50 Ways to help

50 ways to help
in amateur radio

There are at least fifty ways you can help get people interested in amateur radio, help those in the hobby get over that latest hump, or help your community. Here are a few ideas. Add your own!

Point a prospective ham to the ARRL Hello... web site.
Loan them your old study guide or splurge and get them a new one.
Loan an old HT you have kicking around to a new ham.
Point a prospective ham to the 99 hobbies web site.
Help them make a simple dipole or even a G5RV.
Help them make a 2m j-pole.
Bring your HT to work or school.
Make a satellite contact from your parking lot to show the excitement of amateur radio.
Leave a copy of QST, CQ Amateur Radio, or World Radio at your dentist's office.
Volunteer to help your local club on Field Day
Help somebody hang their antenna wire high in their tree.
Help install a friend's mobile rig.
Get trained in emergency communication so you're ready to help when disaster strikes.
Offer to help jump start or be a resource for a school club.
Give a gift of a Rock-Mite from Small Wonder Labs to a young person. For $27 (plus a few parts from your junk box) this is a full transciever a young person could build.
Offer to help at a retirement home in your community to get a station up-and-running.
Offer to help the scouting organization in your area with their young people's efforts to get their merit badge for radio.
Become a volunteer examiner.
Join a radio club in your area.
Write an article about amateur radio for your local newspaper.
Give an ARRL membership to a young person after they get that first test passed.
Help another diagnose one of those pesky antenna problems with your antenna analyzer.
Help a new ham get their station configured for digital modes with their soundcard adapter and software.
Volunteer to be a net control operator for your local traffic handling net.
Offer to do code practice with a new ham on the air, or off the air with somebody practicing for that morse test.
Help a friend bury all those radials.
Answer those QSL cards you've let pile up. Somebody's award is waiting on you!
Donate one of your old ARRL Handbooks to your local library.
Assemble a go kit for you and your family. Include the amateur radio equipment, too.
Help a fellow ham when it is tower climbing time. Safety first!
Help a fellow ham put together that new fancy antenna with the mind-bending assembly manual.
Review the RF safety guidelines you memorized (and then immediately forgot after you were licensed).
Help a fellow ham who has RF in the shack or an RFI problem.
Learn the Wilderness Protocol. If you live or travel through a remote area, listen on those frequencies (146.52 MHz, 52.525, 223.5, 446.0 and 1294.5 MHz) when you can.
Give a presentation at your local radio club about the last thing that got you really excited about the hobby.
Offer to drive an elderly member or youngster to the next local club meeting.
Loan that extra key or set of paddles to the ham that just might like doing morse.
Run your local club's fundraising table at the next hamfest.
Volunteer with the handihams helping people with disabilities enjoy amateur radio.
Show a new ham how to get those PL-259 connectors on the coax.
Help a fellow ham finally get that radio and computer talking over the serial port.
Introduce someone young or old to the hobby of short wave listening.
Make code practice CDs or MP3s for those studying for the morse test.
Volunteer to help your local club with their support of the next parade, charity event, or festival.
Answer a question from a new ham on an email list or web site. Be patient, welcoming, helpful, and sincere.
Give an amateur radio class in your area. Perhaps even become an ARRL-Registered Instructor.
Contribute to the question pool for amateur radio tests.
Volunteer to help sort cards at the ARRL QSL buro.
Help a new ham wire that microphone, key, or paddles.
Make a special effort to work QRP stations once in a while. With only 5 watts (or less) they're too easily lost in the shuffle.