


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