Youth in Amateur Radio- What's your opinion?

[WX4KIM]

Hello to alll... I am WX4KIM... Kim... I am working on an article about Youth in Amateur Radio... and asking many people and interviewing them have got me more interested in this topic then I thought that I would ever be... how do we get more youth interested in Amateur Radio? With cellphones, Ipods, computers? How can Amateur Radio match up to all that? Let's not forget videogames!! However... I believe that if THE youth in Amateur Radio would go out and tell other people without worrying about what other people think then perhaps we could make a HUGE dent in the youth population of getting them interested in Amateur Radio...Amateur Radio has to get more youth. Without the youth then where will Amateur Radio go? I am wanting others input... please... thankyou for your time... Lots of 73's...de WX4KIM.

[kn4ds]

I dunno... I just signed a CSCE at Field Day for a youngster who passed his General (and it was updated in the ULS on Tuesday).

In order to interest anybody in ham radio, they have to be exposed to it. You mention all the other things... cell phones, computers, etc... they're exposed to those things over and over every day.

Amateur radio? Not so much.

In order to interest the youngsters in the hobby, they have to know about it. So there lies your challenge.

[kd5kfl]

1) Low priced radios. Right now, the least expensive HF transceivers on eBay run about $350 + $50 shipping. That would be a major outlay for most family men, and any kid.

2) A TV show in which a kid - not a dork, dweeb, geek, nerd or whatever the current word is for a poorly socialized highly intelligent kid - operates an amateur radio.

In Re 1) A radio bank run by ham clubs, where hams with a cluttered shack could drop off their underutilized rigs; or CBs converted to use the bottom end of 10 meters, would get them on the air.

[N4AUD]

How to get boys in their teens interested in amateur radio?

Pictures of naked girls on the front of radios? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Amateur radio needs more positive media exposure, whether entertainment media or news outlets, and we need reporters who get facts straight when they do a story on it. Most of the reports I see are filled with inaccuracies.

And of course we could make computers/internet illegal. That would bring in young people in droves...they just don't see the magic in talking to someone halfway around the world because they can do that now via the internet, and without antennas, static, testing and all the other bother we go through.

[VO1GXG]

1.Morse code testing was something that stopped me from getting my license , its been gone in Canada for the last several years .

2. Schools should put something in there science courses.

3.brochures , posters and ads

4. People willing to help people get into the hobby ,that was a real problem for me .

[KI4HAS]

I want to get my nephew interesting in Ham radio. It would be a good way to remember his grandfather, and get him interested in science. He lives on the opposite coast, but I’ll see what I can do over Christmas.

[KE7NMS]

One of the best ways, to get the more responsible youth, is to show them, and get them invoved with the emergency response drills.

Another way has already been mentioned. Replace the current perception of the radio operator with one that is more "hip".

[k5jat]

I think a good way to promote AR is to visit schools and give demonstrations. Show them APRS, packet, and work a satellite if you can. Heck, throw a wire over a tree and see if you can get a DX contact on 20 or 30 meters. Point out that you get to tinker with electronics and play with different technologies. Expose them to as much of it as possible.

Show them that it's a very versatile and fun hobby, and that it has something for everyone who's interested in technology and gadgets.

73, Jay KE5NRH

[KE6MGB]

I've been licensed since I was 13. Now 27, I've lost interest in ham radio due to the fact that no one on the air is close to my age. 10 years ago I was part of a couple of local ham clubs. They were all filled with older members (50+ in age). Nothing against older hams, but let's be real, to really enjoy something it helps to engage with others who are close in age.

I'm trying to get back into local 2m/440, but am finding it difficult since everyone I hear on the air is substantially older than me. We really do need more younger people on the air. I live in Los Angeles, and there are absolutely zero ham radio clubs which cater to a younger crowd.

I have nothing against the older crowd, but in order to revive this hobby, we need more younger ham op's!

I'd be interested in helping you if possible...

[kc9jqm]

Quote[/b] ]how do we get more youth interested in Amateur Radio?
Find another hobby for all the grumpy bitter old men?

[VE7NOT]

Kids nowadays it seems are trained to have only 3 hobbies:


1. Strumming a gutair and making weird sounds (heavey metal)

2. Seeing how much booze and drugs they can take

3. Getting a 9000 dollar stereo with a boom box in your car

This is the problem you with have with people under 20.

