Many
non-hams think that the
FCC controls the
administration of
amateur radio in the
United States. In actuality the
American Radio Relay League or
ARRL adminstrates the
hobby as a
quasi-
governmental agency.
First, the "
traditional" name for the organization comes from the original intent of providing relays for stations operating under very contrived conditions. Stations transmitted
CW or
morse code using
spark generators producing
insane voltage;
frequencies were well into the
longwave range, 200
meters and below in
wavelength. With all the stations and
interference,
signals could
pierce five to fifteen miles (8 - 24 km) or so. Mind you this is in the
Great War era, so the
embryonic ARRL had to keep the
hobby alive during
restricted operations as it did in
World War II. Unfortunately, the
American Radio Relay League dropped its
formal title a few years ago because of "name recognition with the
general public." Also, most new amateur operators will never touch a
code key in their
ham careers. The old title survives only in a
legal context.
ARRL administers the vast majority of
licensing exams. The organization also does most of the
Washington legislative lobbying. Many other national amateur radio clubs have accused ARRL of running
international amateur
policy as well, setting frequency guidelines and laws. Almost every nation has adopted the ARRL general structure as well as even a
variant of the ARRL "diamond"
logo.
A lot of hams say that ARRL is dying since it focuses on the "
old guard" operators who operate
HF (
shortwave frequencies) only. Most new hams operate above 50 MHz exclusively.
QST now features more articles focused on non-morse-code hams, but is reluctant to drop the
technical articles that made the magazine famous. But, if you're in
Newington, CT, drop in, see, and operate
W1AW, ARRL's huge
transmission station.