With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings

Where are the Positive Hams? And How to Tell? – Solutions Offered Part IV 25 - July - 2012

Following on the questions posed “Where are the Positive Hams? And How to Tell? – Part I” here are my thoughts:

Recognition of Elmership

This is one the first of the keys of developing teaching & mentoring resources in your local amateur radio community – Publicly recognize those who are effective & willing Elmers.

I know some have bristle at the use of “Elmer” as the amateur radio enthusiast’s label for “a good mentor.”  Our club used to have a member who really disliked calling the club meeting room the “Club Shack” too.  Feel free to adopt whatever names are comfortable and effective for you and your amateur radio community, but recognize that just like “Ham” in Ham Radio, these names have a place in the jargon & history of our shared hobby.

So for tradition’s sake I’ll use “Elmer.”

Your Elmers should know they are special.  Continued public recognition of their contributions should be regular, repeated and widely shared.

That doesn’t mean you praise some guy who back in the 1980′s helped someone out – that is ancient history.

It does mean that the guy who is working with a handful of homeschool kids on getting licensed, the guy who just helped another person get their PSK software and station on the air, the person who just took time to show a few of us how to put on cable connectors – - these people should be praised!

Use words of “thank you,” quiet congratulations to them on a personal level, club certificates and awards.  Include them in press releases, make sure their students tell them “thank you” and give them credit.

Repeated public praise of the successful and willing Elmer will nurture that Elmer and inspire others to join the Elmer ranks.

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So these are a few of my observations and thoughts – what are yours?

73

Steve
K9ZW

Where are the Positive Hams? And How to Tell? – Solutions Offered Part III 22 - July - 2012

Following on the questions posed “Where are the Positive Hams? And How to Tell? – Part I” here are my thoughts:

Technical Hermitage

Ok – this one is bait of stretch, but perhaps asking the new ham to “go away and teach themselves” isn’t such a bad thing.

In my development of interest in the hobby I had found none who were either willing or equipped to Elmer.  Some of the hams lacked time, and many just didn’t Elmer.  Some were themselves lacking technical depth to teach & mentor.

So I undertook a “Technical Hermitage” actually withdrawing from the local club and searching out books, web resources and later on-line & classroom learning sessions.

I started my notes and approached planning with the knowledge that I simply could not divert needed resources from family needs and what I did save to invest in my interests needed to be effective.

My “Technical Hermitage” took several years, along the way which I not only read & researched, but slowly tried my hand at various ham hobby tasks.

The hermitage was not absolute, as I would make a beeline to any opportunity to operate or learn.  I just moved past the limitations of poor Elmers, anti-Elmers and the overly busy possible Elmers put in my path.

I also quickly learned to not waste time on foolish faux-Elmers who were willing to spend some time only if it was to toot their own horns.

EDIT – This quote was sent to me once I put up this post:

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”

— Isaac Asimov

Like a musician going off to “woodshed” – that is to practice on his own until he had mastered the horn – breaking away on a “Technical Hermitage” has a role.  In a “Technical Hermitage” I only encounter the most positive ham I then knew – myself – while teaching myself.

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So these are a few of my observations and thoughts – what are yours?

73

Steve
K9ZW