There are a minority that are actually interested in things and it is this group you must target.

[KG6NEI]

I must say that I agree with kd5kfl, in that there needs to be some lower priced HF rigs for younger people. As an 18 year old who has had my ticket for about 4+ years now, I have only been able to make a few HF contacts because I have had little time with a working HF radio. I was given an FT-101 that was dead, and has been an ongoing project but have never quite got it going, but that just means more fun for me http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif But if there was a cheaper radio, or even a kit (I know about the CW kits, but Im talking about maybe a SSB xtal kit) that was around $100 dollars would be perfect to get younger people on the air, and get those of us with college to pay for on the air more. Just my thought though http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[n9lya]

Quote[/b] (VE7NOT @ July 05 2007,18:32)]Kids nowadays it seems are trained to have only 3 hobbies:


1. Strumming a gutair and making weird sounds (heavey metal)

2. Seeing how much booze and drugs they can take

3. Getting a 9000 dollar stereo with a boom box in your car

This is the problem you with have with people under 20.

There are a minority that are actually interested in things and it is this group you must target.
Hum.. Lets see and your generation did what when they were under 20... Lets see Woodstock.. Psycodelic drugs, Fast Cars, Free open sex, etc...

I just do not get it..

Damn hipocrits..

73 Jerry

[n9lya]

Lets see...

Make an HF Radio the size of a Cellphone so they can chat all day with their friends.. and send pictures and text messages.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
jk

[KI4POT]

I'm 34 and only got licensed a year ago. However, I've been interested in Ham Radio since my teens if not earlier. I'm a tinkerer. I love to build, modify, and fix things. Just about every hobby I've ever had included some hands on activity. That's what attracted me to radio. Not the ragchews or utility, but the opportunity to work on stuff. I read articles about hams building or modifying their gear and using that same gear to communicate worldwide. Unfortunately, I didn't know any hams and didn't know how to break into the hobby. Eventually, I saw a sign for an upcoming hamfest and learned they were offering free exams. I studied for a couple hours a day for the next few days, took the exam and passed. It was all downhill from there...

I don't think you can really attract younger folks with the comms aspect of radio unless you can get them interested due to the fact that radio works worldwide (or nearly so) without any infrastructure, unlike the Internet or cellphones. But, you might get them interested by letting the hands on, tech side of radio become an outlet for their creativity.

Chris

[N5PVL]

The perception that the future of amateur radio hangs upon recruiting kids and teenagers is way off base. Historically ( and today ) the youngest hams make up a tiny, insignificant minority within the ham radio population. - And there is absolutely no cause for alarm on this account.

There are some new hams that start off in the teen or preteen years but in almost every case, they go inactive in the late teens or early twenties as almost all of thier attention and financial resources go into establishing a family and home. This period of inactivity usually lasts for at least a decade, if not for life.

The exception to this are the small number group of younger hams in thier twenties and early thirties who make up a great majority of the whiners and ‘gimme gimme’ types, so vocal in criticising every aspect of the hobby. - They can hardly be called an asset because of this. In a general sense, we would be much better off if they would go inactive for a while, too. It would give them a few years to mature, get thier act together and grow up.

Most hams get involved in the hobby later in life, closer to the mid or late 30s when thier financial situation is more established and they have more free time on thier hands at home. These are the ones most likely to be strongly, actively involved in community service and hard-core DXing.

Another, larger group of new hams are those who are starting retirement or are looking forward to upcoming retirement. The kids are gone, thier finances are settled, and they have time to do things that require personal attention. This is most certainly the single most significant source of new hams.

Every now and then you will hear some moron who states a craven desire to see the “old guard die off”, as if the death of some of our older hams will somehow make room for a new batch of teenagers to become hams. The moronic logic here is that there can only be so many hams, so the older ones are somehow preventing young ones from becoming interested in the hobby.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is that the “old guard” is constantly passing on, but thier ranks are also constantly being reinforced by cadres of new “old hams” who have become interested in the hobby around retirement age.

The ugly, moronic ill-wishes toward these amateurs has no basis in fact or reality. - The fact is that they are the heart of amateur radio, and probably always will be.

