Our mission: to strengthen amateur radio by providing resources, promoting engagement, expanding outreach, and advocating for the interests of operators and clubs nationwide. Those four verbs are our four key focus areas, and every program we run belongs to one of them. If a proposal does not fit any of them, that is usually the answer.
Resources
Practical, current material: licensing paths, the amateur radio wiki, club toolkits and a national club database. The test of this area is whether someone can find a straight answer without already knowing the jargon.
- Volunteer work here: writing and editing wiki pages, checking club listings, fact-checking, keeping state resource pages current.
Engagement
Giving clubs and operators reasons to connect: Club Week, the Regional Club Councils, the National Presenters Panel, our awards. A hobby stays alive through activity, not membership cards.
- Volunteer work here: helping run Club Week, serving on a council, presenting to clubs, reviewing award applications.
Outreach
Bringing new people in: demonstrations, youth programs, media, and plain-English explanations of what this is — which is what whatishamradio.com exists to do.
- Volunteer work here: staffing a table at a hamfest or public event, school and Scout visits, social media, mentoring new licensees.
Advocacy
Representing operators and clubs on spectrum, antenna restrictions and regulatory questions, and filing with the FCC when a proceeding affects the service.
- Volunteer work here: tracking dockets, drafting comments, research, and telling us what is happening in your own state and county.
Where your role fits
When a coordinator talks with you about a role, they will tell you which focus area it belongs to and what success looks like in it. If you ever cannot tell why a task matters, that is a fair question to ask, and the answer should be one of these four things.