What About University Clubs?
from
Martin Ewing, AA6E
on
April 25, 2004
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University radio clubs have a long history, but where are they heading?
As student clubs, success depends on student interest and leadership. Among technically and scientifically inclined students, there were always a certain number of licensed hams.
With a committed faculty advisor, they could sustain a club station, hold some special events, etc.
I am now working with the Yale University club, W1YU. Yale is a selective research university. Science, math, and engineering are popular majors (especially in life sciences), but overall, Yale College (the undergraduate part) is a liberal arts school with a preponderance of humanities and social sciences majors. The undergraduate body is about 5,200.
As far as we know, our Club membership peaked at about 25 in the early 1980's. Since then, roughly as the PC and the Internet grew, the Club has lost membership. For the last several years, there have been no student members, so naturally the University has a hard time recognizing us as a student organization.
There is nothing new here. In the 1960's, I operated W3AJ at Swarthmore College. At the time, the station was in a small dingy room in a basement. It was a convenience for student hams, but it did not have much "life" because it was a smaller school, and everyone had lots of other things to worry about. The situation is probably happier at larger or more technology-oriented schools.
At Yale, we're trying to look forward and reconstitute as a general membership organization that could draw in staff, faculty, alumni, spouses (!), retired, etc. But why would we do this? Here are some questions that occur to me.
- If there only are a few student hams, why would we want a traditional club station?
- What can a university club do that other local clubs can't?
- Can a university club provide unique service to ham radio or the community? (Facilities, educational forums, etc.)
- Is there an educational or research purpose? Should the institution support us with space or money?
Of course, any group of hams can come together and pursue whatever their interests are. Maybe we'll find a lot of people who want to do underwater microwave mobile...
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What About University Clubs?
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by K0BG on April 25, 2004
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The only "college" club I have been associated with is the local one at New Mexico Military Institute. Their radio gear was lacking, and so was their location within the facilities. The faculty member supporting the club finally got the big wigs to supply a decent area, and a couple of local hams donated equipment (me included). This year, the club has grown, but not by much.The cause I suspect is the same as your observation. I.E.: the internet and to a lessor degree, cell phones.
And it isn't just college and university clubs that are suffering. Our local community club has dropped to nearly nothing, as have others accross the country.
I don't have the answers, but it is something I'd like the ARRL to address as it is as important to the longevity of amateur radio as any other item we're addressing with the possible exception of BPL.
Alan, KØBG
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by N9FIK on April 25, 2004
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I use to be very involved with the Purdue Amateur Radio Club (W9YB) when I was there. I think the best membership year we had during my time ('86-'88) was maybe 35. Membership had been as high as 70 or 80 in the late 70's or early 80's.
Now consider the fact that Purdue has always substantial undergraduate and graduate student populations in the school of science and the school of engineering -- and we still had very very low numbers as dues paying members of 'YB. Even amongst RF engineers and EEs, we had a very poor representation.
YB has a storied history going back to the origins of radio and yet to this day, the club gets by on a small contingent of members.
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What About University Clubs?
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by W2RBA on April 25, 2004
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My experience with a university ham radio club and station is, unfortunately, I think the story of too many of them. As an undergraduate, there was no such thing as a ham club (even though it was one of the 4 university centers of SUNY); of course, it was a function of the times (ca. 1970). In graduate school, however, there was a ham club and, most importantly, a ham station at the University of Virginia (W4UVA). There weren't too many hams around, though, and the club station was largely unused (I used to go up in the evenings to QNI some cw nets and was often the only person there). The station was in its own house on the university grounds and it was a darn good setup -- a Ten-Tec Triton IV and some *real* antennas (unlike the "temporary" kind I have had since then). Well, that wasn't long-lived -- the house was torn down after my first year to make way for university apartments and promises to relocate the ham station went unfulfilled during the remaining years of my stay. I don't think there's a station there now, but there's at least a holder of the W4UVA call.
I think the general type of ham club is still found with some assurance at technical/engineering types of universities, but for sure they're not around much at liberal arts colleges far and wide. It's all part and parcel of the general tendency of the education system to educate non-technical types and is a situation to be bemoaned. C'est la vie, I guess, and I guess many of the great clubs are things of the past -- much like, alas, ham radio itself.
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What About University Clubs?
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by KA7BTV on April 25, 2004
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Its sad, but I've been saying for years that "The Internet done stole' all our ham operators!" :(
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KC2HUX on April 25, 2004
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Here at Syracuse University in NY we have just officially put the Club back on the books. The ARC @ SU is officially recognized. We are in the process of filling for a club call. We have equipment left over from the previous clubs existence. We have a local supporter who is allowing his repeater to be relocated to our campus as a club repeater. It is exciting but the same problems are all to true. Student interest is minimal. It was near impossible to find 4 students to serve as officers. We are hoping that fall semester, at the campus club fair, we will have a table and gain some interest. There are still universities trying, Cornell has an active club and repeater, but it is still fading fast and has too many main stream interests to compete with.
Andrew
KC2HUX
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What About University Clubs?
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by K1CJS on April 25, 2004
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Although not a university, the local technical high school has an in-school club, and all students in both the high school and post graduate electronics classes are encouraged to join AND get their ham licenses. But, unfortunately the internet has taken away a lot of the students that would have become ham operators.
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What About University Clubs?
