History

 
 
RadioActive Hams was officially formed on June 1, 2013 but has been a gleam in the eye of a few of the founding members for quite some time before that.

from W9RJD-
     Ever since I got my license in 2003 I was presented with a number of great people. There were people of all kinds, all willing to help and teach and have fun. They welcomed me with open arms and I appreciated every bit of it. However shortly after that i began to run in to “the darker side”. These were the guys that shunned the “newbies”. Some because of the perceived lack of knowledge, some for the lack of operational skills and some simply because they were elitist upper class license holders that felt belittled to even talk to a tech, especially a no code tech!
     As I “grew” in the hobby and eventually graduated to my General ticket years later, I was still quite bothered by the actions taken by some of my ham “brothers” and tried my best to fight it. I tried to interject when there was a stupid ham spouting nonsense rules that didn’t exist. I tried to let the new guys know that not everybody is a complete jerk. I tried and tried and tried to set these guys straight in every way I could think. Then I realized that the problem was much bigger than I could even have imagined. The problem is systemic and seems to permeate throughout the hobby nation wide!
     How to solve this… I had the idea to start a website, maybe even a podcast. I want to be able to spread the word of a fun, intelligent thinking, group of guys instead of the old, fat, stupid, nerdy socially stunted ham operator that the public thinks we are and the a-hole elitist “old man” operator that so many of us know is out there. But how, when, where, what?
     In May of 2013 I was approached by Stan (KC9CTQ) about forming a club for the sole purpose of obtaining a club call for his new D-star repeater. CLICK! Everything just went click in my head… “Stan? What would you say if we started a club and was actually serious about it?” I already knew Stan shared my thinking on our hobby and wanted a “change” as well. “I already have a Facebook group with many subscribers, I can make the website, we can form the club and we might actually have something here!”. Stan’s reaction was all I was hoping for, and the light was green…
     We started recruiting other friends and like thinkers, some of which are now officers in the club. Craig and I began work on the Podcast in hopes to reach a broader area. Stan began working on the repeater and trying to get it going as best he can. The rest did their parts and here we are.

Why am I treating this as some sort of revelation, why does it even matter?

     Simply put Ham radio is a valuable service in times of need and in better times, but what people seem to forget is that the hobby of amateur radio is possibly more important than the service it provides. If it weren’t for the hobby, for peoples love of radio and habitual use of radio gear on a daily basis when the time came to put our skills in action, the skills just wouldn’t be there. And as amateur licenses are at the highest number EVER in the U.S. we all have noticed a distinctive drop in the number of active hams. Why is this? My thought is that they get chased off shortly after getting their license or get disgusted eventually as I have. We need to save this hobby. It is a very valuable hobby in every aspect but unfortunately a select few are killing it from the inside while giving the public a bad view at the same time. How many of you would almost rather not even tell friends and family about your hobby because when you do, you are greeted with “CB died in the 70s” or “what a nerd” type comments? I bet its a lot. We need to change that. RadioActive Ham/s is on a mission to reinvigorate ham radio with new life, new meaning and save this amazing hobby from the path it is on.