I read the article and some of the comments. I wish I had time to read all the comments. There is a lot of truth in the comments and a lot of generalization too.
When we talk about kids, everyone assumes it is their type kid. That is not true. My kids have no interest in Ham radio or technology except as an appliance for communication (TV, Smartphones, tablets). Yet they are smart, accomplished and are doing their part for the future generation. They are just not science guys. Nor is everyone. In a nation of 200 million, less than 3.5% are licensed hams. Why should we expect everyone to share our interests? We have to go find those people one at time. Out of my extended family of 5 children and 10 grandchildren, I have one potential candidate that I am slowly bringing along. I don't know about you but in my day, kids interested in science were weird. And if you talked about radio you were weirder still. The titles of Nerd or Geeks hadn't been invented yet but you were weird socially, scholastically and athletically. I'm pretty sure most of us never went out for football or basketball and there was no Olympic event for Morse code or kit building. If you've ever seen the movie, October Sky, you know what I mean. Potential amateurs are not outgoing Alpha types, so they're hard to find. You have to go down to the schools and science clubs and to the tinkerers and out to the internet to find the nerds and geeks of today. They are out there.. There are more barriers to amateur radio than used to exist in my day. Cost is a big one and competition is the other. The nerds of today have other things to grab their attention. Usually it involves computers and microcontrollers that are relatively inexpensive to be assembled in endless ways. Robots, not radios are the big thing. And they are more attuned to software than to solder. Ham radio is not an inexpensive hobby either. Sure you can build a tuna fish can QRP rig for a few bucks but where do you go from there? The cheap war surplus gear that many of us grew up on is gone. Remember when you demonstrate ham radio by sitting down in front of your $10,000 station and make an instant contact with Europe or Japan that you and the kid are probably not on the same plane. You are thinking ain't this spiffy? And the kid is thinking, what's the big deal? Kids are not stupid and they know that what you have might not even be achievable in their lifetime. Besides they can do that with their computer or smartphone and it's free. And have real-time video feeds too. So its not about talking. Ham radio has to be more than that today. So amateur radio is changed from what it was and still is for us to something different. It's more about computers and software than circuits, OK? They are not interested in a rag chew across the continent but maybe more about EME and how the computer assists in that? They will be in the next generation going into space. They will be building driverless cars and robots that can learn. What will they be doing with ham radio? Maybe radios that can be downloaded instead of assembled. Maybe they'll figure out how to make radio waves travel faster than light so we'll be able to call Mars without that annoying delay. Maybe they'll invent new data modes like, I don't know, JT1000. Or maybe my grandson will name one after me, Gramps31. Its an exciting future for the hobby, I think. 73, Ron, K5HM [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <http://www.qrz.com/db/k5hm> www.qrz.com/db/k5hm From: BVARC [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Hiller via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2014 8:36 AM To: 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' Subject: [BVARC] Youth in Amateur Radio If you are interested in the subject of getting youth involved in Ham Radio, please have a read of the short e-ham article, "It was Worth a Try", and more importantly the follow-up comments. http://www.eham.net/articles/32940 Enjoy..Rick - W5RH
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