From: alan@bambam.es.com (Alan Brubaker)
Subject: Re: QST, in my opinion...(long)
Organization: Design Systems Division, Evans & Sutherland, SLC, UT
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 14:34:39 GMT

In article <l8lijvINN5lp@west.west.sun.com> flloyd@L1-A.West.Sun.COM (Fred Lloyd [Phoenix SE]) writes:
>
>
>QST is first and foremost, a club newsletter.  Second, it's a 
>revenue source and third, it's a technical contest journal. 
>Let's examine these points.

   Gee whiz, Fred...yes, the ARRL is the largest amateur radio
   club in the country, and one of the largest in the world. I
   would venture that the JARL has a larger membership, however.
   It is fair and logical that a large club should have some 
   kind of newsletter so that the membership can be informed. 
   Most of the other large national radio organizations (RSGB, 
   DARC, etc.) have newsletters as well. So what's the problem?
   It also seems fair and logical to allow advertisers to peddle 
   their wares via a widely read journal, and it is fair and
   logical to charge for the advertising space to help offset 
   the cost of producing QST each and every month. How many 
   other ham radio magaizines in the U.S. have shown the same 
   reliability and stability? How many pages did you find with 
   contest scores last month? The month before? How many pages 
   did you find announcing upcoming contests? How many pages was 
   that compared to the rest of the magazine? How many pages were 
   devoted to technical material? With all of the many different
   areas of interest in ham radio, there has to be some balance.
>
>QST is the ARRL.  Technically, I'm a member of the ARRL, but in reality
>...Stuff deleted...

   QST is not the ARRL - we the members are the ARRL. QST _is_ the
   journal of the ARRL. I have been a life member for 25 years. I 
   am not especially vocal or active in the affairs of the League, 
   but I could be if I wanted to be and had the time to be. I vote 
   for Director and Section Manager when the elections are held. 
   All of these folks are _volunteers_ and receive no salary. They do 
   receive some compensation for their expenses, which is as it 
   should be. If you can do better, run for Director or Section 
   Manager and make some changes so that the ARRL is more to your 
   liking. Do not expect all of the membership to share your point
   of view, however.
 
>On the very first few pages, just past the initial advertisements
>(which cost upwards of $1200 per page), the magazine begins.  First up,
>(on page 3), the Table of Contents.  Then, a few ad pages later, the
>first club item: a listing of club directors and section managers,
>their territories, names, addresses and telephone numbers.  Immediately
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   This is so that anyone can call or write his/her Director or
   Section Manager. You are allowed to do this, if you wish. This
   is one of the things that they sign up for if they run for
   League office.   

>following is the opening editorial, which as of late has become the
>David Sumner, K1ZZ pontification page.  Dave must be one heck of a ham
>however, I get the feeling that you'd be more likely making a space
>shuttle contact than actually hearing him on the air.  Have you ever
>noticed how many 1-landers have been League executives?  Somehow I
>don't get the impression that Dave has ever been seen without his suit
>and tie, God forbid wearing just jeans and a t-shirt, using an old
>IC-2AT at the local hamfest.  Just who is this guy anyway?

   Dave is more active on the air than you might think. He has been
   an active contest operator for years, and back in the 60's his
   call was K8ZND. It seems perfectly normal for the editor of a
   journal to express his views somewhere in each issue. Just look
   in any of the magazines, newspapers and journals that are 
   published in this country and around the world. What's the
   problem? The ARRL has been based in Connecticut from the beginning,
   so it is logical that the ARRL staff should be made up of mostly
   New-Englanders. You will find that people have actually moved to
   CT from other parts of the country to work on the ARRL staff, at
   _modest_ salaries, I might add. Getting back to Dave - he is an
   excellent CW operator, and you can hear him in many of the CW
   contests which occur throughout the year. It has been my pleasure
   to have contacted Dave on many occasions. You are not likely to
   hear him ragchewing on 14.313 about ARRL policies, however 8^).
   Nor will you hear him broadcasting from W1AW promoting the ARRL.

>
>Next, Up Front in QST.  This is the only non-revenue color section in the
>entire magazine.  I thought that the July 1992 edition was particularly
>lame here, starting out with a couple of (yawn) antenna pictures, a 
>bunch of nerds holding coffee cups, an inside photo of a QRP rig, 36
>...

   My Fred, you sure have an attitude...

>The first real article is usually a construction project.  I generally
>like reading these but I must admit that in the past 3 years I've built

....more stuff deleted...