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by KB3KJN on April 25, 2004
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The Amateur Radio Association at the University of Maryland (W3EAX) also suffered a decline in membership, and an eventual slide from existance in the past decade. We have managed to resurrect the club, with decent success. Though we were lucky, as it never truly died out.
Part one, clean out the shack. Part two, calm fears of Alumni members that you are not "throwing everthing out" that has accumulated. After that, all else seems easy.
Finding new members can be difficult. One great way to attract attention is to set up on campus with an enormous antenna in a public place. Our undergrad numbers are low, but we have a dedicated Alumni and Graduate Student population who have really kept the club alive when membership lacked.
Three things that you can try draw people in with are:
- The technical nature of ham radio, especially homebrewing, can be used to attrach initial attention to EE and CS majors. Set up a soldering station.
- The public service element can be used to draw many people, especially people studying for careers in Law Enforcement, or in ROTC.
- The History of Ham Radio. I am a History Major, though I have an extensive technical background, and I know that one problem clubs have is thinking that non-techies can't get involved. Target these people too. Historians, especially today's tech-savvy types, love old hardware. We actually have 0 EE undergrads.
Exploit these ideas. Be informal. Stay alive, and never, ever let that call go silent. And if you even want to give us a call on the radio, we will work something out. Our website is down due to hardware problems, but should be back within the week.
http://w3eax.umd.edu
Joshua Szulecki (KB3KJN)
Secretary, ARAUM (W3EAX)
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LBJ High School ARC
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by KD5ZNC on April 25, 2004
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I dunno about Universities, but not all of us 'youngsters' have given up on ham radio. The LBJ High School Amateur Radio Club (KE5BBZ), which I am a member of, has about ten members in its first year of operation at my high school. There would be a great interest in radio if only someone told all of the people my age about it!
Most of us hae no idea it exists, but when people hear about it they are very excited.
The problem is not as you suggest, but just that there's not enough publicity.
Everyone, get up, go to your local high school! Find some young people! If they won't discover HAMming for themselves, then show it to them!!
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by K2VCO on April 25, 2004
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This topic really brings back memories! I was a grad student at Pitt in the late '60's, and a member of the club. W3YI had a KW and a tribander on top of a 10-story building (unfortunately they would not let us put it on the much taller Cathedral of Learning). The club provided communications for a University project in Central America, which was one of the reasons we were able to get funding. Interestingly, although Pitt had plenty of science and engineering students, many of the club members were liberal arts types. None of us (being students) had elaborate stations at home, and it was really a thrill to operate a station like W3YI. I worked DX like a bandit!
I suppose my suggestion for today would be the same combination: a focus on public service to justify the allocation of resources, and a big antenna to provide the excitement.
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What About University Clubs?
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by KZ1X on April 25, 2004
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It's death by a thousand cuts.
First, in '68, you lost about 1/2 the potential Elmers as active and outgoing-type hams withdrew into "shell mode" annoyed at the outcome of incentive licensing. Then, in '78, with the beginning of the changes in Novice testing, call sign formatting, and privileges. Then again, in '86, with Novice restructuring, and after that, the death-knell, in '91, of the codeless Tech license.
What is the point of having a ham license today?
The answer to that question seems obvious to all of us reading this, but is not obvious at all to the average college student. And, there you have it. Figure a way to make the answer obvious, and you'll have clubs springing out of nowhere.
For instance, make a new rule that says if you have a General or above as of Jan. 1 of any year, you get a free spring break trip to Daytona or Lake Havasu City (whichever is closer) with your choice of sophomore babe (or senior hunk, let's not forget the gals!). Think that'll work?
I live in a BIG college town, and am close enough in age to these young people that I know where their heads are. And in almost every case, it doesn't have a piece of coax connected to it.
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What About University Clubs?
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by NJ0E on April 25, 2004
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i was a student at texas tech university in the late
70's/early 80's. it was an uphill swim *all* the time.
it is very hard to get space allocated on campus for
a station. and although the student body had 21-22k
students, there were never very many radio amateurs.
i kind of doubt there is an active club at all there
any more (in the 50's and 60's there had been, and
an on campus shack in the ee building also).
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by AE6IP on April 25, 2004
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University ham club? Why bother with ham when you can start and operate your own FM broadcast station, as we did with KMSM-FM in the early '70s.
College life is rich and full of opportunities, but not full of spare time, and technical hobbies have rarely done well on non-engineering campuses.
Such is life.
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What About University Clubs?
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by WA2JJH on April 25, 2004
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I am back in school for a masters/phd. at a NYC university. Only 2 hams here. I am one of them.
The undergrad EE's are great with the math. Hands on....fahget bout it!
The Profs have no idea that ham radio is alive and ticking.
The on air FM station transmitter has been down for years. The university radio station is on WLAN!
I have offered my services many times. Absolutly no interest.
When I got my EE over 20 years ago, the profs. made it a point to say that companies want EE's with a ham and/or commercial ticket.
So as for university clubs, I do not see a future in them.
73 MIKE
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KC2FDQ on April 26, 2004
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I am also trying to start up a ham radio club at my college, Marist. I have also seen, as we have just said, that most of the other students would rather be on the internet, or on their cell phones. I am working with the college's AM and FM radio club, so will get the funding through them. I have tried to promote interest through emergency communications, as well as through the other educational values, such as math, science, geography, and history. Good luck to the other college and university stations starting out. I hope we'll hear you on the air soon.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by AC9TS on April 26, 2004
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For me, it was classes, study, working, sleep. Add in eating occasionally left no time for anything else.
