Ham Radio – A contact sport

In their never ending quest to promote amateur radio to the general public, the ARRL announced a new marketing campaign today: “We Don’t Do That�.

Over the past few years, the ARRL launched several new websites tied to promoting the many facets of ham radio:

• Hello-radio.org  Celebrates global ham radio communications… all walks of life and in every generation.
• Emergency-radio.org Amateur radio serves the public in times of need.
• WeDoThat-Radio.org Technical & experimentation aspects of ham radio.

Through these marketing blitzes, the league provided a lot of information on a myriad of topics… each of which helped to open the eyes of folks who may have known the breadth and depth of ham radio.  Technology (satellites, software, protocols, antenna design, …), public service, global goodwill, and much much more. 

Unfortunately, the ARRL is a victim of its own success. Apparently, the switchboard is frequently overloaded with questions from the public seeking even more information.

The new “Ham Radio: We Don’t Do That� campaign hopes to clarify a few things. For example, despite what some might think:

• The 100 ft tower in your neighbor’s backyard will not allow him to get free wireless internet in Jamaica.
• The FCC did not force ham radio operators to create digital modes.
• N0HRsoft is not planning to port the popular DXpedition! video game to the Nintendo Wii.
• Field Day is not an attempt to see which club makes the best chilidogs cooked with solar panels.
• 14.275 MHz is not the resonant frequency of most garbage disposals.

Let me be the first to thank the ARRL for their efforts on this new campaign.