>
>Next comes the OPERATING section.  "Operating" is an ARRL codeword which
>means CONTESTING.  Contesting appears to be a real money maker for the
>league since they must spend upwards of $10,000 a month in page space
>promoting it.  They list not only their contests but also those of
>other organizations such as _CQ_ and JARL.  Contesting must kill an
>awful lot of trees, both in QST pages as well as QSL cards.  Let's not
>forget the fossil fuels which are consumed to deliver them.  I thought
>this hobby was supposed to work in the ether, the thin air...  It seems
>that a significant number of hams simply must have tangible proof that
>their signal really did travel around the world at the speed of light.
>Myself, I feel quite satisfied reviewing my own memories and my log book.
>I don't have a QSL card...

   Bzzzzt...sorry Fred, wrong answer here. Contesting is _not_ a money
   maker for the ARRL, CQ or any other sponsor of a major or minor
   operating event. It takes lots of folks to run a radio contest.
   There is the promotion of the event, the judging of the entries,
   the cost of the awards and the publishing of the results. All of
   these things cost $$$$, and guess what - there are no entry fees
   required from the contestants. There is no prize money awarded
   either. Somewhat like the Olympic Games, but not on as grand a
   scale. It is natural for humans to test their skills against one
   another - this has been going on for mellinia and is not likely
   to change soon. Another misconception about contests is QSLing. 
   Exchange of QSL cards is _not_ required. It is up to the contest
   judging committee to decide if the contacts in a log are valid
   or not. Cheaters are found out easily and are disqualified. The
   exchange of QSL cards has been a part of amateur radio for a long
   time. There are many awards available for those who are interested,
   and the way to qualify for the awards is to collect QSL cards.
   Good luck on changing this soon. You _are_ allowed to not have a
   QSL card, and you are not required to QSL if you do not want to.

>
>Next comes the DEPARTMENTS.  In general, a "department" is defined as
>any special interest or politically correct topic which takes less than a

>...more sniveling deleted...
   
>League Membership
>
>When the ARRL puts its support behind or against a political issue, they
>will always quote the will of its membership as its guiding principal.
>In other words, they act as if we all had voted on the issues it
>addresses.  Well, unfortunately, the "voice" that the ARRL hears is often
>the "squeaky wheel", which as always gets the most grease.  It's a fact
>that more people write letters when they're mad versus when they're 
>happy about something.  If the ARRL gets 1000 negative responses to an
>issue and 200 positive ones, the issue is declared to be "rejected by
>the membership".  Well, in an organization with more than 100,000 members,
>how can a 1% voice be considered "representative"?  

   This is quite similar to our democratic process. Not everyone votes
   either, so it is the majority of those who make their wishes known
   that has a chance to control these situations. If the Officers
   choose to ignore the majority, eventually they are chastised and
   turned out of office. What's the problem?
>
>I've never met a section manager or district chief, and don't even know
>who my local representatives are.  In todays age of instant

   Why don't you get acquainted - they really are not such bad
   people.

>communications, who needs this archaic and anachronistic structure
>anyway?  If the ARRL wanted a truly representative vote on what really
>...msd...
>And finally, the name QST is the epitome of hobby-jargonism.  What
>a wonderful way to encourage passers by at the newsstand to pick up
                                                ^^^^^^^^^
   QST is no longer sold on newsstands, but is sold at a ham radio
   store near you.

>a copy.  QST is a term which is instantly recognizable by all members
>of society, one which conveys instant meaning in an intuitive fashion.
>NOT!  While the ARRL is considering changing their name, why not give
>the magazine a work over too?  How about something like "The Journal
>of the Axxx", whatever Axxx eventually turns out to be?
>
>Well, that's it, my opinion of QST.  Any comments?

   You know what they say about opinions, Fred... speaking of killing
   trees; it is a good thing that I did not print your post 8^).
   Good luck.
>
>-fred
>
>-- 
>| Fred Lloyd  AA7BQ,  Systems Engineer          Fred.Lloyd@west.sun.com |
>| Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation                   ...sun!flloyd |
>| Phoenix, AZ    (If it's a fact, I believe it!)         (602) 275-4242 |


-- 
Alan Brubaker, K6XO      |~~|_  "Pumps have handles, Hams have names;
<IYF disclaimer>         | *  |mine's Lee, what's yours?" - Lee Wical,
Internet: alan@dsd.es.com|____|KH6BZF, the Bloomin' Zipper Flipper.