An amateur radio club is one of the best resources any young ham can search for when first entering the world of the ham radio. From information to helping you find a place to take the licensing exam, to holding monthly meetups and hosting competitions, joining a club can elevate you from the fringes of the community to the very center of it. But if every city has a club, does that mean it’s a nationwide organization with a club registry and a chair and a variety of presidents and all that? That seems like a lot of rigid structure and organization for something that associates itself with freedom of the individual.
Fear not, for with the exception of one, all amateur radio clubs are independent organizations and can be more or less equated to all hams in the nearby locale congregating in one space. There’s some amount of communication between different clubs, but it isn’t like a Boy Scout organization.
So maybe you want to find the nearest club to you, or maybe you want to get involved with one of the bigger clubs that’s further away from you. All clubs would run a broadcast, after all, so you could participate entirely through the radio if you wanted to. But what are the best of the best? In the United States, the five best clubs you can join are as follows: ARRL, South Jersey Radio Association, Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club, Radio Club of Tacoma, and Foothills Amateur Radio Society.
Amateur Radio Relay League
Often abbreviated to ARRL, this is a club with a high presence on the Internet, and it is the largest in the country with over 160,000 members. It has the novelty of not being attached to any one location, instead of being nationwide and holding gatherings and conventions in different cities on a regular basis. The website is always up to date with the latest information on the league, and on ham radio culture. Because the ARRL is so large, it has a president and a board of directors. They have a monthly journal titled QST. The ARRL has also set itself apart from other services in the case of nationwide emergencies with their offshoot ARES, standing for Amateur Radio Emergency Services, which supports cities in times of crisis after a natural disaster such as a hurricane or an earthquake has shut down all other methods of communication. ARES is also supported and funded by the Radio Amateurs of Canada, a club that can be seen as the Canadian equivalent to ARRL and is just as highly praised. Apart from all this, the ARRL hosts competitions and gives out yearly awards for radio operators. The only downside to joining a club like the ARRL is its size. It can be overwhelming for some people, and others can feel like they are lost in a faceless mass. The ARRL can be useful even if you aren’t a member, however, due to their website. Any kind of information you want to find out about ham radio, the first place to check is ARRL.org.
South Jersey Radio Association
The SJRA holds the claim of being the oldest continuing amateur radio club in the US, operating without stopping since 1916. The club’s headquarters is in the city of Medford, New Jersey. They hold meetings with members of all ages, bridging the gap between high schoolers to senior citizens. Their calendar is easy to find on their website, which also hosts information about the club’s repeater, their awards, and their sponsored license exams. They also publish a monthly newsletter, called ‘Harmonics.’ The SJRA offers two awards for hams, the VHF Colonial Award, and the SJRA Achievement Certificate. The benefits of the SJRA is twofold. For one, they are a useful club for information and resources; but it also comes with the clout of being in a membership that has existed for over 100 years. It’s not quite elitist, but there is a certain sense of pride in belonging to something so distinguished.
Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club
Shortened to UVARD, this club is very young when compared to others, being formed in 2016. The difference in a newer club like this one is most prominent in terms of web design. Comparing the website of UVARD to that of the SJRA is like jumping through a hole in time. UVARD has great qualities aside from having a slick and modern website. Their calendar of nets, short for networking, has a series of themes. For example, one scheduled net might be ‘Ladies Net,’ supports and encourages women to get together over the air. In a community that’s predominantly male, the club provides not only motivation to get women interested, but also to include the women who may have already had that interest but felt excluded over the years. However, there are other nets for newbies, for ARRL news, and all sorts else twice weekly. Not only are the nets recorded on a calendar, but the transcript is usually available. UVARD, like most good clubs, offers the license exam. The club doesn’t offer any awards, the way some older clubs do, most likely because there isn’t funding for the club the way there is for others. But it is supported by Amazon Smile, and membership is still free.
Radio Club of Tacoma
Based out of Washington, the Radio Club of Tacoma is famous for its location inside a little house with a wraparound porch near Franklin Park. The two-story Clubhouse was purchased in 1957 and maintained upkeep ever since. The Clubhouse is open every Saturday afternoon. The Radio Club of Tacoma has its own radio station, W7DK, which club members take turns operating, and an antique museum. Their meetups include swap meets to trade around equipment between members and hosts regular sessions for the license exam. They have a monthly newsletter, The Logger’s Bark, as well as a library. The club is closely affiliated with the ARRL, and membership in Tacoma practically extends itself to the ARRL. The club has multiple repeaters, information about how to contact them readily available on their up-to-date website. Another point that sets the Radio Club of Tacoma apart from others is the educational classes it offers as a public service. If you are near the area, you don’t just have to teach yourself how to operate a ham radio. The classes are open to anyone, and provide an excellent doorway for the younger generation to gain interest in amateur radio.
Foothills Amateur Radio Society
FARS, as it is abbreviated, is a club held in and around the San Francisco area in California. Another close affiliate of the ARRL, they hold regular monthly club meetings on the fourth Friday of every month. If you like a reliable routine, FARS is the club for you. FARS is not a free membership, there is a $20.00 joining fee, but it goes towards the special events held by the club such as banquets and an electronic flea market. ‘The FARS Relay’ is their monthly newsletter. The speakers who come to their meetings are transcribed and uploaded as articles on their website, as a public service. They host license examinations, and one special program known as ‘Radio in the Park’ is an opportunity to meet up and work together with other local hams in a south bay park.
Related Questions
How many clubs are near me?
The spread of clubs changes depending on your area being more urban or rural. While living in a big city might mean that there are several radio clubs around, it is most common to have one per city. Sometimes a secondary club will be run out of the local college, and sometimes the only club in the city is the college radio. The rural your area is, however, the more sparse clubs can be. You’ll likely need to go searching around for the closest club near you. Start by finding your nearest big city and find their radio club. If you feel it too far and want to join something closer to you, ask them if they know of any other clubs in the surrounding area. You can also check around on online forums, asking if anyone knows of any smaller clubs near you.
Are there clubs outside the United States?
Of course! There are clubs in just about every big city worldwide. Ham radio is not limited to the United States, and one of the biggest draws about it for many people is that there are participants all over the world. Finding one is just the same process as it is anywhere else. Names are usually “X City Radio Club,’ or some variant, so should be easy to search for online. Just look at the nearest big city to you, or the one that you live in. Several countries also have an equivalent of the ARRL, so take a moment of research to find any nationwide clubs such as Canada’s RCA.
How do I join a club?
Once you’ve found your club, take some time to explore their
website. It’s always nice to get a good grip on what their meeting schedule is
like and how often they host nets. If you have other hobbies that take up time
frames and end up clashing, you might find you’ve not participated in the club
at all since joining. Club meetings can range from twice-weekly to
once-monthly, and the same goes for nets. If the club’s schedule looks good to
you, and you’ve gotten a feel for their website, check for online registration.
If there is a membership fee, it should tell you there. Always know beforehand
if you are willing to pay a fee or not because getting hit in the face with one
when not prepared can really sour you to the idea of a club.
