They may not be as widespread as they were a few decades ago, but there are still a considerable number of ham radio clubs kicking around. You may even have one in your local area. You may be tempted to join it, which is probably why you are here. So, is it worth it? Are there really any massive benefits to joining a ham radio club? Well, yes.
Are Ham Radio Clubs Friendly?
Let’s start by dealing with the big ‘elephant in the room’.
You may already know the benefits of joining a ham radio club. You may be one step away from getting in contact with one and asking if you can join. There is one thing stopping you, though. You need to know whether they are friendly.
Ham radio is a hobby that has been around for a long time. However, unfortunately, there are not a ton of new hobbyists coming through the ranks. Obviously, there are enough for the major companies to keep improving their tech, but ham radio isn’t quite as glitzy as it was in the past. This means that many of the ham radio clubs are filled with people that have been doing it for decades. You may be wondering whether they are willing to welcome newcomers. The answer? Yes.
Old ham radio operators see the benefit of the newbies joining their club. While you may encounter the odd grumpy chap, we can assure you that the vast majority of people in any ham radio club are going to welcome you with open arms. They are more than happy to answer any questions for you, and you may even make a few new friends.
If a fear that you won’t be welcomed is stopping you from joining, then you can scratch that idea off the list. Ham radio clubs want you there.
Learning and Education
If you buy a ham radio today, you are lucky to have a treasure trove of internet-available information. You wouldn’t have got that back in the 1960s! Anything that you want to know about ham radios can be found online, whether you are looking at this site, Google, or YouTube. The problem? Sometimes you need people to physically show you the ropes.
One of the major benefits of joining a ham radio club is that there are people there that are willing to teach you things. They are willing to answer any questions that you may have about ham radio, and they will often explain in a far clearer way than any website or video does.
We are experienced ham radio users but even we are heading to ham radio clubs and getting awesome information about using our ham radios. We have learned about special techniques for reaching more people, and accessories that we never even considered before. Honestly, whether you are new or old to the hobby, there is always somebody willing to teach you something new.
We think this is why we enjoy learning things at ham radio clubs rather than through the internet. You discover things that you would never have thought that you would have needed to know.
Remember, if you are joining a local ham radio club, then you will also learn a ton of stuff about how to operate ham in the local area. This is important. After all, with ham radio, you are constantly trying to fight against geography. Operating a ham radio in a tree-lined area is completely different from a ham radio in wide, open spaces or cities.
Access to Repeater Systems
Some ham radio clubs have repeater systems that they use. If you join the ham radio club, then you will learn the reference frequency, offset, etc. of them.
Of course, when you are a ham radio operator, you want access to these repeater systems. They will let you boost the distance of your communication (legally) and allow you to communicate with more people. This is becoming increasingly important. There are some areas that are dead when it comes to ham radio communication, and sometimes you need to look a bit further afield.
Networking
When you join a ham radio club, you will be interacting with like-minded people. They will all have exactly the same hobby as you too, which gives you common ground for your discussions. Remember, the best people to talk to are those that have the same interests! This is one of the reasons why people love to join clubs.
Ham radios are only fun when you have people to talk to. Join a proper ham radio club and you will have dozens of new people to chat with over the waves. We are almost certain that most of the ham radio operators in your local area will be part of a club, and when you know who each of the people over the waves is, it just makes things a lot more exciting.
We have known some people that have been on the edge of giving up ham radio. They didn’t find it fun because they didn’t have any ‘relationships’ with other operators. That all changed when they joined a ham radio club, and now they are among the most avid of ham fans.
Fun
Attending a proper ham radio club is just fun. We already spoke about how you will interact with like-minded people, but the fun stretches well beyond this.
Attend a ham radio club, and there will be countless events for you to attend. Honestly, with some clubs, your schedule is going to be full. Some events may focus on just socializing, others about putting together cool radio set-ups, and we have even seen events on helping the emergency services.
Sure, ham radio is a lot of fun anyway, but when you are doing ham radio-related things with people that share the same enthusiasm as you do? Well, that’s a whole other ballgame!
Final Thoughts
If you are serious about your ham radio adventures, then join a ham radio club. No matter your level of experience, there will be tons to learn. You will have plenty of people to interact with too. We are sure that no matter where you live, there is probably a club nearby.
References
http://www.arrl.org/news/why-join-an-amateur-radio-club
What Is A Ham Radio Repeater?
