PCARS is new.
Very new.
That isn’t something we’re trying to hide.
It’s actually one of the most interesting things about this project.
We’re not rebuilding an old organization or trying to revive something that disappeared years ago.
We’re building the Perry County Amateur Radio Society from the ground up.
That means the people who become involved early won’t simply be joining somebody else’s club.
They’ll have an opportunity to help decide what this one becomes.
Why Build a Club?
You don’t need a radio club to enjoy amateur radio.
You can get licensed, build a station, make contacts, experiment with antennas, operate portable, chase DX, work digital modes, and disappear down any number of fascinating technical rabbit holes entirely on your own.
But amateur radio gets considerably more interesting when people share what they know.
An experienced operator can help someone make a first contact.
Someone who understands antennas can help another operator figure out why a station isn’t performing the way it should.
A technically inclined member may introduce everyone else to something they haven’t tried before.
Someone interested in emergency communications may bring an entirely different perspective from someone interested in contesting, satellites, digital modes, portable operation, or restoring old equipment.
Nobody has to know everything.
The club becomes more useful when different people know different things.
What Kind of Club Are We Building?
That’s still being determined.
Deliberately.
We’re starting with some basic ideas rather than a stack of traditions.
PCARS should be a place where people can:
- Learn about amateur radio
- Get help earning an amateur radio license
- Make their first contacts
- Learn from more experienced operators
- Help newer operators once they gain experience
- Experiment with radios, antennas, electronics, computers, and communications technology
- Participate in portable and field operations
- Explore analog and digital communications
- Develop practical emergency-communications skills
- Support public-service activities
- Work together on technical projects
- Build useful amateur radio infrastructure in Perry County
- Meet people who share some of the same interests
- Have fun
That list will change.
It should.
The interests of the people who become involved with PCARS should help shape the organization.
Teaching and Elmering
One of the most important things amateur radio operators can do is help the next person get started.
Amateur radio has traditionally called an experienced operator who helps another operator an Elmer.
PCARS wants that tradition to be part of the organization from the beginning.
That can mean helping someone study for an exam.
It can mean explaining how to program a radio.
It can mean helping install an antenna.
It can mean sitting beside a newly licensed operator while they make their first contact.
It can also mean an experienced HF operator asking somebody else for help with DMR, networking, satellites, digital modes, or another part of amateur radio they’ve never explored.
Everybody knows something. Nobody knows everything.
That’s a pretty good foundation for a club.
Getting People on the Air
Passing the license exam isn’t the finish line.
It’s permission to start.
One of the reasons we’ve put so much effort into the PCARS Learn section is that earning a callsign doesn’t automatically teach someone how to build a useful station or become comfortable using it.
We want to help bridge that gap.
Study.
Pass the exam.
Choose equipment that makes sense for what you want to do.
Learn how to use it.
Press the button.
Make contacts.
Try something new.
Then help somebody else do the same.
That’s how an amateur radio community grows.
Activities Will Grow With the Club
PCARS isn’t going to invent a calendar full of activities so the website looks busy.
Activities should develop because people actually want to participate in them.
As the club grows, possibilities might include:
- Regular meetings
- Local nets
- Technical presentations
- Antenna projects
- Portable operating
- Parks on the Air activities
- Field Day
- License classes
- Amateur radio examinations
- Station demonstrations
- Equipment workshops
- Emergency communications exercises
- Public-service activities
- Digital-mode experimentation
- Repeater projects
- Whatever somebody walks in with and says, “You know what would be interesting?”
That last category may eventually become the largest one.
Building Local Infrastructure
PCARS also has an opportunity to improve amateur radio infrastructure in Perry County.
We currently have coordinated frequency pairs available for both VHF and UHF repeater systems.
The UHF project already has much of its major equipment in hand.
The VHF system is still in the planning stage.
Those projects have their own pages because there’s considerably more involved than buying a repeater, finding an extension cord, and declaring victory.
But the reason for building them is straightforward.
Local infrastructure gives local amateur radio operators more opportunities to communicate with one another.
And that helps build the community around it.
Public Service and Emergency Communications
Amateur radio can also provide opportunities to serve the community.
Some operators are deeply interested in emergency communications.
Others aren’t.
Both are welcome.
For those who are interested, PCARS can provide opportunities to develop useful communications skills before they’re needed.
That means learning radios and antennas, understanding the limits of equipment, practicing portable operation, developing backup-power capability, participating in exercises, and learning how to communicate effectively under less-than-ideal circumstances.
The equipment matters.
Practice matters more.
We’re Not Looking for One Kind of Ham
You don’t need an engineering background.
You don’t need an expensive station.
You don’t need an Amateur Extra license.
You don’t need to know Morse code.
You don’t need to be interested in emergency communications.
You don’t need to own a tower.
You don’t even need to have your license yet.
If amateur radio interests you, there’s probably something here for you.
A healthy club shouldn’t require everybody to enjoy the hobby the same way.
New Operators Matter
It can be intimidating to walk into an established hobby where everybody seems to know more than you do.
Here’s the secret:
They don’t.
They just know different things.
Everyone in amateur radio started without knowing what an offset was, why coax mattered, what SWR meant, how to check into a net, or what they were supposed to say after pressing PTT.
Experience comes from doing.
PCARS should be a place where somebody can say:
“I don’t know how this works.”
and get:
“Let’s figure it out.”
instead of:
“You should already know that.”
Experienced Operators Matter Too
Building a useful amateur radio organization requires experience.
If you’ve been licensed for years, PCARS needs what you’ve learned.
Maybe you understand HF.
Maybe you’ve built repeaters.
Maybe you’ve worked satellites.
Maybe you know antennas.
Maybe you’re good at contesting, digital communications, electronics, networking, emergency communications, portable operation, or teaching.
Maybe you’ve simply made enough mistakes over the years to help somebody else avoid a few of them.
That’s valuable too.
Especially that last one.
We Don’t Need to Be Huge
The goal isn’t to accumulate the largest membership list possible.
Numbers are easy to count.
Participation is harder to measure and considerably more valuable.
A smaller group of people who actually learn together, operate together, build things, help one another, and occasionally show up is more useful than a very impressive membership roster nobody ever sees.
PCARS doesn’t need to become the biggest amateur radio organization in Mississippi.
It needs to become useful to amateur radio operators in Perry County.
That’s enough.
And Yes, We’re Starting Small
Very small.
At this point in PCARS history, showing up doesn’t just make you another member.
It materially affects our attendance figures.
Look at the bright side.
Parking shouldn’t be a problem.
Yet.
Help Build It
If you’ve ever joined an organization and thought:
“I wish we’d do more of this.”
or:
“Why do we always do it that way?”
this is the unusual opportunity to arrive before somebody responds:
“Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
There isn’t much “always” around here yet.
PCARS will become whatever the people willing to participate help turn it into.
Bring your experience.
Bring your questions.
Bring an idea.
Bring a project.
Bring a radio if you have one.
If you don’t have one yet, that’s fine too.
Let’s build something useful.
Questions first?
Contact us at info@pcars.club.