It's all in the community

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to participate in two completely different community events, one aimed at an amateur radio audience, the other at the general public.

Every year, several of the amateur radio clubs in my area hold their individual swap meet, where the aim of the event is to bring amateurs together and to use it as a social fund raising event.

Some jokingly refer to it as a junk library where one person's junk is the next person's treasure, only for it to turn up on their table the next year.

This particular event is held inside what can best be described as a large high school gymnasium. Mind you, my experience with high school facilities predates my amateur radio birthday by quite some decades, so, a building with a wooden floor, basket ball court and other sports markings on the floor.

Mind you, this building has a canteen, a foyer and a big parking lot, so it only resembles my reminiscing in abstract ways; I grew up with bicycles and snow - from time to time, not cars and sun.

Individuals and organisations can book and pay for one or more tables to display their wares. There's a raffle, growing in scope each year, the universal bloke yelling unintelligibly into a microphone, signal unreadable with an RST of 2 and 9, and there's food for sale with drinks, and tables to sit and chat.

It had been a while since I'd last attended and with it came memories of setting up the local news broadcast team so we could do a live edition of the weekly amateur radio news, hard work, lots of planning and very rewarding, also good practice.

This year the entry price went up, the event was down on numbers and there were half a dozen or so empty tables. I'm guessing these were booked and the participants didn't turn up, but I don't know. For the organising club this must have been heartbreaking. I know for me, it was disappointing.

That said, it offered the opportunity to catch up with plenty of friends and acquaintances, new and old amateurs, people who knew me before I knew them, the typical face to face experience that you might get from accidentally being in the same place at the same time.

If this description leaves you with the sense of longing, you know how I felt when I drove away to travel to the other side of the city to attend the second event.

Organised by a local council as an Open Day, it brings together a bunch of different organisations to a central location, augmented with food vans, sausage sizzle, ice-cream and coffee, the whole thing was outdoors.

One of the organisations represented was a different amateur radio club, based at the site, with a small display and the ability for people to talk, have a sticky beak and mosey on.

Interestingly, the kids attending were given a treasure hunt sheet with questions about each of the organisations there, including two questions about the amateur radio club. Funnily enough, a local community radio station is also on site and it too had questions in the treasure hunt.

This dynamic allowed kids and their parents to approach the club and ask silly questions and the confusion between "amateur" radio and "community" radio allowed for more information to be shared with more laughter to go around for all.

The sausage sizzle, a local Rotary club fundraiser, was a hit with a steady stream of people lining up for a bite.

This is the second time this event has been hosted and both times I spoke with many people who were not radio amateurs, people who had electronics projects in need of guidance, and the odd local politician, some more than others.

Over the years I've attended plenty of amateur radio events and while there's a place and need for each of them, I have to say, talking to an interested kid about a homebrew quadrifilar helix antenna has to my favourite experience.

So, why am I talking about this, you ask?

It's pretty simple. Ask yourself, does a particular amateur or amateur adjacent event spark joy, or does it represent an opportunity for reflection and renewal?

Do we need another swap meet, I think locally we have at least five across the year, or could you do a fundraiser with a bingo night in a pub? What about an exhibition, or an auction? A BBQ or a breakfast? A course or a camp out? Have you considered a shack open day or a school visit show and tell? What about joining forces with other community groups and clubs?

What could the ultimate event bring and who would you like to see there? What would they take away and what resources might you need to pull it off?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB