Ham Radio Loaner Program
Joe Maguire, WA1ZZQ, gave a very powerful slide presentation at the September Activities Meeting on the subject of the Antietam Radio Association beginning a program to provide equipment to hams to get on the air.
Joe presented his vision and hopes that this program would enrich our club members' satisfaction with the Amateur Radio Service, and to allow them to consider the HF aspect of the hobby without the large initial cash outlay. This program is more than just a loaner program, but it also a way for the new Ham to get help with how to use the equipment, how to handle a pile-up, how to handle a pile-up, and overall simply how to enjoy the many aspects of the hobby! We have many volunteers who will work side-by-side with the new ham, so he may ask questions, and aren't simply asking, "Great! I have a radio -- now what?"
The club recognizes that it's not only the initial cash layout that can keep hams from furthering their enjoyment of the hobby, but the inability to ask questions; let's face it, some things are simply better understood by asking, rather than reading it out of a book, or watching a video. This is an issue the ARA aims to correct.
Of course, in the rare chance that the borrowing amateur is not as enthralled with HF (!?!) as they thought they might be, he or she is not out a large chunk of change. Hand it in, and look at other aspects of the hobby. As the program grows, we may also look at other, more specialized pieces of equipment to loan.
Please stay tuned for updates to the program -- we will link to any new information on this post, though with time, I suspect the program will earn its own webpage. The first link is to Joe's slide presentation, with other resources to follow: