June 2025 Member Survey Summary

During the month of June 2025, the RATS membership was offered a 25-question survey about the club's operations, activities, and leadership.  The major highlights of that survey are below.  Out of 120 members and 5 pending applicants who were surveyed, we had a total of 29 respondents.  One member took the survey twice and only their first response was used.

The survey was designed by KG4PEQ with a majority of the work being done by artificial intelligence.  The information below is based on real human review of the survey data.  Full survey results are on file along with respondent email addresses and contact preferences.  Respondents who did not opt-out of follow-up communication may be contacted for more information (or to rope them in to some fun new activity!)

The survey results were reviewed by the Board at their July 2 meeting.

License Classes and Experience

There's a lot of ham radio experience among our respondents.

License class

• Extra:  69%

• General:  21%

• Technician:  7%

• Advanced:  3%

Years licensed

• Over 10 years:  55%

• 4 to 10 years:  28%

• 1 to 3 years:  14%

• Less than 1 year:  3%

Summary

While survey responses were skewed toward seasoned operators, our club's roster is a considerably more even balance of new and old hams.  The club needs to do a better job reaching out to newer hams and getting them engaged in the club.  Their feedback would have been quite valuable, and it's disappointing that so few new operators provided their input.

Equipment and Operating Habits

Equipment used

• Handheld: 93%

• Base station:  86%

• Mobile:  79%

• SDR:  44%

• Hotspot:  28%

Modes used

• VHF/UHF FM (repeaters/simplex):  86%

• HF voice (SSM/AM):  66%

• Digital voice (DMR/DSTAR/Fusion):  48%

• HF digital (FT8, PSK31, RTTY):  38%

• CW:  10%

• Satellite:  10%

Summary

Members have a bias toward VHF/UHF operation but HF voice interests are strong as well.  We have nearly as many members doing HF digital modes like FT8 as we have using VHF/UHF digital voice modes.  CW and satellite interests were unexpectedly low.

Members have a broad range of interests and experience within both VHF/UHF and HF bands, analog and digital.  The club is in a good position to integrate more of these modes into our activities.

CW and satellite both present opportunities for education, training, and hands-on exercises that expose more operators to these aspects of the hobby.  But, we might have to search a bit for someone who has the skills and is willing to share them.

Interests and Priorities

Top interests

• Public Service and Emergency Communications:  59%

• Repeaters and digital voice modes:  45%

• Antenna building and DIY:  38%

• Casual ragchewing:  34%

• HF digital (FT8/JS8Call/etc):  31%

• Contesting:  21%

• Experimentation/homebrewing:  17%

• Satellite/space comms:  17%

• Parks & portable operation:  17%

• Propagation:  3%  (write-in)

• Winlink:  3%  (write-in)

Participation in club activities - last 12 months

• Yes:  69%

• No:  24%

• I'm new to the club:  7%

Barriers to participation in club activity

• Schedule conflicts:  24%

• Events aren't interesting:  3%

• Health reasons:  3%

• New to the club:  3%

Club activity preferences

• Online Zoom-style presentations & workshops:  76%

• Field Day, other outdoor operating events:  66%

• Antenna builds, other hands-on projects:  59%

• In-person presentations, workshops:  59%

• Digital voice mode demos (DMR/DSTAR/Fusion):  41%

• Social gaterings/dinners:  38%

• Local group nets:  31%

• Community outreach (STEM demos, Scout events):  21%

• Test prep, license upgrade classes:  14%

Preferred event timing

• Varies - I'll come if it's interesting:  59%

• Weekday evenings:  45%

• Saturday mornings:  45%

• Saturday afternoons:  35%

• Sunday afternoons:  24%

Summary

A majority of survey respondents have participated in a club activity in the past year.  Those who cited barriers to attendance most commonly cited scheduling conflicts, but of those, 71% also said they'd find a way to get there if the activity is compelling.  No responses cited any transportation or mobility concerns.  Weekday evenings and Saturday mornings may be ideal times for club activities.

The low interest in parks & portable operation (Parks on The Air, Summits on the Air, etc) is interesting to see on paper, but it aligns with low turnout at these club activities in the past.  We'll likely de-prioritize these types of events in the future.

There's strong interest in online workshops, as well as in-person activities.  The club should try to offer more in both categories.

We'll need to probe deeper to understand the difference in interest between Field Day/other outdoor activities (66%) and Parks/portable operation (17%).

There's strong interest reflected in the survey for antenna builds and other hands-on projects (59%).  We had planned to offer an antenna building activity at Field Day, but literally nobody signed up for it.  We recognize that there are opportunities for improvement in planning, communication, and coordination of club activities, and club leadership may be dropping the ball by not providing enough notice or adequate communication to rope in members, which presents a significant barrier to participation.

There's also strong support for public service and EMCOMM.  We already have a Public Service Committee that's involved in a few public service events.  We need to get that team more engaged with training and other exercises throughout the year.

Meanwhile, there's low interest in test prep, license upgrade classes, and community outreach activities.  As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit it's very important that we have solid educational and community service aspects to our club.  Relatively low interest in these categories suggests RATS should allow this segment to be dominated by other clubs in the area who are already doing a better job (RARC) and we should look at partnering with these other organizations to ensure RATS has some kind of representation.

Skills & Learning Interests

Members are interested in learning more about

• Using DMR, DSTAR, or Fusion:  52%

• Building your own antennas:  48%

• Operating digital modes (FT8, JS8Call, etc):  38%

• Antenna modeling and propagation tools:  38%

• APRS or Winlink:  31%

• Programming radios:  28%

• Contesting basics:  14%

• Noise reduction:  3%  (write-in)

• Baluns:  3%  (write-in)

• SDR/deep dive into super technical topics:  3%  (write-in)

Willingness to teach or mentor

• Maybe:  55%

• No:  24%

• Yes:  21%

Desire for a club mentor

• No:  52%

• Maybe:  38%

• Yes:  10%

Summary

The club already has an active, modestly successful Elmer program that provides both one-off technical assistance and long-term mentorship for both new and experienced hams.  This is reinforced by our members' strong willingness to help each other.  The survey identified three members who are not currently part of our Elmer team but who would make great additions to that program.

The low interest in desire for a mentor is expected given the survey respondents' skew toward experienced operators.

The survey results give us a good starting point for the development of club activities and presentations over the next couple of years.  And, we now have better insight into which members have experience in which topics.  We'll work with some of those members to develop presentations and activities based on their knowledge.

Engagement and Feedback

Preferred channels for club news

• Email:  100%

• Club website:   31%

• Test messaging:  28%

• Social media (Facebook, RVAHams Slack, etc):  14%

What would increase likelihood of attendance at activities/meetings

• More interesting topics:  38%

• More hands-on opportunities:  38%

• Better timing/scheduling (different day):  24%

• More casual/social gatherings:  21%

• More active engagement with participants during the activity:  17%

• Shorter/more efficient club business meetings:  17%

• Better communication:  7%

Ideas for new activities and topics

• Antenna or other hardware builds

• How to use baluns, toroids, etc.

• What can hams to to help their community

Tech Night / Workshop Wednesday concept

• Yes/Support the idea:  44%

• Maybe:  41%

• No:  14%

Willingness to help with organizating/executing club activities

• Maybe:  45%

• Yes:  31%

• No:  24%

Willingness to travel for club activities

• Over 30 miles if it's a great event:  48%

• 10-20 miles:  24%

• Prefer virtual:  14%

• 20-30 miles:  14%

Summary

"If you build it, they will come."  Our members are willing to travel a great distance to attend a compelling club event... we just need to offer one!  The great news is that a good portion of our survey respondents are potentially willing to help organize these events.  We'll be in touch soon!

There is interest in a mix of in-person and virtual activities, with at least one respondent stating that they can only attend virtual events.  They expressed their appreciation for the RATS virtual format.  But we know people also want to see each other face-to-face, and we need to do a better job offering these opportunities.

As for member communication, email and our website are our primary communication channels.  We're taking the low social media score with a huge grain of salt.  While our current members may not rely on our very-underutilized social media channels, we know this is the best way to reach younger audiences nowadays.  Social media needs more attention from the club, but we probably won't rely on it as a primary way of disseminating important club news anytime soon.

