Kids are intrested, but need inspired.

Discussion in 'Youth Forum' started by STUCA1, Feb 23, 2012.

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  1. KD8DEY

    KD8DEY Ham Member QRZ Page

    While off to the side with one of the kids, give em a sly look and casually tell em "If you learn enough, you will be able to modify radios to listen in on stuff da gubmint doesn't want you to know about"
  2. KB3LAZ

    KB3LAZ Ham Member QRZ Page

    I wasnt interested in space or NASA as a kid. I was more curious about what was at the bottom of the ocean. =)
  3. KD0LOS

    KD0LOS Ham Member QRZ Page

    I'm a teenager and I'm staying active because of social networking on twitter. In fact, because of twitter, I am a NCS for an echolink net. There's also ham radio social networks like or To get more youth in the hobby, we just have to tell them its more than talking on the radio it expands into every day social networking!
  4. N7IC

    N7IC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yes, kids are more interested in computers. But this should be an oppurtunity. Show kids how you can use a computer along with a radio (rtty, PSK-31, etc...). That is what got me hooked in 1983 when I saw an Apple II hooked to a Yaesu FT-101ZD copying some RTTY at our high school.
  5. AC0UU

    AC0UU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I agree that in order to get the youth today into ham radio we need to show how to combine computers with ham radio - but it isn't going to work to show them they can use a computer and radio to text, they can do that on their small tiny phones. We need to find something they can work on to improve what we have or come up with something new. The youth today are very very into programming and hacking and are very good at it. Why not come up with something for them to actually do that needs improvement. Show them something like like for instance digital video over radio and give them a project to work on - like maybe finding a way to improve quality in the same or smaller bandwidth. That alone would show them that there are great many things they can do to actually participate and make a name for themselves in ham radio. There are other types of digital modes which could be invented and utilized to make ham radio better for everyone. These young people are excellent with computers and how they work and how to create new things with them. This is where you will get youth interested in ham radio. Talking and texting won't do.
  6. AK4PX

    AK4PX Ham Member QRZ Page

  7. KJ5T

    KJ5T Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    This is a VERY VERY good point. I wasn't that active in the last few years with the exception of contesting until I started watching Ham Nation, AmateurLogic.TV and listening to the QSO Radio Show Podcast. Lots of good media out there. I am now getting on the air almost every day.
  8. KD0LOS

    KD0LOS Ham Member QRZ Page

    Agreed! HamNation has been really good. Haven't watched AmateurLogic.TV before but am hoping to sometime in the future. Another way to get them interested: introduce them to Radio at Field Day or how I did it, I got interested through the Red Cross truck based in KC coming out to my Boy Scout meeting.
  9. N3KDX

    N3KDX Ham Member QRZ Page

    First time I have ever posted here, but I cannot pass this thread up as its something I have felt for a while...If you want to get young people involved in this hobby in larger numbers, there is no better way than to tie it in with someone else already mentioned, the digital sound card modes are one great way to do this. Another is digital voice and data.

    I first got my tech in college, then after a year or two of listening to guys mostly three times my age talk about retirement i lost interest and moved away from the hobby for several year. What brought me back was fiddling with a Motorola XTS5000 radio and all the new technology that came along with it that can be manipulated via computers for amateur use....I am now back in the hobby full swing and have traded all the plug and play stuff from japan for Digital Motorola gear. In the process I have met a lot of people around my age working in the communications field that have the same interest.....I am having a much better experience this time around! ....computers!!!
  10. AF4LY

    AF4LY Ham Member QRZ Page

    SDR is the way to go along with digital modes. You can build an SDR from a kit. You talk about how you can talk all over the world and most kids will say, these days, I can do that will my cell phone, Skype, etc. Now show them a radio YOU built to talk to people around the world and that gets kids and young adults excited about Ham Radio. What I would like to do is start a Ham Radio club at a school, church, whatever where we take a kit radio and put it together.

    Another thing I would like to do is build a station that someone can remote into through the internet, but it would be behind a login and reserve operating time. The biggest problem when I got my General was first, affording an HF rig. $450 is not much to me now, but it was sure a hell of a lot when I was 14. Also, convincing my parents to let me put up some sort of antenna. I think this causes a lot of young people who do get a license to get discouraged and fall away. All the kid needs is a computer with an internet connection.

    Those are two ways to get kids/young adults interested in Ham Radio with the use of computers.
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