There are currently 1,836 actively licensed hams in RI. Of that number how many do you think are one the air daily, weekly or even once a month?

I've heard it said that "if we don't use the bands we stand a chance to lose them". I'm sure that can be said about a number of other things in life as well.

Having said that, how many RI hams are registered users on this site? How often do you use this site? If you log on dail, weekly or monthly, how come?

Since I'm relatively new to the ham community I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, if it has and it's a dead horse then excuse me for bringing it up again.

However, if you'd like to see this become a must have resource for RI hams, what would you do or like to see to make that happen?

Wayne,

You raise good questions.

(1) I'll venture my guess on what the 1,836 licensed hams are doing in RI:
Daily user - 10%
Weekly user - 20%
Monthly user - 40%
Never used - 15%
Dead/Moved - 15%

(2) Usage of this site is ultra low but that's more a statement about how RI gov't at town/state levels view hams playing an emcom role. (Some towns are exceptions). RIEMA's 2006 Hurricane Op Plan has several references to amateur radio. HurricaneOpPlan2006 Unfortunately, current RIEMA leadership is not publicly concerned with "when all else fails" scenarios as might be experienced following a strong hurricane or coordinated cyber attack against our our utility grid and IP comm networks. Without the state's visible interest, it becomes easy for RI hams to move into more rewarding areas of the hobby. Hence, it may be some time before this particular watering hole becomes active.

73,

Mike K1NPT

Wayne and Mike,

I agree with some of the sentiments raised thus far. But let's face it ... HAM is its own insular world in this state, with it's "cliques," for lack of a better phrase. My wife and I have been licensed since '07, coming to amateur radio via the emergency services community. Since then, we've had a really bad experience. Any time we go on the air, you either can't get a hail in edgewise due to heavy traffic or no one's on the air. Or even better, you put a hail out, no one answers, then another station puts out a hail 2 minutes later and then 4-5 other operators jump on into a long conversation. You know they must have heard you ... and yet they don't answer.
This dovetails into Field Day. Field Day, according to the ARRL, is a chance for amateur radio clubs to attract new membership along with the other activities it performs. This is the 3rd year I have repeatedly hailed a club station (who shall remain anonymous here out of politeness on my part) as well as individual operators I hear operating at the field day location, with no response. But, sure enough, a familiar station hails and the talking commences nonstop. Now I find this rather distressing, as I live less than a mile from this site (the unnamed club uses the Chopmist Hill Inn grounds for their Field Day site) and have walked by there during field day AND EVEN WAVED TO THE PEOPLE THERE, with no response. Pretty telling of the state of amateur radio in Rhode Island, if you ask me.
Amateur radio, I fear, will disappear in Rhode Island the way CB radio went nation wide, in the not too distant future unless the hams of today in RI make a real investment in newer hams trying to get on the air and into the hobby. As it stands now, my wife and I only regularly use our ham radios when we drive in convoy on the road using simplex - generally making the radios into expensive, license-required, over-powered CB radios for lack of a better description. A $30.00 bubble pack of FRS radios from Wal-Mart would do the same job for less investment of time and money. Ham radio needs to start being good to new hams, or they'll go silent key out of boredom and no one will come up to replace them. Isn't that the point of Field Day and of clubs in general?
In closing, I lay down a challenge to all the Ham clubs in RI. Have your members:
1) Greet 10 unfamiliar operators to them on-air a month. Talk to them. Get to know a little about them. Log them into a call book.
2) Send them info on your club (or ARRL in genral) and invite them to a meeting. Welcome them and help them make new contacts in the hobby.
3) Get them involved, and keep them involved.

Let's see how many RI hams read this and take note. If they give this a real try, maybe you'll see more action period, not just on this forum.

73s,

Steve Pechie KB1PFB
North Scituate RI

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"Don't follow where the path may lead. Rather, go where there is no path and leave a trail."