Last night on Twitter there was a lively debate about ARES, Amateur Radio Emergency Services, a program that is the major focus of the ARRL, The American Radio Relay League, and emergency communications support in general.
We have ham radio operators who are involved with emcomm that are level headed and give ham radio a good name. My comments that follow are for the knuckleheads who make us all look bad.
The majority of my opinions were formed from being president of the Chesapeake Amateur Radio Service from 2004-2007 (W4CAR). Our club is not an ARES club. We have a MOU with the city of Chesapeake, VA to provide emergency communications to the city when needed.
The state of ham radio today is sad, in my opinion. It’s been hijacked by a select few individuals who only live for emergencies that allow themselves to feel important in their otherwise, boring existance.
These individuals have been getting people licensed for the sole purpose of picking up an HT and doing shelter duties. These people are poor radiomen and when you offer to assist them, they blow you off. I’m sure this has been going on throughout the country. I predict in 5 to 6 years the number of licensed hams will drop off dramatically. The result of getting people licensed who get an HT that sits in a drawer. This is a major fault ofvthe ARRL, who looks at numbers to show the govt.
I couldn’t ever get these knuckleheads to participate in radio events to help them improve their skills and be more valuable in an emergency. Instead these people go off on their own, creating havoc with the city making their own promises, and getting upset when called on it. Then I’m spending time cleaning up their messes when I could be doing other things.
These are the same people who plaster emergency lights and emcomm stickers all over their vehicle but if the repeater goes down, they can’t figure how to operate simplex.
This isn’t limited to ARES people. The Skywarn program in VA is suffering from the same issue. We have people who act like they are having sex when a drop of rain hits the windshield. Our weather patterns here aren’t like parts of the country, the Midwest for example. We may have rains and winds for a few minutes and then it’s gone. The main season for us is hurricane season.
It gets to the point that I turn off my 2 meter rigs now. I may just go strictly HF. I got into the hobby to enjoy communications with different people & cultures around the world. To learn about electronics, and improve my skills as a radio operator.
If there is an emergency situation where I can help, fine. However, if the sky is clear and sunny, DON’T tell me I’m not a real ham because I don’t participate in your drills. I have a life. Doesn’t involve puffing my chest to make people think I’m important.
There’s more I could write but I hope you get an idea of my experiences with ARES/EMCOMM people in general.