Tom - AC9TS
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by K5DVW on April 26, 2004
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Texas A&M used to have a decent club, W5AC. I suppose it's still there and active. Back in the late 80's it had quite a number of active folks in it and we had some super equipment. On Friday nite and weekends it was a social hang out for us Aggie hams. I heard the student center tossed them out, which is crazy. I hope the club is still in good shape!
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What About University Clubs?
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by W9OY on April 26, 2004
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I look around the internet at college students who are building 802.11b networks and point to point setups with soup cans. They are totally jazzed about talking with their WLAN over a mile long path. A few of these jokers have used small dishes to talk 20 miles. Some are playing the radio equivalent of 3 cushion billiards by bouncing their LAN signals off the engineering building or a water tower so they can turn a corner. These kids generally don't have a clue about the official way to do things. What they are doing? They are just taking wire and coax and reflectors and a little knowledge and having a blast. If they are talknig 20 miles at 12dbm imagine what they would do with a killerwatt coupled out of the microwave oven on the 2.3ghz hamband. (I mean beside cook the soup in their cerebral sauce pans.)
I wonder why these people aren't in ham clubs? The soup can technology originated with us. Could it be we have gotten too professional in our approach to electronics? The reason there aren't any ham clubs on campus is because it isn't worth the time, for the experience returned. There clearly is an interest in technology in college age kids regardless of the character of college, so don't blame ham club failings on the "liberal arts" character of the institution. There aren't any ham clubs because ham clubs aren't any fun.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KG4PZZ on April 26, 2004
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If I had to take a wild guess, I'd pinpoint "time" as a big problem.
I'm only in high school, and finding time for all my little 'hobbies' is nearly impossible. Volunteer rescue squad is a big time killer, and I pick up my turn-out gear for the volunteer fire department today -- goodbye weeknights!
I always leave the 4th tuesday of a month open for the radio club meeting, afterall, I am the 2nd VP. Other than that, getting on my radio is a pain. I spent all of last summer working to save up and by my own radio (not a daddy-bought special, no pride in that), and since then, probably have put most of the operating time on it during the middle of the night (contests), or the occassional DX contact when I have 10 or 15 minutes of 'free time'.
I don't know if kids are just scheduling themselves too little time for themselves or if it's something else going on, but I know that finding time for ham radio is nearly impossible for myself, or most any other teenager.
College students have to have it even worse, and I don't know what the 'quick and dirty' answer is.
Fred
K4PZZ
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by W3JXP on April 26, 2004
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It's not just college clubs, or local ham clubs, it's all kinds of clubs. In the 50's to the 60s people joined clubs in large numbers, but now their kids are not joining anything. Something happend to the people in this country after the 60s and we as a group stoped joining anything, Political partys to ham clubs. It could be TV, the internet or just me first-ism. Maybe its because the pace of life is just too fast now but we as a people don't join anymore.
John W3JXP
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What About University Clubs?
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by KG4PVX on April 26, 2004
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The problems that University Clubs (UCs) face nowadays are the same as any volunteer driven organizations. Personally I believe it’s the changing society. People have less time and have lost the sense of community. I’ve been involved in volunteer driven organizations for the past 27 years varying from local Boy Scout troops and Ham clubs to the World Organization of Scout Movement. And the problems are the same every where.
The challenges that UCs face are bit worse because of the smaller community the can draw their membership from.
What it really takes for a UC to succeed is some one or a small group to stand up and get involved. The local club here at FAU (www.k4fau.org) only has a few student members but the members of the local ham community and the local club (BRARA) are always ready to help the students out. This combination of students and non students has kept the club going for the past 40 years.
Also the club (with the help of “outsiders”) supports several events that the university organizes like the March of Dimes, a triathlon and other events. The club also helps out at non university events. This way the club can show the student body council and the university leadership that the club performs an important role in the university and in the promotion of the university to the outside world.
Just my $0.02
Sjaak W4RIS, ex-KG4PVX ex-PA3GVR
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What About University Clubs?
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by N8YXR on April 26, 2004
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I've been a ham since 1993. My involvment with university club stations has spanned both my undergraduate and graduate acdemic careers. W1YK at Worceter Polytechnic Institute was the station I spent a lot of time operating during my undergrad years. I have had the wonderful oppertunity to continue my involvement with college ham radio at W0EEE at the University of Missouri-Rolla, where I'm currently pursing my Ph.D. I was president of W1YK's club and have been vice-president at W0EEE so I can hopefully provide some insight into the recruiting problems of today's university club.
I'm going to try to answer your questions. Unfortunately, it seems that we have drifted off topic somewhat.
1)If there only are a few student hams, why would we want a traditional club station?
With the cost of higher education today especially at your institution, many college students simply cannot afford a station of their own. Also, young hams cannot operate from the dorms because the college housing authority often doesn't allow it. A traditional university club statio would allow these members to be active hams. A club station also can provide a better station than would be possible for these poor hams.
The club station is often the focal point for the social aspects of club members. At both club's I've been involved with the club's station was the place we could hang out any time of the day and talk with each other. It was also a convient study area where only other members would disturb you and not the entire school.
2)What can a university club do that other local clubs can't?
