ZZ I must disagree on one point, experience tells me that repeater clubs are fraught with the same problems as their... well, repeaters. Listening will reveal them, the elitists, the inner circle, favoritism, cronyism, all the bugaboos you ever wanted and more. The best clubs do NOT own repeaters, those awful "2M CB" hangouts.
I understand your point, but I still think it can be a valuable resource. From what you're saying, it can reveal where NOT to go and who NOT to hang out with, and that's valuable in and of itself.
But I'm familiar with some systems out here in L.A., arguably the nations 2 meter cesspool, where careful listening will tell one where a few GOOD clubs are, and how to connect with them. Listening to some of the closed systems may be good to. This is especially true listening to 440.
My real point is, if you're interested in the technical aspect of the hobby, find out where those guys hang out and listen.
And Warren, don't knock the elitists and the inner circles. If those are the guys that are doing what you'd like to do, they're the ones to connect with. Anyone can join a club where you handle communications at the local July 4th parade, but not many clubs will help you scratch build a DSP radio, or design a UHF receiver that can hear the black body radiation off the moon. But there are people out there, yacking about it on their way to work.
ARRL affiliation doesn't mean good either, all it means is the usual ARRL politics are in operation. I may be soured on the League and quit years ago due to "personal differences" but I can't say the same about such clubs, each is different and not necessarily run in the same manner. All I'm saying here is affiliation with another organization is no indication of quality leadership and/or membership.
I absolutely agree there. I have no issues with the ARRL, but affiliation is not an automatic stamp of approval and the sign of a good club. On the other hand, an ARRL affiliated club will generally have information on the ARRL.ORG web page, so they're easy to find - a good thing when you're trying to get licensed.
The same may be said about QRZ, "over there" you'll find the best and the worst Amateur Radio has to offer. You'll find some of the best advice available but then again some of the worst attitudes anywhere on the net. It's not the only game in town, I have membership all over the internet which puts me in a position to say you can do better. Here's the best hint I can give you; avoid the political forums, they make the repeater clubs look like kids playing in a sand box.
Absolutely true. Best advice I could give a new ham is stay away from the forums on QRZ altogether. There's nothing there for you. The site itself is an excellent resource, but many of the forums show the worst of humanity. Kinda like here! =)