Loaner Equipment Interest

Interest in borrowing tools if available

• Antenna analyzer (MFJ, RigExpert, etc):  17%

• Hotspot (DMR/DSTAR/Fusion):  17%

• NanoVNA (Vector Network Analyzer):  17%

• Coax crimpers or cutters:  10%

• Portable HF radio or QRP setup:  10%

• Anderson Powerpole crimpers:  7%

• Handheld radio (VHF/UHF analog/digital):  3%

• Digital multimeter:  3%

• RF dummy load:  3%

• Soldering iron/station, de-soldering tool, related:  3%

• Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR):  3%  (write-in)

Experience with loaner equipment

• I've used most of it/feel confident:  52%

• I've used some of it/would need refresher:  24%

• I've never used any of it:  14%

• I've seen it used but never operated it myself:  10%

Interest in hands-on training

• I just need a quick reference guide and pointers to training resources:  42%

• Maybe:  28%

• Yes:  21%

• No:  10%

Likelihood to attend demo events

• Yes:  55%

• No:  45%

Willingness to contribute equipment

• No:  59%

• Maybe:  31%

• Yes:  10%

Summary

We've been kicking the tires on an equipment loaner program for a while, considering both tools and radio equipment.  The survey results show lukewarm support for this type of program, but that may be due to the high experience and long license tenure of the survey respondents.  New and inexperienced operators are significantly under-represented in our survey, and they are the ones who may be at greatest need for this type of equipment.

The Elmer team should have access to the basic tools and test equipment that may be necessary to assist new hams as they enter the hobby.  There's also some interest more advanced equipment like NanoVNA which may justify a purchase, though a full-blown, highly active loaner program does not appear to have support in the survey responses.

One respondent enthusiastically requested a class on NanoVNA.

If loaner equipment is offered, we need to provide at least quick-reference materials and pointers to additional training resources.

While there's only modest support for a club loaner equipment program among survey respondents, there may still be value in acquiring some of this equipment, as long as we are prepared to give users the basic training resources they need.

Monthly Membership Meetings

Meeting Satisfaction

• 5 - Very satisfied:  28%

• 4 - Somewhat satisfied:  24%

• 3 - Neutral/average:  21%

• 2 - Somewhat dissatisfied:  0%

• 1 - Very dissatisfied:  7%

Business Portion Preferences

• Make detailed reports available online in advance instead of reading them aloud:  55%

• Keep it short and focused (15 minutes or less):  52%

• Only cover items that require member votes or discussions:  28%

• I like the current business format as-is:  28%

• N/A - I have not attended a membership meeting in the past 24 months:  14%

• Allow more Q&A from the floor after each committee report:  10%

• Limit off-topic comments:  3%  (write-in)

Engagement improvements

• Show & Tell (bring a project/interesting item to share):  48%

• Brief personal news ("What have you been working on?", license upgrades, personal events, new radios, etc):  41%

• Hands-on demos or tabletop exhibits before/after meeting:  38%

• Visitor and new member introductions:  38%

• "Stump the Elmer" Q&A time:  28%

• Quick roundtable or group check-in:  21%

• N/A - I have not attended a membership meeting in the past 24 months:  21%

Club leadership provides sufficient transparency, access to reports and decisions

• Yes:  62%

• Mostly, but there's room for improvement:  14%

• Not sure/don't pay attention:  3%

• N/A - I have not attended a RATS membership meeting in the past 24 months:  21%

Support for shifting business into Board meetings

• Maybe - as long as I can still access the reports and ask questions:  52%

• Yes - that sounds like a better use of meeting time:  31%

• Not sure:  10%

• No - the full reports should be presented during membership meetings:  7%

Summary

Most survey respondents are generally satisfied or neutral, but 1 in 5 hasn't attended recently and only a third are strongly satisfied.  There is room to improve both member engagement and meeting format.

There is strong support (83% yes/maybe) for moving more club business from the membership meetings to the Board meetings.  In our current format, officers and committee chairs deliver their respective reports verbally at both the Board and Membership meetings, resulting in time consuming duplicate delivery.