For younger members of the club, a university club provides a ham community of similar age. Several of our recent graduates have complained that the local ham club near their new home is populated by people mostly older than themselves and they state that they miss being around younger hams. It helps younger hams to have people their same age to talk to and interact with. Often, the younger crowd are going through the same problems in life and ham radio at the same time. It is easier to take advice from some one close to your age who has just finished a project or upgraded their license.
For students, university clubs are often more convient to attend and be involved with. The activities are often geared to college students or at least centered around the campus community.
A university club with a station can provide recruitment oppertunities that many local clubs cannot provide. I have never lived in an area where the local club has had a station. Several times, we have used our club station to bring groups of k-12 kids on a tour and demonstration of what ham radio is. Frequently, the only station in the area that has enough room for a tour like that is the college station. I know I have always enjoyed putting on these tours.
3)an a university club provide unique service to ham radio or the community? (Facilities, educational forums, etc.)
See the last paragraph from above. I think I have provided a good example.
4)Is there an educational or research purpose? Should the institution support us with space or money?
I have often found it hard to have universities support radio clubs. In all honesty, if they can provide you space for a club station and antennas you are probably doing great. Depending on how student fee funding is allocated at your university, you may be able to get some money through the appropriate budgeting process.
To justify your existance at all on the campus, I would empasis the educational benefit for student to learn about the latest technology such as echolink, psk31, aprs. (Do explain what those mean so administrators have a club what your talking about?) Explain that the university would be aiding the local community by providing a station that can aid in emergency disasters. (You may even want your local EC to talk with them or write a supporting letter for your club.) It also provides the students with the opertunity to talk with people all of the world, which helps create a more well rounded student.
Sometimes, there is research going on at the university that could be supported by a university club. We are in the initial phases of becoming involved with a satellite research project, which will help us expand our station's capabilites. However, it is often hard to find what research projects may benefit from ham radio involvement.
I would like to see more university clubs. Aside from the pleasure I have had and would like future generations of hams to have, I am worried about the young hams who are becoming involved in middle and high school ham clubs. If there are no college club stations for them to be involved with, they may leave ham radio. This situation would undermine everything the ARRL has done with THE BIG PROJECT. It is sad that the ARRL has not realized this and come up with a comprehensive way to help college clubs. We college club members often feel the ARRL cares more about young kids than young adults. Hopefully, this situation will change and our ranks will once again grow.
If you have anymore questions or would like to know some things we have tried and are trying for recruiting then feel free to contact me by email.
73,
N8YXR
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by K2GW on April 26, 2004
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Because of the fewer hams present in the student population today, I think a university ham club really needs concerned local ham alumni or faculty members to make it happen and to provide continuity and support.
For example, some hams local to me on the faculty of Princeton are currently trying to get a club station there going again. I'm also interested in getting the club station going again at Lehigh University, where my daughter, W1PAM, will be attending in the fall. But because of the distance, it's difficult for me to do remotely.
Conversely, my non-ham son is a sophomore at Harvard. Most of the engineers in Cambridge go to MIT down the street, but the Harvard club station appears to be actually more active with even non-ham students participating as loggers. Why? because the club routinely runs DXepeditions to exotic locales over spring break partially paid for by ham alumni! I worked them in St. Eustatius in the spring of 2002 and their QSL card shows them lying on the beach between operating sessions!
So univeristy clubs can flourish with the right support.
73
Gary, K2GW
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by N0EYE on April 26, 2004
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I've seen the same thing happen with the club station at my alma mater, the University of Kansas (K0KU). When I was an undergrad there in the late 80s and early 90s, we were a quite active, albeit small club. We received appropriations from the "Student Senate" to put up a very respectable station, and with other donations we even put up our own repeater. Now, the only thing that remains of the club is that repeater (444.900), and the club call, which someone continues to renew...thank you very much! Somewhere along the way...most of the HF station "disappeared". I agree with some of the other posts indicating that it isn't just a problem with ham clubs, but lots of clubs. I also agree that the ever-growing "me first" attitude in our society has contributed to the problem.
73, Matt
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KB9VOR on April 26, 2004
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As a current member of the Purdue Amateur radio club (w9yb) we do get by with a very few number of student hams. We do however support 3 repeaters along with 2-3 operating positions. We have for the past 2 years provided communications for the Pudue Outing Club's adventure race. It is good to have the club on campus for students who might not have a way to get to other locations to operate a station.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by WB2WIK on April 26, 2004
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Some university club stations are well represented in contests, some maintain and operate their own repeaters, many have maintained and operated amateur radio BBSs over the years. Here in So. Cal., surely W6UE (the Cal Tech ARC) is a well-known entity in contests and Field Day and has a well-organized and active station with great antennas and a not-so-hot location!
The UCLA ARC W6YRA is active and experimental, with various beacons, and the USC ARC W6YV is also active, including in VHF contests and such.
One thing Universities can often provide is "space" and "height." Space by virtue of having properties fully owned and paid for, and height by virtue of having tall buildings already on campus -- perfect place for antennas. I'd surely encourage the continued existence of college and university ARCs, as some of them are the oldest continuously licensed amateur radio stations in the world. Letting an 80 year-old callsign lapse would certainly be a shame...
WB2WIK/6
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by K4JRB on April 26, 2004
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I think that for a university club station to exist these days the club must support ther newer technologies (PSK et al) and get involved with the PC
and internet clubs. This is especially true if its a stste university or non technical school. There is a real merger of the rig, PC, and the internet in many aspects of amateur radio. I suggest the club get someone like a contester or Dxer to show the club some of the possibilities.
I am glad to see the comments from FAU. At least one Florida university is not following UCF in kicking out their ham club. I know several ham students who
went elsewhere when they heard the news that UCF banished the ham club.
One underlying reason that there are fewer young hams is that with the almost universal restrictions in subdivisions the past 25 years ham radio is not welcome in these areas. I found that out when I hosted a Jamboree on the air for scouts several years ago. Of 5 that did get their CW merit badge only 1 was allowed to get his license. One father said ham radio was illegal in his subdivision. So potential hams go back to their PC games or sports. Its hard to get them interested again. Hopefully the rest of the USA will not follow Colorado which allows restrictions if 51% vote for them and then make hams take down towers and antennas.
University club stations can be a major influence on students (locally Georgia Tech W4AQL does). It takes hard work and good sponsors.
Dave K4JRB
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by AE6IP on April 26, 2004
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I have to disagree with the observation that kids today don't join organizations or have a sense of community. They do and they do. They just don't join the same organizations that their grandparents did.
I'm sure that the current younger generation will have plenty to whine about in 40 years when "their" organizations like MUDS, ORPGS, and such, aren't popular with their grandkids.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KJ7XJ on April 26, 2004
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While I was living in Tucson, AZ there was an active club at the University of Arizona. They had a repeater and HF station from what I recal. This was over 10 years agao, so I dont know if its still around. There were many active college age folks out there at the time (including myself) that were active, but not from the U of A station. I agree with the posts here the with the invention of internt, campus stations have taken a big hit. I was active on a couple FM stations in LA (KSPC,KSAK) prior to moving to Arizona. I can say that there was not alot of interest in HAM radio at my two previos schools. Its good to hear that at least there is still some PAC-10 Hamming out there.
de KJ7XJ - PS Speak up UW HAMS!!!
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by W4PA on April 26, 2004
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Really, it's a function of lack of youth in amateur radio in general, but there are people making an effort to keep university clubs active. University of Tennessee students KJ4Z and K2VOL have really put in a lot of effort here in Knoxville in the last couple of years to have the UTARC (AA4UT) on the air and active. They've got their own room on the 4th floor of the UT football stadium, two HF rigs, and a brand new Force 12 tribander at 220 feet above the ground on top of the football stadium skyboxes. Even a couple of live WebCams in the radio room. One shows the shack, the other is the "RigCam", (which shows not the rig), but is perched in back of the radio to show whoever is operating at the moment. Check them and the WebCams out at www.utarc.org
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by K8GU on April 26, 2004
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I'm a member of the University of Minnesota Gopher ARC (W0YC).
We have about 6-10 students, staff, and recent alumni (age < 30) who participate in club events. We have a shack with a small HF station. We also have our own repeater. We even offered our first of many Technician licensing classes in March and April.
Recently, we've gone to more frequent meetings, including eyeball and on-air meetings. This has helped knit the group together a little more. We're working on reviving the club a little bit at a time.
I try to get W0YC on HF for contests a few times a year, too, when I'm not at W0AIH. Did you hear W0YC in the FQP? Or W0YC/M in MnQP or WiQP?
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What About University Clubs?
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by KC8OOM on April 27, 2004
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Hi,
I'm the president of the University of Dayton ARC, in good old downtown Dayton, OH, home of the Hamvention. I managed to resurrect our club this year after an 8-year hiatus. We are very lucky in that we have an awesome shack, with good antennas on one of the tallest buildings on campus. We just got the EE department to buy us some new satellite antennas too! Right now we're working on getting membership numbers up. We just finished up our first tech licensing class, the test session is on Thursday. We only ended up with two students, but that's two more than we had! With the proper publicity, I think we could really take off, problem is that I'm not good at publicity. If anyone has any suggestions on how to promote our club, please let me know. Also, if any other clubs out there are looking to make a discussion sked, let me know. Anyway, good luck to all my fellow university clubs, and I hope to hear you on the air.
Jeremy Burgess, KC8OOM
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by W1AGG on April 27, 2004
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Texas A&M University still has a good club. We never got kicked out of the MSC... we still occupy our third floor loft. Our equipment may be getting old, but I think the club is still going strong.
The Texas AMC radio club was founded in 1912, and we became affiliated with the ARRL in 1924. W5AC is one of the oldest university radio clubs in existence. I'm hoping to be around to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of amateur radio at Texas A&M.
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What About University Clubs?
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by W8LV on April 27, 2004
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The Ohio State University has an active club, W8LT,
founded in 1926 is alive and well!
Here is the web link:
http://arc.org.ohio-state.edu/
GOSH IT'S WONDERFUL TO BE A BUCKEYE!
-- #1 IN FOOTBALL --AND-- COLLEGE AMATEUR RADIO!!
W8LT is currently working on an echolink, and their campus repeater system.
We recruit, and help with classes for newbies and upgraders alike!
