Greetings to my fellow amateur radio operators…

I send this communication to you in the hopes that it finds you well and that it finds you still very much in love with amateur radio.

Some of you know me and to the others that do not, you will know me very well by the time you finish reading this communication. My hopes are that after you have completed your reading that you will be once again filled with the excitement, awe, and love of amateur radio that I have known for over 40 years.

For the last several years there has been something eating away at me and I have not be able, until most recently, to bring it to the forefront and verbalize just exactly what was stirring around in my head.

As you know amateur radio is multifaceted and an ever changing thing. There are operators who are holding on to the tried and true basics of amateur radio and operators who are embracing new technology. What is true of both of those skilled operators is they are rapidly diminishing in numbers.

Newly licensed operators today suffer from lack of technical training, lack of basic operating skills and practices, and an almost complete lack of a living knowledge source. It’s not their fault. It’s just the way we have all let amateur radio slide into a comfortable and dusty corner.

I tried to fill this void of basic operating skills and technical knowledge by suggesting mentoring programs at local radio clubs. That effort was met with indifference to limited interest to no interest at all.

Those who know me know that I’m not one to sit around and wait so I started a series of mentor classes over the past several months at my home. Those classes have been met with good participation and enthusiasm. However, after the classes had finished most of the operators filed away their new skill sets and knowledge learned.

Two things have become clear to me…

#1. Most amateur radio “club meetings” have turned into entertainment venues sourced from a small catalog of presentations that are making the local club circuit with some presentations not even about amateur radio related topics.

#2. The only way to get amateur radio operators interested in doing “hands-on” projects is to make the project itself the reason to get together.

The last thing we need is another cookie-cutter amateur radio club. Don’t take me wrong. Most of the local ham clubs do amazing things in terms of public service and our country needs all of the trained service related operators that we can get.

However, that’s not enough.

We need operators that have different skill sets and knowledge bases that go way beyond public service participation.

We need to associate with like-minded operators who want to learn and build.

We need to get back to the birth of amateur radio with similar mindsets of those with names like Maxim, Tesla, Armstrong, Fleming, and Marconi.

We need to associate with operators who still have the love of amateur radio and with those who yearn to embrace it.

We need to associate with those who want to share and pass on their life-long experiences and knowledge base to those who so want to learn and do.

We need to come together as a group, not a club, and promote the great things that can be produced from this combined effort.

We need to form a radio user group to sustain a knowledge base for the future and to guarantee that we do not lose past skills and experiences to the march of time.

What will it take? A commitment to meet regularly with several other operators who have similar interests and desires.

What will we do? Create, build, learn, and have fun!

What do we need? We need people like you to jump up and rise to the call to help make this happen.

If I have whetted your desire...
If I have peaked your interest...
If I have awakened something in you...

then click here and look at the next page and decide if you are ready to make that jump.

Larry L. Essary - K5XG
(214) 383-7488 #206
Email: Larry@pulse.net