These are the facts of life concerning the issue of age and amateur radio. None of the trends mentioned here are likely to change any time soon, so try to get used to them.

[ky5u]

Quote[/b] (wx4kim @ July 05 2007,20:21)]Hello to alll... I am WX4KIM... Kim... I am working on an article about Youth in Amateur Radio... and asking many people and interviewing them have got me more interested in this topic then I thought that I would ever be... how do we get more youth interested in Amateur Radio? With cellphones, Ipods, computers? How can Amateur Radio match up to all that? Let's not forget videogames!! However... I believe that if THE youth in Amateur Radio would go out and tell other people without worrying about what other people think then perhaps we could make a HUGE dent in the youth population of getting them interested in Amateur Radio...Amateur Radio has to get more youth. Without the youth then where will Amateur Radio go? I am wanting others input... please... thankyou for your time... Lots of 73's...de WX4KIM.
Welcome to the delima of Amateur Radio. Even in the 50s and 60s, Hams were not "cool". The difference is that now we put a premium on "cool" thanks to advertizers who can sell us stuff to make us that way. You can buy "the look" you want to be instantly cool. Imagine how really stupid a term like "the look" really is. No substance, just appearance counts. Young people are ultra-sensitive to their "rep" (reputation) which is built over time by the way they dress and act. When you are able to convert popular thought to an ideal that a kid's high intelligence and good conduct is what makes them cool then you're fighting a losing battle.

Until then, some kids will be drawn to AR but most won't. We just need to let the ones who are know we appreciate them. Plant a seed of interest that may bloom now for some and later in life for others.

[NN4RH]

Quote[/b] ]there needs to be some lower priced HF rigs for younger people

In 1972, at age 16, I got a Novice license and got on the air with a free surplus receiver that needed work, given to me by a older ham with a basement full of junk radios, spent $15 of my precious hard-earned corn-detassling money on a used tube transmitter, probably $5 on a low-end telegraph key and few bucks on wire and twin-lead for an antenna, and ordered some QSL cards. Let's say less than $50 on the hobby in 1972. And that got me 15 watts, CW only, with two crystal controlled frequencies on 40m (right on top of Radio Moscow), and tv twin-lead fed dipole stapled under the eaves of the house. And I had the time of my life with that!

In today's dollars, that would be inflated to $250. Could someone get a station on the air on $250 today? Well, not if they wanted to plug and play, and certainly not with a shiny brand-new rig.

But there are single-band QRP rigs, inexpensive keys, and wire out there. Someone certainly could put together a QRP/CW single band station for under $250, and be at least as well off as I was as a kid in 1972.

[NN4RH]

And at the other end of the spectrum. I just went through a 1972 QST magazine to get a ballpark idea of what a mid-range, new station would cost back then.

Drake TR-4 transceiver $600
Swan tri-band beam & tower system $350 (not including installation)

Let's say $1000 in 1972. Plug that into the inflation calculator at bls.gov and it comes out to $5000.

I think for a comparable setup today, you'd pay about that. So I don't think entry "cost" is really any different now than it was 35 years ago in adjusted dollars. #If kids aren't getting into ham radio, it's for other reasons.

[N2RJ]

Morse code testing wasn't what was keeping young people out.

Why do I say that? As a 19 year old, I passed 13WPM with relative ease. I also know at least one 20WPM extra who got hers when she was 10.

I know younger hams who have had NO problem whatsoever learning code.

Code has mostly kept back older people who have been in some sort of radio hobby for years and either had a mental block about code or just didn't devote enough energy to learning it, or whose brains simply grew too old to learn as quickly as a younger person.

What I think is not attracting young people:

- The "ham radio is for old people" mentality.
- Not enough promotion in the right places, i.e. it needs to be promoted to "techies" as "experimental radio" and scouts as "survival radio" and not to "whackers" as "toy cop radio"
- Using the internet and experimenting with the internet is much easier (instant gratification society)
- Ham radio is just downright expensive for many people.

[NI3B]

I took my Extra exam last week at a Boy Scout camp in PA. There were approx 20 scouts in the testing session and most of them either became a new ham or upgraded their existing license.

I would recommend an organized youth group such as scouting.

Hopefully, a majority of the new young hams will continue with the hobby.

Best,
Brian

[ai4ep]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif There aint much OTHER way to stir up interest since the licenses are being practically given away ( no C W requirement no more ).

Folks that HAVE an interest can find a way to explore it on their own, just like with computers, riding atv s, hiking , stamp collecting , etc.

Yep, I believe there ARE 12 - 19 year old stamp collectors...any thing is possible. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KI4ODO]

One #draw of ham radio to some is that it is not (usually)internet, video games, cell phone, iPod, and the like. There is something special about it. I have worked several new CW ops this week, and I have talked to many who are getting into PSK, and many who like the challenge of radio voice contacts rather than an effortless cell phone or internet connection.
#I think we should not try to make ham radio something it's not, and "spice it up" to be like other things now that everyone does. I think to some the appeal of doing things that the average joe doesn't know how to do is cool.
# One way we can draw new people in is to live up to what we claim to be. Kind, helpful, competent ops. Keep the spirit of learning alive. I have much to learn and I'll let new guys know that, but I'll also let them know all the cool things I have learned.
# #Letting a kid operate a station, or at least hear you operate one on a voice mode for example, is normally what it takes to creat interest. They will see the difference right away, and not whish it was like internet, or video game, but find it cool for what it really is.
# Just my thoughts.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Marvin

A big way to turn people away is for us to come across as old, geeky, whiney ass grumpy people who don't want anyone new in the hobby. No one wants to hang out with people like that for very long, in paticular young people. We need to loose the image that some may have that we are simply crusty old farts who sit in a shack and chain smoke, slam coffee and never see the light of day. But rather let them see who we really are. Many of my qsl cards have pics of guys in their 70's mountain biking, fishing, just whatever. Radio is a cool thing to do when we have relaxing time, but some think that is all we do.

[KI4NGN]

This has been discussed several times in other threads, and Charles beat me to it with the gist of his post, but this has always been a hobby predominantly pursued by older folks.

I started with electronics tinkering and SWL'ing 40 years ago. Moved into CB for a while, then ham radio. Then I discovered girls. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Hmmm... talk on the radio, tinker with some project, or maybe get to second base??? No contest!!!

Then life began with the Navy. Working, marriage, kid. Making ends meet. Life.

I think as said that while there are ham ops of all ages, young adults are beginning their adult life, and there are many other priorities over what is and always has been basically an expensive hobby.

I'm sure that there have been some who became active in their youth and remained to this day, but I also believe that most, like me, caught the bug when young and then moved away. Life settled down, time and resources now allowed for more leisure activities, then one day "Hmmm....I did enjoy that a lot. I think I'll give that a try again!"

I think it's always been this way with ham radio, and we just have to be aware of those who may have an interest and plant the seed. Maybe it will grow immediately, maybe never, but maybe, just maybe, it will just remain dormant for a while and then grow one day into another active ham. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Mike

[KI4ODO]

Quote[/b] (KE7NMS @ July 05 2007,22:05)]One of the best ways, to get the more responsible youth, is to show them, and get them invoved with the emergency response drills.
Now that is a good idea. The first thing that made me want to become a ham is to get involved in Skywarn. I had images of the movie Twister, and storm chasing. Well, turns out it was storm "spotting" and I still enjoy it a lot. That is a great way to get someone's interest. ARES, RACES, Skywarn, whatever.

[W5HTW]

Part of the problem is simply changing times. Amateur radio is no longer a hobby for the tinkerer. There still are a few technically-oriented people in ham radio, but mostly ham radio today is limited to the act of communicating, and not the act of building and tinkering.

What that means is it must compete with other methods of communicating, and it stands no chance at all. Cell phones, ipods, and the internet are all much better at communicating for fun than amateur radio is. That's just the reality of the world we live in.

Even communicating via satellite is not going to be very exciting. They do that with satellite internet, satellite tv, satellite radio. It's all 'old hat' to the kids of today.

Until we face the reality that amateur radio cannot compete on a communications basis, we are not going to entice youth into the hobby, except for the occasional guy or gal who wants to know what is inside that ipod, cell phone or computer.

That's where the tinkering comes in. I believe you can sit in the classroom in 8th grade for hours and demonstrate the heck out of ham radio, and you will get almost zero attention. Even SSTV won't be any kind of novelty, as they send pictures and streaming video all the time.

Amateur radio, until the past 15-18 years or so, always was a 'technical' activity, even if the in-depth technical aspects were on the wane. It was a niche hobby, for those interesting in the "how" just just the "doing." Amateur radio has become a "user" hobby, not a "provider" hobby.

Efforts to make it appeal to the masses have failed miserably. All sorts of things have been tried, like using it for cell phones and promoting it as 'hero radio." And some of those things did increase participation, but moved it away from the niche status it had enjoyed. Once it joined the masses, it ran into all that stuff already mentioned, including FRS and GMRS.

Going into the classroom to demonstrate the digital modes is a waste of time. While you are in front showing PSK31, the kid in the back of the row is doing exactly the same thing with instant messaging, and he is doing it faster and more efficiently, without taking a test, and without dedicated equipment. He's laughing at you.

OK, all that is why it DOESN'T work. What would make it work?

Someone said toss a wire up through the trees and operate HF portable. You stand a chance of drawing some curiosity. But you are not going to get any attention with a handheld VHF FM radio. My gosh, they already have them, with FRS, in their pockets or purses, so they can yak in the malls. They have PTT with Nextel and others. You have to do something the kids can't do.

If you can do that, you still may only hook one out of 50 students. But that is more than you will do by going in there doing what they are already doing cheaper and faster.

When amateur radio stopped being a technical hobby, it lost the ability to compete with all those other things. Show them something they CAN'T do. And, yeah, spell out their name in Morse code. Make an SSB contact with someone four states away, or in another country, but also listen around on the bands, show them what is there.

That's part of it. But the real hook may be explaining how the darned radio works, why it works, why it needs that antenna. Maybe one approach would be to take a small, QRP SSB transceiver, a kit, into the school. Open it up, show the components, explain what they are, why they are there. Make a contact with it (pre-arrange one, since you are on QRP!)

Appeal to the technical aspects. As long as everything we do is based on just communication, we have no grounds on which to compete - they are doing more, faster, cheaper and easier, without a test.

Amateur radio as a communications forefront is gone. That is simply the reality of the times. A new door has to be opened. Actually an old door. A return to the tinkerer aspect. If we can't do that, we have nothing to show.

Ed

[kr2c]

Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ July 05 2007,07:15)]http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif There aint much OTHER way to stir up interest since the licenses are being practically given away ( no C W requirement no more ).

Folks that HAVE an interest can find a way to explore it on their own, just like with computers, riding atv s, hiking , stamp collecting , etc.

Yep, I believe there ARE 12 - 19 year old stamp collectors...any thing is possible. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
There are better ways to generate interest. First, stop making people who didn't test for code or have the opportunity to test for code feel like second class hams. And some of the things that are said to the new hams in the questions page would make me thing twice about posting or operating again.

Second, the kids need to be exposed to the hobby. My third grade son had to do an essay on their parents hobbies in school. Not one kid understood what ham radio was. There are bunches of clubs in my area who are in alarm because their membership is getting older. I think it would be great if these clubs started posting fliers in the schools or the Boy Scouts pack meetings. They should start looking for places where the youth are active and generate some interest. How about setting up a foxhunt with the local cubscout pack? My kids elementary school would love to have me come in and do some satellite work. How about getting some kides together and help with field day? They would be great helping to put up some antennas.

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ July 06 2007,09:56)]Part of the problem is simply changing times. Amateur radio is no longer a hobby for the tinkerer. There still are a few technically-oriented people in ham radio, but mostly ham radio today is limited to the act of communicating, and not the act of building and tinkering.

What that means is it must compete with other methods of communicating, and it stands no chance at all. Cell phones, ipods, and the internet are all much better at communicating for fun than amateur radio is. That's just the reality of the world we live in.

Even communicating via satellite is not going to be very exciting. They do that with satellite internet, satellite tv, satellite radio. It's all 'old hat' to the kids of today.

Until we face the reality that amateur radio cannot compete on a communications basis, we are not going to entice youth into the hobby, except for the occasional guy or gal who wants to know what is inside that ipod, cell phone or computer.

That's where the tinkering comes in. I believe you can sit in the classroom in 8th grade for hours and demonstrate the heck out of ham radio, and you will get almost zero attention. Even SSTV won't be any kind of novelty, as they send pictures and streaming video all the time.