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by NJ0E on April 28, 2004
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N8YXR:
> If there are no college club stations for them to be
> involved with, they may leave ham radio. This
> situation would undermine everything the ARRL has
> done with THE BIG PROJECT. It is sad that the ARRL
> has not realized this and come up with a
> comprehensive way to help college clubs. We
> college club members often feel the ARRL cares
> more about young kids than young adults.
i absolutely agree with this. i think the arrl is
making a mistake targeting grade school children in
'the big project'.
to a great extent, a young person's success
operating an amateur radio station will depend on
their ability to successfully interact in adult
conversation with adults. i passed my novice exam at
age 14, and amateur radio somewhat became my
introduction to interacting with and making adult
friends in addition to being a technical hobby.
i think hams much younger than that would find it
tough sledding.
i think the big project should specifically target
high schools and universities. -possibly- junior
highs. funding stations at elementary and
intermediate schools is a waste of money, in my
opinion.
73
scott nj0e
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What About University Clubs?
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by N3AIU on April 28, 2004
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I went to Lehigh University for my undergraduate degrees. It is a small school (about 5000 students) dedicated to science and engineering, part of the "little Ivy League".
In the middle of the last century (wow, that sounds funny!), there was an active club there, W3AEQ, which eventually became inactive. When I went to Lehigh in the early 1980s, a bunch of us resurrected it, and it was pretty active for about 10 years.
I checked qrz.com recently and was shocked to find out that the W3AEQ club license was not renewed. If an engineering school like Lehigh can't keep a club station going, I'd bet that it would be very difficult for a small liberal arts school to do it, too.
I went to the University of Pennsylvania for my doctorate (part of the big Ivy League, hihi). They had a really nice station in the engineering college, including Collins rigs, beam antennas, and even old-school (non-computer) SSTV. But, this station was almost never used! I don't know what the status of this club is now.
Perhaps the only remaining college club stations will be at large universities with large engineering and science departments. W6YX comes to mind.
Too bad. I've always viewed the internet as a great asset to hame radio. Cell phones, however, are evil ...
73, Nick N3AIU
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What About University Clubs?
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by AB2MH on April 28, 2004
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I am trying to start a club in my school (Brooklyn Poly). I approached the IEEE, seeing that they would know about it, and their response was that we had one but it just gradually disappeared. You'd think that an engineering school would have techno-centric clubs and activities like ham radio.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by AB2MH on April 29, 2004
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I should mention that when I mean the IEEE, I mean the IEEE student branch in the school.
I believe the majority of entering freshmen either choose Computer Science or ME, and shy away from EE because of the math. That could be part of the problem.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by K8GU on April 29, 2004
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Regarding practical EE students, or lack thereof: This horrified me when I started my undergrad in 1999. There were three or four of us incoming freshmen who had varying interests in EE. The remaining 30-40 (it was a small school...Ohio Northern University) were primarily interested in making 50-70k/year when they got out. I fully expected to run into other EE's who were hams...nada.
My math skills are adequate, but nothing exceptional. I've done fairly well in EE because I knew why and how from ham radio and other tinkering...and the math follows naturally from that.
Like others have said, if we can sell my generation on a hobby that can make you a better engineer (and possibly earn you more money down the road), we have a chance.
That aside, the biggest problem with ham radio and young people is keeping them in the hobby. Once we infuse the hobby with new people...what do they do? Believe me, at age 12, it took about a month for the novelty of talking on repeaters to wear off. With more responsibilities at 18-22, I think it might take less time. This is the challenge I've presented to the W0YC-gang: What can we do that will cause our members to invest more of their time in ham radio than before?
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Summing up
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by AA6E on April 29, 2004
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Thanks to all who have (or will) respond to my article. It is interesting to see everybody's situation, from non-existent, to struggling, to some that are actually successful.
What's the take-home message? Traditional ham radio is on a glide path, to put it charitably. The university clubs are on the same trajectory, except because of small numbers (even in good times), it doesn't take much for them to wink out of existence. A lot depends on local history and leadership. A lot depends on student culture. There are many new ways for techies to spend their time.
A strong connection between the Electrical Engineering department and the ham club is a big plus, when it happens. Profs who teach EE labs deplore the lack of practical experience among new students. A strong ham club and other hands-on activities like design labs, solar race cars, etc. should help to attract and develop "our" kind of talent.
The hobby needs to re-invent itself, and it is happening for better or worse, as ops of my generation pass into history... Will the many creative energies of the college campus help re-invent ham radio? Let's hope so, and let's think about how we can help them along.
-73, Martin
p.s. People should know about the resource at http://www.qth.com/collegiate/ and also the "ham-univ" mailing list that is described there.
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What About University Clubs?
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by AB2MH on April 29, 2004
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I should mention as well, that I joined the hobby through my high school ham radio club (Presentation College Amateur Radio Club - 9Y4PCS)
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What About University Clubs?
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by WA2JJH on April 29, 2004
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There is so much resistance. I offered my university a 2 Watt Broadcast quality FM exciter. Their old POS blew out years before.
They do have a radio station. However the undergrad electrical engineering candidate has zero hands on RF experience.
I would have taken time off from my studies to install the exciter/transmitter and make some type of antenna for Broadcast FM. THEY DID NOT WANT TO BE BOTHERED!
THEIR radio broadcasting goes out on the 2.4gig WLAN! They have the FCC permit. Use it.
Sorry, in my book WLANS should only enhance the coverage of the on air transmitter! I would have been glad to be acting C.E. and liason with the FCC as to thier frequency and priveledges.
They also miss out on STL experience(studio to transmitter link) I would have helped them put with the microwave too. I could have set up live location shows.
