Amateur Radio 'Elmers'

ˈmenˌtôr,ˈmenˌtær/

verb
Gerund or present participle: mentoring
1.    advise or train (someone, especially a younger colleague)

Bill VE7XS

There is a lot of talk today, particularly in business, about the value of mentoring.  More experienced, and typically older individuals in a field providing support and direction to help less experienced, and usually, younger individuals.  This can be valuable to both parties, and also benefits the organizations that they belong to.

Let’s take this into our Amateur Radio world.  I’ve heard comments for longer than I have been licensed, that the exam requirements are being ‘dumbed down’.  Many courses have been shortened, some now being under two days – a single weekend and you can be licensed  as an Amateur Radio Operator.  What we are finding is that you might be licensed, but you may also know absolutely nothing about how to be a Ham.

I’ve been fortunate to have a station that has a very low noise floor, decent antennas, and we ‘get out’ well.  Myself and a few others with equipment there, have had a great time helping others improve their operating skills, polish their “pileup busting” techniques, and become a lot more comfortable with handling their own pileups in a contest.  These individuals who we have helped have become better operators, and we are better people because we helped them in their quest.

It is a pleasure to see a new Ham grow their skills – week over week – and start to be much more comfortable working the world on HF.   For some, it started out simple. They don’t have HF equipment in their home, or are recently licensed and want to grow their skill sets.  A few visits to the shack, a lot of listening to other operators, and then the encouragement and support as they take the mike and start to work DX – catch the nuances of the other operator, responding automatically to the DX station coming back with “the Echo 7 station, again, again” and they respond quickly and clearly giving their call and putting the contact in the log.  Awesome!

It takes practice, and patience and the willingness for both parties to keep trying to improve.  There will be setbacks – laugh them off, talk over what happened (or didn’t) and practice how the QSO should have gone.  Provide support, a positive environment and the occasional high five as your guest operator bags a good one, or works a great run during a contest.

Finally, remember that we all benefit from mentoring.  Our hobby is broad and there are many aspects that we may not have explored yet.  If you plan on trying something new, look around for someone who is doing it already, and see if they can help get you started or are willing to help you improve your skills.

We can all learn something from each other.  Keep an open mind, listen and learn – teach when you can, and remember, it is a good day when you learn something new. 

~ Bill VE7XS