There has never been a better time to share your passion for Amateur Radio with your friends and family members!

Many of the people you know probably realize that you enjoy Amateur Radio. You may have shown it to them years ago. But what do they know about the 2008 version of your avocation?

• Do they know that our stations do not have to be bulky boxes banished to the basement or garage, but that they now come in compact, highly transportable packages?

• Do they realize that the digital revolution sweeping through consumer electronics is bringing equally exciting changes to Amateur Radio?

• Do they know about the many ways we use computers to enhance our operating?

• Do they know that Amateur Radio interfaces with -- but doesn't rely on -- the Internet?

• Do they understand how, when the power and telephone lines are down and cell phones aren't working, we can still communicate?

• Do they know that knowledge of Morse code is no longer a requirement for any class of FCC amateur license (but that CW continues to be one of the most popular operating modes)?

Unless you're a relatively recent licensee, your friends probably have a 20^th Century impression of Amateur Radio. They might remember you making autopatches from your car, which was pretty impressive at the time but now seems as dated as a rotary-dial telephone. They might recall that you were exchanging electronic mail by packet radio years before they enjoyed the blessing (or curse) of email themselves. If you were an early devotee of radioteletype (RTTY), the sounds and smell of your surplus teleprinter (your pride and joy, mechanical monster that it was) may yet linger in their subconscious.

Those are the memories that cause people to ask, "Amateur Radio? Do they still do that?"

On the other hand, your friends probably can't imagine that radio amateurs routinely bounce signals off the moon using software tools adapted from radio astronomy. They don't know that while GPS navigation is just becoming commonplace, amateurs have been using it for years to track one another's whereabouts -- and are still coming up with new applications. They don't realize that it's less trouble to take an Amateur Radio station along on vacation than it is to take skis or golf clubs.

Your friends might have thought about how they would get in touch with their own family members if a disaster or crisis cut off telephones and the Internet, but they may not realize that Amateur Radio can provide the answer -- and that they can do it themselves.

Technology is what makes all that, and more, possible. But technology may not be -- at least, not directly -- what makes you passionate about Amateur Radio.

It may be restoring and operating older equipment.

It may be the ability to provide a public service in your community.

It may be the people you meet who share your interests or who broaden your perspective.

It may be the opportunity to improve your skills by competing or collaborating with others.

It may simply be that radio -- being able to communicate without wires, over virtually any distance -- is still magic.

Whatever it is, make 2008 the year you share your passion with your friends and family members.

Signs are all around us that Amateur Radio is on an upswing. ARRL membership grew by 3.3% in 2007 -- the best result we've had since 1993 -- to a total of 153,535 at yearend. Participation in ARRL-sponsored operating events and programs is increasing despite the absence of sunspots. A number of antenna and equipment manufacturers say they can't keep up with demand.

Even so, most people -- including many radio amateurs -- are not aware that Amateur Radio is in the midst of growth and change. If we want them to understand us -- if we want them to join us -- then we must take the initiative.

We all know people who thought about getting a license at one time but never quite got around to it, for whatever reason. We all know people who were licensed at one time, perhaps as Novices, whose licenses have lapsed. We all know licensed amateurs who haven't been on the air in years.

We also know people, especially younger people, who don't know very much about Amateur Radio. It's not their fault. For all of their lives they have been surrounded by advanced communications technology and insulated from the magic.

Let's make sure, before the year is out, that they know what they're missing. Talk to them about what you're doing, or thinking about doing, in Amateur Radio. Bring them along to a radio club meeting or just for coffee with the gang. Show them your station, whether you carry it on your belt or it looks like Mission Control -- and if the latter, make sure you explain that all that stuff isn't really necessary. Point them to interesting Web sites. Steer them toward the 99% of us who are positive and welcoming, and away from the 1% who aren't.

There's a good chance that by helping others discover the magic of radio, we'll discover -- or rediscover -- something ourselves.

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