I worked in commercial TV broadcasting for twenty years. I would have been glad to pass on what I learned. How can TV and rsdio recruit new engineers?
When I was getting my BSEE 25 years ago, we were told to get ham and commercial tickets. They said to pass the 1st or 2nd class phone. It looks good next to your transcript and resume.
Times have changed, I am not sure for the better.
73 MIKE
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by AB2MH on April 30, 2004
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I think several schools suffer from the moneymaking syndrome, and run more like a business than an educational institution.
I was browsing the collegiate ham pages, and this one (University of Central Florida) caught my eye:
Status of Club Shack (Link to details)
The club has been kicked out of its shack with no replacement in sight.
UCF administration has asked us to find $40k to buy a shack from them.
Majority of UCFARC's equipment is in storage, and physical plant has threatened to throw it out by June 2004--maybe sooner.
The 2-meter repeater is currently on air connected to a in place yagi antenna of another student group.
The 70-cm repeater is currently off air.
UCFARC representatives are currently seeking to purchase feed line so both repeaters can be fed into a dual band antenna.
UCFARC is currently seeking approval to use tripods to place the 6db 2-meter & 9db 70-cm antennas on a building roof
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by NJ0E on May 2, 2004
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i think maybe next year when my alma mater calls me
asking for donations, i will donate (as i always do),
but designate that it will be allocated to the
amateur radio club, a registered student organization.
the company matching funds from my employer can go to
a scholarship fund.
maybe when it's apparent to university admin types
that alumni *are* *watching* and *care* how they
treat student amateur radio clubs, the situation will
gradually improve!
and the clubs will have a few extra bucks to help
with refreshments, maintain the shack or repeater,
have a field day, whatever.
my 2c
scott nj0e
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What About University Clubs?
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by KA3NXN on May 4, 2004
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I belonged to (K3CR)Penn State Amateur Radio Club back in the 80's, and for such a huge student body, our club was very small, I don't think we had more than 10 members. It did get tremendous support from the local Ham community, but I was very surprised how small the club was. I can imagine that by now the internet has stolen everybody away.
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What About University Clubs?
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by W0FMS on May 5, 2004
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Hmm.. I was the club president when I was an undergrad.
It seems like I was a "slider" at the time.
The guys at W9NAA actually work CONTESTS, now, what a concept!!! Fixed the antennas that were not fixed since I was there. Even saw picures of an antenna I put up on their webpage.
But this article actually got me to check on them. I guess I'm proud of them.
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KG6UNU on April 19, 2005
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The club should get a telacast the Football games. Something for the alumni. Do you still have the skybox shack? Dana Wall Cal State Uni Northridge ARC(wb6tam).
Internal Pres
http://www.csun.edu/~vfeen0br/radio.html
amateurradio@csun.edu
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KG6UNU on April 19, 2005
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We just go our club back in order. It took us 3 months to get the bylaws passed through the school(meeting, revision, meeting, ect). Over winter break we had a code class on weekends but four sessions is just not enough time for practice. Rig is a kenwood ts-440s. We were giving a 6 element yagi to replace our 5 element version by one of our gracious original members from the class of 1963(?). with the hard time the school gives about messing with there building it won't be till summer till we can (they have to) get the new antenna up and running. They took out our satellite station during a pointless remodeling of the engineering building but will rerun the cable during summer break to the shack. hopefully i can also get a club irlp station up and running too during the summer break. We are lucky to have a faculty that is a ham and very dedicated. That is one of the major things to have in a School club. they don't give a hoot about an think unless there is a faculty member involved.
If it was not for our faculty adviser the shack (janitors closet) would have become a office. Photo of the shack on the web page. The UCLA club is not that active with students. they are lucky in that they have faculty and staff that keep it going. they have maybe 3 students and a few employees running the shack. they are located in a big, very big main electrical/breaker room. The three biggest factors that have kept them going is the few members they have are very dedicated (the adviser is the dean of electrical engineering), no one has actively threatened to take there place away on the roof of the engineering building, and finally Dave (one of there members) is an very very active contester. Thats why they are so active on the air. Dave is so active and energetic about contesting that i drive down there just to help(try to keep up) log for him during contest. boy this ran long. i think i will answer the questions in another separate post.
Dana Wall (kg6unu)
Internal president
California State University Northridge ARC (WB6TAM)
http://www.csun.edu/~vfeen0br/radio.html
Email: amateurradio@csun.edu
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What About University Clubs?
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by KG6UNU on April 19, 2005
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Here is what I have learned from numerous leadership conferences and seminars, various clubs I belong to, other school clubs, being a officer in clubs, collage students, and other experiences.
1) The club meetings need to be the same day, time, and week of the month, every month/week/ bi-week.
Point: You need to be undauntionly predicable.
Ex: I don't need a calender to remember the meetings because i know it is always the (first) Wednesday of the month at 5pm. Some people can't make it sometimes but as a whole you will have a lot more participation from the members. UCLA ARC meets every day for lunch hour (11:20-12am) in the shack to talk, eat, and use the radios.
2) Always run the meetings by the same format and formally end the meeting at the same time. rag chewing can come after the meeting.
Point: People get confused if there isn't a clear order to the meeting and the meeting is liable to get out of hand/order if there is not a format to it. The main reason to have the meeting end at the same time even if there is still some topics to discussion is people have a limited time and if they have to stay longer then expected they will not come to another meeting thinking it might run long.
