21 January 2008
Welcome to the first entry of the President Blog for 2008! I trust you are all back with us safe and well after the Christmas New Year period.
At the December committee meeting we set the direction for 2008. The overarching direction like always is to support people doing Ham Radio. The things that should catch our attention are those that will enable people to do Ham radio and those that impeded it.
On the top of the list for 2008 was getting more Hams on the air. This not only involves running classes through a community learning centre but also making a point of keeping new Hams involved. Of great benefit would be a Membership Officer; not someone to drum up the members, but someone to lead a membership programme. A modest target of five new hams has been set but I am sure if the Group puts its mind to it many more can be introduced to our great interest. If you are willing to take the lead in this important area or be part of a instructor roster for the classes please let me know.
To complement the membership initiatives, equipment loans are available and the provision of support services for Group Members at little or no cost is being explored.
Technical leadership also features highly. Our group has the benefit of many professional radio communications engineers, technicians, and educators as members. Many of these people are more than willing to provide their professional expertise for the benefit of the Group and amateur radio in general, in a wide range of areas from radio engineering through to spectrum management and asset ownership.
We also resolved that the group should actively investigate and support some new technologies. Immediate candidates are software defined radio, AMSAT-ZL, and possibly even starting plans to digitise the National System. If you are particularly interested in one of these areas or some other area with a view to forming a Special Interest Group, please let me know.
Getting back to grass-roots stuff it was felt the Group should participate more actively in contests. If you see them coming up feel free to get involved. You don't necessarily need the gear straight off - often it takes more that one person to set up and operate an effective contesting station at a premium site and provides great learning opportunities.
AREC is still seen as one of the cornerstones to Amateur Radio and one the Group should still strongly support.
See you at the February Foxhunt!
Kind regards
Brian Fearnley
ZL2BRF