XPost: uk.radio.amateur   
   From: et472@ncf.ca   
      
   On Sun, 24 Jan 2016, gareth wrote:   
      
   > "WRC via rec.radio.info Admin"  wrote in   
   > message news:94eb2c0310244c195d0529ef63f7@google.com...   
   >> wythall radio club   
   >>   
   >> Wythall Radio Club is pleased to announce that our next two Foundation   
   >> Courses will be commencing this February. We are running a classroom-based   
   >> course starting on Monday 8th February at 8pm in our shack in the basement   
   >> at Wythall House, Silver St, Wythall, B47 6LZ. Alongside this, we are also   
   >> running an on-line version of the []   
   >   
   > But why? The level of the Foundatio Licence is so trivial that any   
   > prospecting   
   > _REAL_ radio amateur will, by his natural curiosity and interest, teach   
   > himself to well   
   > above the standard required.   
   >   
   You're right.   
      
   But on the other hand, since someone will presumably be moving out of   
   their own space once they get the license, such courses, make a connection   
   to the local amateur radio club.  Lots of resources, and the fleamarkets   
   or "boot sales",  a world that isn't really revealed until you find it.   
      
   Once I found a local amateur radio club, before I was licensed, I not only   
   took the code and theory course (though I came in late), but I started   
   meeting hams, and got a better receiver as a result, and found that radio   
   club's auction.  When I joined that club, I got the newsletter, and   
   someone was giving away old ham magazines, so that was really useful.   
      
   Maybe this is especially important now that the entry test is so simple.   
   And as the perception of amateur radio has changed.  If the "selling   
   point" is like a glorified CB, except using 2M FM (in itself not a bad   
   thing, but not all that amateur radio is), then there is a much greater   
   need to bring them in and make real amateurs of them.  At least let them   
   know about all they can do with the hobby.  And since operating is a   
   social thing, better to get them involved before they blunder on the air.   
      
   Ham clubs often fail at doing outreach. Around here, they don't really   
   advertise the meetings or the hamfests beyond amateur radio circles, so   
   there's less chance of somebody stumbling on the hobby.  The internet is   
   great for finding information, once you know such a hobby exists, but does   
   anyone imagine such a hobby before they know about it?  If they don't,   
   then they can't look.   
      
   I've tended to post locally about the upcoming hamfests, in general spots,   
   because the clubs don't do it.  And every time I post, I make the point   
   that it might be useful for someone in associated hobbies, and it is a   
   place to go if they want to learn something about amateur radio.  You want   
   newcomers to have a greater sense of the hobby than talking locally on 2M   
   or whatever.   
      
      Michael   
      
      
     > Amateur radio   
   is not, and never should be, a numbers game where > disinterested la-la   
   > brains are swept in off the street.   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >   
      
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