Ex: Roberts rules of order format works great for meetings and is very flexible. call to order new business, then old business, then other stuff like guest speaker, and finally closing remarks.
3) Plan events 3 months to 6 months ahead. Have your calender of events planed the semester before. This is a lot easier once you do it for a while, as events become regular annual events and it become more standard then totally new. This is not to say that you can't change the schedule but a lot of the events like field day, contest, meetings, ect are regular and people can plan for them and your club can plan for them.
Point: this makes planing for events big and small a lot easier as you take some of the guessing out of the the planing. you can get as specific as you want. You can put in deadlines for events planing.
Ex: You elect to new board before the year ends. Then you meet with them the plan the next years events (stuff you do every year and new events) along with passing on your experience and knowledge (very important).
Thats the key things to running the club and keeping members but now on to getting new members.
See next post;) Dana
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by KG6UNU on April 20, 2005
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Ways to get new members.
May be the most important activity for a club is publicity and it can be fun.
1) You need to post fliers all over campus not just engineering. There are a lot more to amateur radio the tech stuff. There are others that are interested and the more people you reach the better the chances you will get a new member.
Always post a few fliers a week or two before the next meeting to remind the people that are not in the loop.
2) Make big (2'x4' or larger) plywood bill boards to set around campus. That bill board will be seen be people at all times of the day and for the most part people just can't help but look at what you paint on it, if only to satisfy a curiosity.
3) Next post a big 3'x8' banner with club logo, name, slogan/cache phrase, and contact info on it in the most traffic place on campus. this catches peoples eyes and hopefully they will get curious about the club and contact you.
Point: the point is that if people see your club posted all over campus their going to think that you club is very active and/or very large. People don't join small groups of do nothings.
Now for the really fun stuff.
4) Get your portable/semi-portable gear out like hand held transceivers, hf rigs, QRP rigs, ect, a table, and your banner. string some simple wire antennas and broadcast out in the middle of the campus once or twice a semester. it's a great way to meet guys and girls. And since you have a licenses get the visitors active. Dial in a irlp node in Britten, another foreign country ,or across the country and yell "who wants to talk to XX on the other side of the globe in Brazil." Just make sure you have plenty of info about your club, amateur radio, and your next meeting on some fliers to give out. Best to get out there the week before a club meeting or event. Even just one person with a banner, fliers, and a hand held can make a big difference. Don't be afraid you talk to complete strangers most of the times on the radio, there's not that big of a difference.
5) Hold events that are not just interesting to hams, like a BBQ's, bowling night, fox hunt, tours of ham shacks, AM/FM radio stations, ect.
Point: Not every one is interested in Amateur radio at first but events they will like to go to and have fun with the club that not necessarily revolve around radios help change there perspective. If they have fun doing things with the club they will join and eventually get there license as they get conferable with the people and activities.
Ex: At CSUN we have a Club called SHPE, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. They don't have all their events revolve around professional engineering. They go out the a local baseball game together, or bowling, and have a annual BBQ for members and friends. I go to their events because its fun, not just because i might learn something new, heaven forbid. I'm not even Hispanic but i am considering joining. And best of all you can get those friends to to go that think your club is just a group of hermits talking to strangers behind closes doors over the radio.
6) This relates back to #5, you need to hold at least an event a month or else members drop like flies. If your clubs stagnate, so will you renewals. Events don't need to be big just something your group does at a club.
Ex: I'm a public relations officer for the student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). We went from a couple of events a semester, like paint balling, to a meeting a month, two small events, and a banquet at the end of the year and we dropped our membership 30%. the reason the present age is not higher it the graduates are forced (somewhat) to join in their senior year.
None of this is too hard to do. It just takes some time and a little effort. If you work as a group and spread out the work and events it easy. Don't forget that you can get money from your faculty adviser (department-engineering?) and your student government. Also some campus like ours require you to become officially recognized be the school. The office that involves student government will have more info for you about running a club on campus.
Dana Wall
Internal president Cal State University Northridge ARC (WB6TAM)
amateurradio@csun.edu
Public Relations IEEE
check out our webpage at:
http://www.csun.edu/~vfeen0br/radio.html
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RE: What About University Clubs?
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by GRETA on April 27, 2006
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You're missing the point. The Vatican in Rome, who used to depend on ham radio for contact with its missionaries, has been shut down now for some time due to the lack of interest and/or new technology. After all the Catholic Church is just about everywhere in the world. Thus, if they don't need ham radio any more and they are so big, what chance does your school have either.
Most schools have long since removed the ham station or its training due to lack of funding or leadership. If you listen to the ham bands on 2 meters you soon can see why they don't want their studens listening. It has very little technical information now a days and lots of CB problems. The schools directors then are saying that it puts their students in a un-healthy situation. Students who listen to it could find the conversation offensive which could result in the school being sued for participating in ham radio and the exposure of a son or daughter to such. They provided it.
The government has for years been promoting this, 'I' individual rights, over the groups' rights. It started in the '60s and esclated in the 70's till today the individual has more rights than the majority. (the TSA come to mind) Individuals whose rights were offended also then destroyed groups and attacked one for being a member of such. This led to infighting and legal counseling; suing and litigation.
Need you ask more? Just read some of the threads on the web here and I am sure you will find the answer your seeking.
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