The WTRA Elmering
Program
Welcome to the Western
Tidewater Radio Association’s Elmering Program page.
The Elmering Program is an effort by the WTRA to offer
elmering (mentoring) in the finest traditions of Ham Radio to people
who are interested in becoming hams, new hams, and “old-timers”
alike.
The term
"Elmer"--meaning someone who provides personal guidance and
assistance to would-be hams--first appeared in QST in a March
1971 "How's DX" column by Rod Newkirk, W9BRD (now also VA3ZBB).
Newkirk called them "the unsung fathers of Amateur Radio." While he
probably was not trying to coin a term at the time, here's how
Newkirk introduced "Elmer" in his column and, as it turned out, to
the rest of the Amateur Radio world:
"Too frequently one hears a sad story
in this little nutshell: 'Oh, I almost got a ticket, too, but Elmer,
W9XYZ, moved away and I kind of lost interest.'"
Newkirk went on to say, "We need those
Elmers. All the Elmers, including the ham who took the most time and
trouble to give you a push toward your license, are the birds
who keep this great game young and fresh."--Rick Lindquist,
N1RL
As you can see, the term is not very
old. Prior to the first use of Elmer as the one who guided and
encouraged us, what were these folks called? I have received a lot
of suggestions; teacher, mentor, tutor, guide, helper, sage? All are
appropriate but my guess would be that first and foremost they were
called friend.
In this day and age of instant information
offered by the internet, many of the traditions of elmering have
been lost. In the “old days” (not so long ago,
actually), the path of a new ham typically involved the newcomer
finding (or being found by) an experienced ham, and being taken
under the wing of the experienced ham to learn the basics of radio,
traditions and good operating practices. This
program is an effort to return in some measure to this
tradition.
The Elmering Program has four main components:
(1) A group of volunteer hams willing to mentor
newcomers on a one to one basis, (2) amateur radio
license classes offered by club members to prepare newcomers for
license exams, (3) a Volunteer Examiner Team
sponsored by the club to give amateur radio exams and
(4) a Practical Workshops program which offers
hands-on practical workshop sessions for both newcomers and club
members alike to expand their knowledge in a specific aspect of
amateur radio.
The Elmers
Listed below are the WTRA
Volunteer Elmers along with their areas of specialized knowledge and
contact information. Please use e-mail to contact
these hams. (Club members wishing to be listed here
should contact N4KIT.)
|
Callsign |
Name |
Expertise |
E-mail |
|
N4KIT |
Chris
Peters |
HF wire antennas; station set-up; computer
applications (sound card interfacing, logging, rig-interface,
modeling); contesting; casual
DXing. |
n4kit@wt4ra.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
WC4R |
Joe Roth |
Boat anchor restoration, high power
applications, VHF/UHF, antennas, audio processing,
SDR. |
wc4r@wt4ra.org |
License
Classes
Listed below are the
upcoming amateur radio license classes offered by the
club.
|
Class |
Dates |
Location |
Contact |
|
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TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
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License
Exams
|
|
Click here for
the WTRA VE Team webpage listing test dates and a link to the
pre-registration form.
Technical
Workshops
Listed below is the schedule
of WTRA Technical Workshops. Click here for more information on the
workshop.
|
Class |
Dates |
Location |
Contact |
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