Interesting dialog at the ARRL Forum in Richmond, KY this
past weekend. It had to do with teaching
new people about ham radio. Not the
usual "Elmering" to get someone a license. But the stuff that we all have done, and
learned, and the fact that it needs to be passed on. Stuff like tower work. Many of us are too old to safely climb
anymore. But we know how to do it, and
how to instruct on safety. We can still
be "ground crew," while helping those younger and more vigorous
people to change out antennas, etc., safely.
And repeaters. Those
of us who work on repeaters need to pass that knowledge along. True, the equipment is less finicky, more
reliable. You don't have to tear into
the guts of a repeater nearly as much.
But you have to know how it all goes together, and what parts do
what. And you have to know how to
measure things like output and deviation.
And so on.
There are no simple solutions, but we as hams need a
willingness from the older people to help share our knowledge, and a
willingness from the younger ones to realize that all these things we built and
put together won't last without someone knowledgeable staying with it.
