The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the USA. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was founded in May 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut. The ARRL represents the interests of amateur radio operators before federal regulatory bodies, provides technical advice and assistance to amateur radio enthusiasts, and supports a number of educational programs throughout the country. The ARRL has approximately 152,000 members. In addition to members in the US, the organization claims over 7,000 members in other countries. The ARRL publishes many books and a monthly membership journal called QST.

The ARRL is the primary representative organization of amateur radio operators to the US government. It performs this function by lobbying the US Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. The ARRL is also the international secretariat of the International Amateur Radio Union, which performs a similar role internationally, advocating for amateur radio interests before the International Telecommunications Union and the World Administrative Radio Conferences.

The organization is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors. Each director serves a three-year term and represents the members within their particular region of the country. The national headquarters facilities are located in Newington, Connecticut. Along with the administrative headquarters, the seven-acre site is home to amateur radio station W1AW. Operational activities are primarily carried out through affiliated field organizations.

Governance

The ARRL is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors. The organization divides its membership into 15 Divisions, each representing a separate portion of the country. One Director and one Vice-Directors are elected by members of each Division to serve a three-year term. Director elections are staggered so that approximately one-third of the Directors and Vice Directors are up for election each year. The Board of Directors manages policy direction for the organization as a whole.^[1] The Board of Directors appoints an executive management team of 11 officers to manage day-to-day operations of the organization, led by a President and a Chief Executive Officer. These paid officers can hold their positions as long as the Board of Directors approves.^[2]

Operational activities of the American Radio Relay League are carried out through a field organization. The organization divides the 15 Division into 71 separate geographic regions called Sections. Each Section has a similar team of one elected Section Manager and several volunteer positions. Section Managers are elected by the members living within the section for a two year term. The Section Manager appoints a team of volunteers including an Affiliated Club Coordinator, Bulletin Manager, Official Observer Coordinator, Public Information Coordinator, Section Emergency Coordinator, Section Traffic Manager, State Government Liaison, and Technical Coordinator. A Section Manager may optionally appoint one or more Assistant Section Managers.^[3]

An important function of the ARRL Field Organization is organizing emergency communications in the event of civil or natural disaster. The ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) program is organized through the ARRL Field Organization. Each Section of the Field Organization has an appointed Section Emergency Coordinator. The ARES organization supports training, establishes Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with governmental and relief agencies, and organizes regular practice exercises. In 2005, ARES, with hundreds of volunteer amateur radio operators, provided key communications assistance to recovery organizations and officials coordinating Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. ^[4]

History

Hiram Percy Maxim, founder of the ARRL, ca. 1914.

1914?1920

In 1914, Hiram P. Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut, was a prominent businessman, engineer, and inventor (notably of the Maxim Silencer). He was also an active radio amateur, with one of the best-equipped stations in the Hartford area. One night in April he attempted to send a message to another ham in Springfield, Massachusetts. He had a one-kilowatt station (call 1WH), and Springfield was only 30 miles away, well within his normal range. He was unable to make contact, and remembering that he knew another ham in Windsor Locks, about halfway, he contacted the Windsor Locks ham, and asked him to relay the message, which was successfully done. This was not the first time a message had been relayed, but it set Maxim to thinking. At that time, a great deal, perhaps most of amateur radio activity consisted of sending and receiving messages, not only between amateurs, but involving the general public as well. But at that time the maximum reliable range of a station was a few hundred miles or less, and so Maxim realized that a formally organized relay system would be of tremendous use to amateurs.^[5]

Maxim was a member of the Radio Club of Hartford, and he presented a plan for the organization of an "American Radio Relay League" (he had already decided on the name) to the club at its April 1914 meeting. The club agreed to sponsor the development of such an organization. Maxim and Clarence Tuska, the secretary of the Hartford Radio Club, developed application forms and sent them out to every amateur station they could think of. Although they limited membership to highly qualified amateurs only, the response was tremendous. By September 1914 they had over 230 stations on the roster.

In early 1915, disagreements began to surface as to the role of the Hartford Radio Club in the new organization, and in February the ARRL split off from the club and incorporated under Connecticut law. Finances were shaky, and most of the income came from sales of booklets, maps and message blanks. But the ARRL kept growing. By March 1915, there were 600 stations on the roster, and due to improvements in equipment and operating ability, some of the better stations were claiming communication ranges of up to a thousand miles. It was apparent that the ARRL now needed some kind of bulletin to stay in touch with its members, but there was no money for such a thing. Maxim and Tuska agreed to personally finance it, and in December 1915 the first, sixteen page issue of QST was sent free to all members. Further issues would be supplied through subscription at $1.00 per year.

