Are Hams Getting Apathetic?

I haven't written much lately.  I have noticed that while I get a lot of hits, nobody leaves comments, and I would guess nobody links my blog to anyplace else.  I have also noticed that as many members as Ham Radio Nation has, most polls get a weak response.  To make that worse, the number of people who vote or make comments is only a fraction of the number of people who look at the poll.

My main reason for not babbling on with a lot of trivial posts has to do with the fact that I don't want to hopelessly bore somebody who hits this link.  While it lists noteworthy accomplishments and events, I don't go on about what I ate for breakfast, or every time I did something mundane.

Some ham clubs report weak memberships, and sad participation in club and community service events.  Getting young people involved should be a primary goal with hams.  A local high school in my town just got a class of new hams, and their own station call sign.  But, they only get to talk to local hams on the repeater, and don't have any equipment that is their own.  Their teacher told me that they are getting bored.  We will spend tax dollars to get new furniture for the school board, but is it too much to ask to invest in some radio equipment for students?  The science link, such as astronomy and physics, and math link to ham radio is obvious.  Classes that deal with electricity such as electives and vocational education have a definite link.  The benefits of a lifelong and potentially life-saving hobby seem obvious also.

I notice in my own club that a majority of hams are retired...some for quite a few years.  Where do we get the new blood.  According to statistics, there are more hams being licensed.  We have a responsibility to keep them interested, so those numbers reflect active hams, and do not reflect a lot of inactive licenses waiting to expire.  At least that's my thought for the week.

Oh yeah, I misplaced one of my portable antennas--a 20m EndFedz.  If anybody knows where it is, let me know.  :)

Par EndFedz 10/20/40 Mark II

I recently received my EF-10/20/40 from LnR Precision.  While I haven't gotten it in the air yet, I will give you my preliminary observations.

The build quality is just as good as my 20m model.  The main difference is the shortening stub in the line.  It is about as long as a small pickle.  I suppose it serves as a loading coil.  While the 20m is about 32 feet long, the 40m model is about 40 or so feet long--significantly shorter than a traditional 40m dipole.  Hence, the shortening coil.

Unlike the other models in the line, this one has a matchbox that allows it to be used on 10-60m.  I bought some wire from The Wireman (#534), which is .26 gauge "silky" wire.  I soldered resonators to end rings, and then put hot glue over the section where the wire goes into the connector, as there isn't any insulation.  It seems logical that without insulation, the breaking and twisting point would be more critical.

I think that once I put it up with my 31' Jackite pole, it will yield some good results.  I can recommend these antennas highly.  Just remember that this is a QRP model, with a 25 watt limit.  For digital, I've been told to keep it to around 10 watts just to be safe.

UPDATE: I had originally planned to make individual resonators for other bands. After giving it some thought, I decided to make a jumpered dipole...only requiring one wire to include. The add-ons could be held in place by power poles or alligator clips.

Update

While other parts of Kentucky literally got destroyed, we did o.k.  Tornadoes warnings were posted for the south and north of town, but I don't think anything other than trees suffered major damage locally.  Even the hail and high wind seemed to have missed my part of town.

I've also had good luck in turning my radio power down.  I've been running it between 25 and 50 watts and getting very good reports.  I haven't been able to be on the radio much at all lately, but I'm going to try and experiment more with 5 watts as I can.

Anyway, that is about all for now.