The Future of Amateur Radio IS with our youth!!!

The Future of Amateur Radio IS with our youth! But lets think about what youth is for a second, and give done credit for those who are not so youthful…

In response to a The Future of Amateur Radio is with our youth . . . not! by Joe Cupano, NE2Z (because his wordpress doesn’t allow comments, unless you’re logged in as admin to his site, lol.

To that headline, I say, the Future of Amateur Radio IS with our youth!

But youth is relative. Sure, there is a definition of youth, but I argue that youth in ham radio must take it’s aged demographic into consideration. The average ham (according to ARRL/NCJ and OFCOM data) is…old. The UK its over 71, the ARRL/NCJ is 70. So what is youth relative to 70 years old? What would at 70 year old tell you?

They would say to almost everyone younger than then, even a 50 year old, that they’re still young!

But that begs the question: what is old? Unfortunately, “old” has a very negative connotation (cranky, curmudgeonly, stinky, mean, burdensome, stubborn, and tech illiterate) while the positives (wise, elder, experienced, aged (like a fine wine or whisky), and virtuous) are often ignored.

Simply put, old is not young. And based on our relativity to ham radio, and removing as much connotation and subjectivity as possible, old is aged beyond that of the average ham radio licensee, which is about 70.

Lets actually read the post and not jump to conclusions about the title (can’t begin to tell you how much that happens on my blog. If you’re a reader of n0ssc.com I probably don’t have to remind you that Millennials Are Killing Ham Radio, but maybe I should have put a “…NOT” in that headline🙃).

Joe asks,

How many times have you seen the messaging in Amateur Radio that it’s future is with the youth and how the Amateur Radio community should engage them in teaching or demonstrating technology to them?

It’s bullshit!

It’s bullshit because he believes there is a double standard (I guess) where youth are failing to show hams how to use modern technology like cellphones, social media, maker tech, and videoconferencing, and that youth have surpassed the ham radio community in technology engagement.

I’ve mulled that one over.

It must be a symptom of his tunnel vision, or something, but I fail to see both the double standard, and the fact that young people aren’t teaching old people (and in Joe’s case, specifically hams) how to use tech. This, I think, is bullshit, because old folks are using tech, and using it well enough to present themselves on Zoom meetings, create and comment on Facebook posts, make YouTube videos of their ham radio fun (some pretty great!) and even make 3D printed thingies – THANKS ENTIRELY to…

Gotcha! You thought I was gonna say youth there, didn’t you?

First of all, the fact that old people still, in fact, have a brain and can still learn, often by themselves, nullifies Joe’s premise, but secondly, people who have either helped them learn (I currently don’t know a young ham who isn’t tech support for their grandma), or have made tech generally as accessible as possible for people of all ages and levels of technology literacy in the first place. And some of those helpful people happen to be young. Some are old, too. But what’s your point, Joe?

Joe mentions the overlooked “middle child” of generations – Millennials and GenXers (did I tell you Millennials Are Killing Ham Radio?) but I feel he left his point hanging there, but contextually, I assume he believes the reins of ham radio is in their hands but doesn’t consider those people “young.” I believe this to be true, but it’s just as important to bring ham radio into the minds and hands of GenX and Millennials as it is for GenZ, and those after that when they come of age, for the same reason why it’s of paramount importance (not to mention highly desirable) to have diversity in any community of peoples.

But maybe, ham radio has always been an old person’s hobby, and that’s just the way it is. Hiram Percy Maxim apparently stated that the age of hams was a problem…in 1900s (citation needed…someone told this to me at W4DXCC and I’ve not found a source, but I believe it!)

Even if that’s the case, imagine my disappointment when the old guard dies away without doing anything to bring new blood into ham radio, resulting in international amateur radio spectrum reallocation, resulting in no ham radio for me when I get to be old. That would suck, and that’s why I am the IARU R2 Liasion for Youth and a co-founder of Youth on the Air, and a die-hard evangelist for this hobby. I don’t have the time in my 20s and 30s to operate every day, go on mega DXpeditions, contest for 48 hours straight for 12 weekends out of the year and more, and win WRTC, because I’m working over full time while still having a life with my wife, dog and two cats, friends, and family, with the world to still see. I want ham radio to still exist when I retire, dammit!

(and also to give back to the community by making ham radio a valuable STEM sandbox for young people, as it did for me!)

So I will blog during my lunch hours, I’ll travel to a hamfest to give a talk a few times a year, and I’ll join a club’s zoom to help promote youth in ham radio. What are you doing to keep ham radio existing in perpetuity?

If anything, just get on the air!

First Annual “Dream Rig” Youth Essay Contest (Press Release from Intrepid-DX Group)

Press Release by the Intrepid-DX Group
Wednesday, July 1, 2020

First Annual “Dream Rig” Youth Essay Contest.

The Intrepid-DX Group is a US based 501 C(3) nonprofit organization that promotes Amateur Radio activities in developing countries.

Announcing our first annual Youth Essay Contest-Prize is a Dream Rig!

The Intrepid-DX Group recognizes the importance of including Youth in our great hobby because they are our future!  We are establishing an annual Dream Rig Youth Essay Contest to learn the suggestions of young people for attracting other young operators to Amateur Radio.

What is the Prize?

The prize is a factory fresh ICOM IC-7300!  See the features here:

https://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7300/default.aspx

Contest Rules:

1)    Two-page Essay answering these questions: A) What are your amateur radio goals? B) What can we do to attract more youth to amateur radio?

2)    USA Amateur Radio License Holders Age 19 or younger.

3)    Promise to keep the radio for one year, not flip it, trade it or sell it, and to use it on the air.

4)    Send essay in text or MS Word attachment to intrepiddxgroup@gmail.com by July 31, 2020.

5)    You may alternatively mail it to: The Intrepid-DX Group, 3052 Wetmore Dr, San Jose, CA 95148, USA.. Must be post marked by July 31, 2020.

6) The winner of the Essay Contest will be announced on our Website and Facebook page on August 10, 2020.

All submissions become the property of the Intrepid-DX Group and may be published.

Questions: Send an email to pauln6pse@gmail.com

Follow us on our homepage www.Intrepid-DX.com and/or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/The-Intrepid-DX-Group-180857615282553

Introducing Young Amateurs Radio Club QSO Party…with PRIZES!

This is exciting.

I haven’t been around for a while, because life is busy: I bought a house, got married, and have been working overtime, so there it little room for ham radio.

But I had to come back to announce this.

On December 1, 2018, the YARC Winter QSO Party will begin. This is a QSO party open to all to introduce and encourage young people to get on the air.

There is a special surprise with this contest: PRIZES!

Courtesy of the people who bring you Hamstudy, winners of the following categories:

  • First Place, Single-Operator QRP
  • First Place, Single-Operator Low
  • First Place, Single-Operator High
  • Second Place, New Contester

Will have a choice of one of the following prizes:

  • NooElec SDR Bundle
  • Baofeng UV-5R
  • 1 SignalStick whip antenna and 1 HamStudy.org t-shirt

Winners of the following categories:

  • First Place, Multi-Single Low
  • First Place, Multi-Single High
  • First Place, Multi-Multi Low
  • First Place, Multi-Multi High
  • First Place, School Club
  • Second Place, School Club
  • First Place, New Contester

Will have a choice of one of the following prizes:

  • 2019 ARRL Handbook (Softcover Edition) and 2 SignalStick whip antennas
  • Arrow II 146-3 Handheld Portable Yagi Antenna
  • QRPLabs QCX QRP Tranceiver Kit and 2 SignalStick whip antennas

The team at YARC has been hard at working getting this put together, and finally it’s live! We can’t wait to work you on the air from WY4RC!

All rules are located at https://yarc.world/events/contests/2018/09/18/winter-qso-party-2018/ and you’re invited to join the YARC Discord Chat and the /r/amateurradio subreddit thread for questions and comments. This is a first time thing, so expect a few bumps on the way.

Update 2018 Nov 27: Because of all the flak we’ve received about how this contest could put operators in a sticky situation regarding pecuniary interest, the prizes were changed from $25-$75 Visa gift cards to amateur radio gear.