Amateur radio, until the past 15-18 years or so, always was a 'technical' activity, even if the in-depth technical aspects were on the wane. It was a niche hobby, for those interesting in the "how" just just the "doing." Amateur radio has become a "user" hobby, not a "provider" hobby.

Efforts to make it appeal to the masses have failed miserably. All sorts of things have been tried, like using it for cell phones and promoting it as 'hero radio." And some of those things did increase participation, but moved it away from the niche status it had enjoyed. Once it joined the masses, it ran into all that stuff already mentioned, including FRS and GMRS.

Going into the classroom to demonstrate the digital modes is a waste of time. While you are in front showing PSK31, the kid in the back of the row is doing exactly the same thing with instant messaging, and he is doing it faster and more efficiently, without taking a test, and without dedicated equipment. He's laughing at you.

OK, all that is why it DOESN'T work. What would make it work?

Someone said toss a wire up through the trees and operate HF portable. You stand a chance of drawing some curiosity. But you are not going to get any attention with a handheld VHF FM radio. My gosh, they already have them, with FRS, in their pockets or purses, so they can yak in the malls. They have PTT with Nextel and others. You have to do something the kids can't do.

If you can do that, you still may only hook one out of 50 students. But that is more than you will do by going in there doing what they are already doing cheaper and faster.

When amateur radio stopped being a technical hobby, it lost the ability to compete with all those other things. Show them something they CAN'T do. And, yeah, spell out their name in Morse code. Make an SSB contact with someone four states away, or in another country, but also listen around on the bands, show them what is there.

That's part of it. But the real hook may be explaining how the darned radio works, why it works, why it needs that antenna. Maybe one approach would be to take a small, QRP SSB transceiver, a kit, into the school. Open it up, show the components, explain what they are, why they are there. Make a contact with it (pre-arrange one, since you are on QRP!)

Appeal to the technical aspects. As long as everything we do is based on just communication, we have no grounds on which to compete - they are doing more, faster, cheaper and easier, without a test.

Amateur radio as a communications forefront is gone. That is simply the reality of the times. A new door has to be opened. Actually an old door. A return to the tinkerer aspect. If we can't do that, we have nothing to show.

Ed
Ed,

You've summed up my thoughts exactly.

We need to return to our technical roots.

Without those roots, ham radio will simply wither away.

[va7aax]

first off, ham radio should be a necessessary(forgive my spelling) subject or even just a club. #Next, ARRL/RAC should start a Radio Bank thing where kids/young people #can loan equipment for cheap just to get exposed to all Facets of Amateur Radio.But ultimately , it depends on the youth themselves.

One more thing, this Geek/Nerd or whatever you call it should be stopped. when i tried to introduce radio to a kid , guess what he said to me after i told him that you had to pass an electronics exam?



you are a Geek .

t

[kn4ds]

Quote[/b] (AG4YO @ July 06 2007,07:12)]Until then, some kids will be drawn to AR but most won't. We just need to let the ones who are know we appreciate them. Plant a seed of interest that may bloom now for some and later in life for others.
We do need to let the ones that are interested know that we're glad to see 'em taking that interest.

When I was 12, 13 years old, I really badly wanted to be a ham operator. But where I lived, in southeast OK, hams were invisible. I know now that there are some, but I've never heard any on the air, even when visiting and IDing/listening to the repeaters. It's like it's some sort of shameful secret around Ada, OK.

And back then, information wasn't as easy to come by... if I could've met a ham, learned about the ARRL and study guides, etc, I would have become a ham in the 70s.

I guess my main point is that we shouldn't be so "stealth" all the time.

[ky5u]

I believe AR is a hobby for older people. Success is defined as planting a seed in a youngster that will bloom in his 40's or 50's. Those who wish to be involved at a young age are to be valued as "lagniappe".

[N8CPA]

Careful, Charlie! I had to use my dictionary on that one!

[N2RJ]

I didn't know "lagniappe" was used outside of Trinidad and Tobago, even though it has French origin.

Anyway, I think that Charlie is simply expressing his desire of what he wants Amateur Radio to be.

And I think that he is wrong.

While the majority of participants in Amateur Radio today are older, there is something for everyone of all ages in Amateur Radio.