In 1916, with ARRL membership nearing a thousand, Maxim set up six trunk lines of relay stations, both east-west and north-south, and individual managers were appointed. Messages were now being relayed over longer and longer distances, and in February 1917 a message was sent from New York to Los Angeles and an answer received in one hour and twenty minutes.

Also in 1917, the ARRL was reorganized. Up to that time it had been run entirely by Maxim and Tuska, but it was time for a more formal organization. A constitution was adopted, twelve directors and four officers were elected (including President Maxim and Secretary Tuska), and membership was opened to anyone interested in radio. No sooner had this happened than all amateurs received a letter from the Department of Commerce ordering them off the air and to dismantle all antennas, because the USA had just entered World War I.

During the war the ARRL facilitated the recruitment of amateurs into communications positions with the armed services, but had little else to do since all civilian experimentation with radio equipment was prohibited. In November 1918 the Armistice was signed, but at the same time, Congress introduced bills to put all radio operations in the United States under control of the Navy. The ARRL strongly opposed the bills, of course; Maxim testified before Congressional committees and the League organized an effective grass roots campaign with thousands of individuals contacting their congressmen in opposition. The bills were defeated, and in April 1919 amateurs were permitted to put up antennas again, but only for receiving.

Meanwhile, the League needed reorganization. With the long lapse in activity, the ARRL now had exactly $33 in the treasury. A privately financed, four-page miniature issue of QST was produced announcing the re-organization, and applications began to come in. A financing plan consisting of selling bonds to members was adopted and about $7500 was raised. QST was purchased from its owner, Clarence Tuska. ARRL continued to lobby Congress for the resumption of transmitting privileges, and after a number of protests and appeals, amateur radio was fully restored in November 1919.

1920?

History repeated itself during World War II with US amateurs being told to leave the air. Again ARRL successfully lobbied Congress to reauthorize Amateur Radio.

Regulatory advocacy

The ARRL has opposed regulatory support for Broadband over Power Lines, arguing that the power lines will radiate interfering radio energy, impeding amateur radio activities. The League has filed several interference reports with the FCC. The ARRL sued the FCC, claiming that the FCC violated the Administrative Procedure Act in creating its rules pertaining to BPL. On April 25, 2008, a US Court of Appeals agreed with the ARRL that the FCC violated the APA, especially by redacting data from the public that could have shed doubt on the FCC's decision. "It is one thing for the Commission to give notice and make available for comment the studies on which it relied in formulating the rule while explaining its non-reliance on certain parts," D.C. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers wrote. "It is quite another thing to provide notice and an opportunity for comment on only those parts of the studies that the Commission likes best."^[6]

Services

One of the many guest operators at W1AW's Studio One.

Publications

The ARRL provides several publications and journals to both members and non-members. QST is the organization's monthly membership journal, named after a Morse code Q signal that means "calling all stations". The organization also publishes two bimonthly magazines of special interest: QEX for radio electronics experimenters, and the National Contest Journal for contesting enthusiasts. The ARRL publishes various technical books and online courses. Members of the organization also have access to a special Members Only section of the ARRL web site that includes technical documents, expanded product reviews of amateur radio equipment, expanded contesting information, and a searchable database of all league publications. A flagship annual publication, The Radio Amateur's Handbook, has been published since 1926.

Contests

The ARRL sponsors numerous amateur radio contests throughout the year with the biggest of these being November Sweepstakes and the International DX Contest. Other contests and sponsored operating events include Straight Key Night, VHF Sweepstakes, UHF Contest, and 10 GHz and Up Contest. The ARRL also participates as a Headquarters station for the IARU HF World Championship. Field Day is an annual event organized by the ARRL that includes both a competitive element as well as an emphasis on emergency communications readiness and the promotion of amateur radio.

Criticism

The ARRL is often criticized for acting in its own interests rather than in the interest of the entire amateur radio community. Common criticisms include ARRL's support for less strict licensing requirements in the 2000s, which opponents consider "dumbing down" amateur radio and/or making amateur radio more like CB radio (where critics contend that FCC regulations are generally not followed). Critics claim that the ARRL is doing this for purposes of gaining additional membership.^[7] Others feel, however, that the ARRL was slow to lobby for the removal of or the easing of the Morse code proficiency requirements of the various license classes; that this ?conservatism? was keeping many otherwise qualified people out of amateur radio and thus threatening its future.^[7] Other criticisms of the organization cite its support for segmentation of the HF amateur bands in the U.S. by bandwidth, rather than by mode, which some claim gives preference to users of the Winlink system.^[8]

See also

• Amateur Radio Emergency Service
• International Amateur Radio Union
• National Traffic System
• Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

References

de:American Radio Relay League pl:American Radio Relay League

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