Clubs and Elmers

An Elmer is ham slang for a mentor — someone who answers the "dumb" questions, helps program the first radio, and stands beside you for the first contact. A club is where you usually find one. Nothing on this site replaces a person who will look at your actual radio.

Independent guide. Not a club directory and not affiliated with ARRL or any club listed by the search tools below.

Clubs & Elmers v1.0 · written 2026-10-08 · links checked as of Oct 2026

What a club gives you

• Mentoring — programming help, antenna help, "is this normal?" answers.
• Exams and classes — many clubs host VE sessions and license classes.
• A station to use — club stations and loaner radios let you try HF before you buy.
• Events — Field Day, contests, special-event stations, public-service events, Kids Day and JOTA stations.
• A repeater and a weekly net — a friendly place for your first check-in.
• Swap tables and hamfests — used gear checked by people who know it. Before you buy: Buying used.

How to find one

Listening is a good filter: the club whose net sounds friendly on the air usually is.

Your first meeting: what to ask

• "Do you have an Elmer or new-ham program?" (Some clubs pair new members with mentors.)
• "When is the weekly net, and on which repeater?"
• "Is there a club station or loaner radio I can try?"
• "When are VE sessions and classes?"
• "Do you do Field Day, public service or youth events?"
• "What do dues cost and what do they cover?"

Kinds of clubs

Being a good mentee

• Bring your radio, its manual and a specific question.
• Write down settings (offsets, tones) as you learn them.
• Try first, then ask — and say what you tried.
• Show up to the net and to events; mentors invest in people who stay.
• Pass it on later.

Being a good Elmer

• Let the new ham press the buttons; explain why.
• No gatekeeping: a Technician with an HT is a ham.
• Point to primary sources (Part 97, the band plan) rather than lore.
• Mentoring a minor? Meet in group or public settings and follow any youth-protection rules of the group involved (Scouting & ham radio).
• Use free tools: Ticket to Talk for upgrades, Net Scribe for club nets.

Clubs and the big events

• Field Day (fourth full weekend of June) is the most popular club event of the year — a great time to visit, even unlicensed.
• Public-service events — races, rides and parades (Public service).
• Support Your Parks — club park activations (Support Your Parks).
• JOTA and Kids Day — youth outreach (Scouting · ARRL Kids Day).

Foxhunting and radio orienteering

A foxhunt is a hidden-transmitter hunt. Clubs run two kinds:

• Local foxhunts. Someone hides a low-power 2 m transmitter, and hunters track it on foot or by car with a handheld, a small directional antenna (a tape-measure yagi is a classic build) and an attenuator for the last few yards.
• Radio orienteering (ARDF). Competitors cover forest courses on foot with a map, a compass and a direction-finding receiver, on 80 m or 2 m. Event types include Classic, Sprint and Foxoring. ARRL's coordinators now call the sport Radio Orienteering (ARRL Radio Orienteering). The 2026 USA championships, held together with the IARU Region 2 championships, ran August 12–16 near Mt. Hood, Oregon.

Hunting only means receiving, so anyone can take part, licensed or not. That makes it a good family and youth activity. The fox transmitter needs a licensed operator responsible for it. Direction-finding skills also help you track down noise sources: see Permanent shack.

On-air events made for newcomers

Related

• What is ham radio? · First repeater contact · First net
• Emcomm · SKYWARN · Public service

More groups (YLRL, Handiham, YOTA), big hamfests, magazines and podcasts: Community. Becoming a VE: Upgrade & VE.

Club jargon decoded: Glossary.

v1.0, 2026-10-08.