If you look at ham radio in some other countries, a lot of active participants are young, or in their 30s and early 40s.

Maybe 75m and AM is for older folks, but ham radio can pretty much be enjoyed by everyone.

[KC7YRA]

As somebody who is a ham, was licensed at 12 (now mid 20s) years old and *GASP* had to learn the code to upgrade like so many of you sticks in the mud say "young people cant do without complaining" I can safely say that it has nothing to do with code, with money, with the internet,

it is purely NOT INTERESTED.

Morse code is easy (in my opinion BORING, but easy) not hard for any modern youth to learn, Cell phones today cost upwards of $300 for the fancy ones and almost every kid has one of them. And the internet is so old hat that it isnt even a comodity anymore.

Like I said it is simply NOT INTERESTED. I (now) love to chase DX and operate HF mobile. Ham radio has become one of my most treasured hobbies. But not so when I started. Intially I got into it for a utilitarian purpose. To communicate with my family. I wanted to plug and play and just communicate. I didnt want to deal with propogation and antenna issues. I just wanted to talk.
And I did. I talked like crazy to my family. Ham radio had a purpose to me.

Kids today dont have that purpose UNLESS they have family or friends to talk to. The time and effort to get a group of friends licensed just so that they can talk is FAR FAR FAR more complicated than just buying everybody cell phones.

And for the young ones that do get into it (I experienced this myself and was only saved by my families influence) are innundated by "old" conversations. Im sorry but hearing about rectal abcess surgeries and various medical procedures and how AARP is doing this or that, or how medicare is changing the prescription policy*<----- A very recent topic heard on the bands* is so far from even a care on young peoples minds that they think to themselves "why stay in this hobby".

In sumation I must say that the youth are NOT our future as far as hams are concerned. While I love this hobby and will continue (thank goodness I didnt forget to renew recently) to love it, I must say that it is an older persons hobby. There will always be us few renegades but the majority will be older.

Brad

[ei2cn]

I disagree that amateur radio has always had such an ancient age structure. I was licensed in 1960 as KN4WQZ and purchased a used RGB2 (surplus Super Pro) for $50 by pumping gasoline for 75 cents an hour. I had a rather large circle of similarly aged ham friends from my High School and from other neighbouring High Schools. It is important to have this band of young friends to pal around with. There were at that time a number of younger hams in primary school but they were a small minority.

Perhaps it is true that mature people are coming into the hobby and helping to replace our silent keys but it sure would be good to have a number or enthusiastic younger hams amongst us. I am even pleased to see a ham radio photo with someone in their thirties. It seems that ham radio is becoming a bit like bowls (sp?) - a sedate sport for aged sportsmen. We have a great hobby which has encouraged many a younger person into science and engineering and it would be good to see some young blood to balance all these grumpy old men - myself included.

73 Doug EI2CN

[KI4ODO]

I agree with Brad on this. I think ham radio will stay by and large an older persons hobby with some exceptions. In this day and time, I see people in their 30s and 40s being way more likely to get into ham radio than a younger person. Years ago that may have been different, but I think it's like that for the most part now. That isn't really a bad thing. People are coming into that age group all the time, there will be new ops for years to come I think.

[kr9d]

First, it isn't about the cost of equipment. Kids today have access to toys that cost far more than even new ham radio stuff, and their parents buy those toys for them without much hesitation, even when it bites deep into their wallets.

Second, a good step would be to excise the word "youth" from the vocabulary. It will put kids off faster than anything.

Third, the notion of communicating in real time without using the infrastructure is appealing, but, as always, it will only appeal to a few. Kids today take the infrastructure for granted, because they've never seen a time when it wasn't there.

Fourth, I haven't met many 20-something whiners in amateur radio. I surely have seen the writings of much older whiners on QRZ. Lead by example. If you demonstrate joy in amateur radio, that joy will impress your kids or grandkids. If you sit around complaining about what other radio amateurs are or are not doing, then expect to see nothing but elbows and posteriors.

Fifth, instead of complaining about "the youth of today", try listening to them. Our best impact will be earned by opening our ears and shutting our mouths. I have not observed this as a routinely strong trait in many radio amateurs (I include myself in that assessment). Again, we lead by example.