Meeting videos and minutes have been posted online for any member to access since September 2023, and all Board meetings are open to the membership.  Given those points, there's little reason to deliver committee reports twice.  If members want to see the information, it's readily available.  And if they want to provide feedback that influences leadership decisions, they're always welcome to attend the Board meetings.

We will work on getting minutes and videos posted more quickly, and we'll set some expectations around written committee reports that can be posted to the club website well in advance of the monthly meetings.  We do want to ensure financial reports and leadership decisions remain easily accessible to our members.

It's clear that the membership wants more of the stuff we used to do at our in-person meetings, before internal drama dragged business decisions and club operations to the forefront of the membership meetings a few years ago.  Bringing back introductions, "show and tell" and other features will be possible once we free up time by eliminating duplicate committee reports.  This should make our membership meetings feel a lot less bureaucratic and one-sided, and a lot more interactive, engaging, and personal, without significantly changing meeting length.

Overall, respondents showed high confidence in the club's operational transparency.  Trust is high, and we don't want to lose that.  In shifting business content out of the membership meetings, we'll have to make darn sure that all officers and committee chairs are consistently getting their reports published in a timely manner.

A few members (4) indicated that there's room for improvement in club transparency.  We're delighted the number is that low, but we don't want to downplay any concerns.  We will likely follow up with those respondents for additional insight to ensure their specific concerns are understood.

Other Comments

Remarks below are verbatim from the survey, except personally identifying information has been removed:

GO RATS!

My office has space for small meetings if ever desired. Only catch is parking.

Face to face meetings would boost my interest a lot.

I have been aware of RATS for a while, because of my interest in ARES. The strong aspect of RATS (to me) is its interest and support of amateur infrastructure in the region. Regenerating an interest by the amateur radio community is also an important objective. I am just getting into DMR, and I see a need on my part to get smarter and more effective at using the technology. I am involved in building the amateur emcomm community out here in the Northern Neck. Bits and pieces, here and there - you all know the drill. I was encouraged by Peter K2VIZ to begin working with DMR. I am talking with Jeff to make sure we find a new home for the repeater Peter put up. I need to get smart on DMR repeaters, and Motorola in general. Amateur radio clubs (like all clubs) are having a tough time in today's environment. The clubs that are successful have a strong sense of purpose - firm goals and objectives that encourage member participation. This survey is a great move in the right direction.

Yes

-This is a super survey, well done!
- The Board that brought RATS back to life has done a super job of not only saving the club, but IMHO, making improvements to so many areas like activities, public service, mentoring, programs, surveys!, generally being more friendly.
- I’d welcome a return to in-person meetings…if not the monthly membership mtg, maybe a monthly tech-topic held in a library room.
- shack of the month, feature equipment or technique (how to reduce signal noise) at the of membership mtgs

I live in King William so attending in person events usually requires a long drive, which is not convenient many times

More social nights at varied venues. More weekend parks on the air type events. I love those

I think the current leadership is doing a good job heading in the right direction.

Love the club and what we are doing. look forward to see where we can go and grow to.

Looking forward to meeting the members

I was thinking about the need for a public information officer, to inform, advertise the club and it's outreach to and for the community. The club has supported various community events, but how much of the community is aware of this and what the club does. This also relates to outreach for new members.

Generally, I have never used my license or radio. An emergency manager for 16 years, I knew it was a good idea to have an awareness of the HAM world. Now, I would like to know what I don’t know and learn and practice. Appreciate all the work, leadership team!

Thank you. I need a 422x rig. Any suggestions? I used 28.88 a lot, but it seems down or not functioning well. The Zoom meetings work well. I started as ***** in 1963. Now I am ****, Extra. I am in an apartment in Avery Point, facing south west. I have HF, 2 meters, and 6 meters. I use a small multi-band antenna for HF.

I want to thank those who have volunteered and helped to keep the club and repeater going.

I'm brand new to RATS while very active in RARC and DDXG. I really like your guys' format, and when time permits, I want to get more involved with in person activities! I've been so busy personally and with school right now. As this improves, I want to get more involved and spread my radio load out around the community more. 73,

It was a Great turn out for Peter Martin!