As we move into 2023 I am once again calling on the well-seasoned veterans of ham radio to remember the importance of mentoring new hams or those who are getting into a new mode of operation. Over the past several months, I have been reminded of the importance of this over and over again.

I would like to share with you my experience when I decided to get in to satellite communications. First of all, let me say that there is nothing hard about using the amateur satellites; it’s just another mode / type of communications. Well, it sure didn’t seem that way in the beginning. I reached out to AMSAT and others on the satellite groups for information but unfortunately, as usually is the case, there were very few answers and the ones I did get were pretty vague. Google quickly became my friend but even then there was a fair amount of trial and error and there were things that I thought I knew (but didn’t) until I managed to come across an experienced operator from Texas who kindly offered to mentor me in satellites. It was like someone switched on the light after only the first 15 minutes of our phone conversation! I quickly found out that many others have asked the same questions and made the same mistakes and then I realized that this one person had saved me countless hours of trial and error, not to mention the frustration.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to answer some questions for some fellow hams relating to operating in general and how certain things are done. I happily answered them and then I thought about how I had learned them. I dawned on me that a lot of this stuff does not just “happen”. You need to be taught and helped along at times.

Please, be a mentor to new hams or hams that are trying something new! It can make all the difference between them sticking with the hobby or them quitting before they have even begun to scratch the surface. If the latter happens, we all lose. With just a little effort on our part, we can all help each other learn and grow in the hobby.

Isn’t that what we are here for?

73,
Rocco – WU2M