I agree with Ed's analysis completely. There are a few kids who are deeply interested in being mentally challenged. That's what will attract them to amateur radio or any other highly technical pursuit. If I were in charge of demonstrating something, I would start with a sked with someone across the country, or preferably in another country. I would explain how my voice is converted into electromagnetic waves, pointing to each item in my demonstration equipment that makes it happen. And I would explain how the antenna makes the signal radiate.

And I would make sure I'm done in 20 minutes.

Charlie is right. It will plant seeds in some. I'm 49 and just starting in amateur radio, despite a lot of professional involvement with radio communications. What attracted me were two things:

1. A good friend from today who demonstrates enjoyment of the hobby in activities that I thought I would also enjoy, and

2. Another good friend from my past, with whom I spent many happy hours playing with solder.

Not everyone can be cool. Nothing is sillier than people who are not cool pretending that they are. Amateur radio can be what it is, and it will survive.

One final thing: If you want your own kids to be interested in ham radio, tell them that it's for grownups only and prevent them from taking part. Let them sit and watch, but withold it from them. They'll get interested as an act of rebellion.

Rick "who has seen the desultory looks on Scout faces at demonstrations, and Scouts are already not cool" Denney

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (KI4ODO @ July 06 2007,11:19)]I agree with Brad on this. I think ham radio will stay by and large an older persons hobby with some exceptions. In this day and time, I see people in their 30s and 40s being way more likely to get into ham radio than a younger person. Years ago that may have been different, but I think it's like that for the most part now. That isn't really a bad thing. People are coming into that age group all the time, there will be new ops for years to come I think.
I think you are looking at ham radio from an America centric view.

In many countries, outside of the United States, hams are younger. Maybe not teenagers, but in their 20s, 30s and early 40s.

[WA3KYY]

Quote[/b] (N5PVL @ July 06 2007,08:05)]The perception that the future of amateur radio hangs upon recruiting kids and teenagers is way off base. Historically ( and today ) the youngest hams make up a tiny, insignificant minority within the ham radio population. - And there is absolutely no cause for alarm on this account.
Charles is spot on with this observation. I was first licensed 42 years ago this month at the age of 13. I knew of no one else my age that was licensed and could not interest any of my peers in getting licensed. Even on the novice bands I was almost always contacting hams who were a little to a lot older than I was. I went on my first Field Day at the age of 15 and was the only ham under 30 present. The few times I went to club meetings I was also the only youngster present.

The first time I met more than one or two amateurs my age was when I went to college and joined the club there. At it's peak, we had 12 members. In graduate school, the club there was a little larger, about 20. Contrast that with local club I now belong to, 250+ members, most of whom are older than 40. Very few of them were licensed as young as I was. So it seems that even 40 years ago, there was not a very large youth contingent in amateur radio yet we grew from under 200,000 licenses then to over 650,000 now.

While it is important to interest youth, we should not and can not expect large numbers to become interested since there is no historical precident that youth have ever been more than a tiny percentage of licensees.

73,
Mike WA3KYY

[WW3QB]

Another change in the times is the attitude towards technology. Up until the 1980's, people were curious about new technology. Not only in what it does but also some knowledge about how it works. There were books for youth about how TV and radios worked. Even though it was a joke, we did marvel at Maxwell Smart's shoe phone. Now technology is taken for granted. Everybody has access to super-high technology. Even when people line up for something new such as the iPhone, they do not care what technology went into it or how it works. They just want it to work. In a year, it will be taken for granted too.

The most advanced HF transceiver sends and receives a simple RF signal without an infrastructure behind it. That is actually its strength in an emergency, but in normal times it seems boring to kids. Even the computer display of a Flex-Radio is not as interesting as a video game display. These games a very complicated these days.

When I was in high school in the 1970’s, my school had a large electronics lab with a curriculum. Students throughout the county attended if they wanted to. Now the lab is gone and electronics is not taught at all anywhere. In the 1970’s, if you showed kids a 512 byte computer core plane (with the magnetic rings), they would be interested. Now show them a 1 GB memory card they would not care. Using technology like an appliance is what kids know. What the technology actually is for the PhD’s.

[A71AN]

I was seriously into this at the middle of the 90’s; I had to teach all about Ham Radio, technicalities and procedures to Elementary, Senior Schools students.

Some times I was going to the boy Scott camps with all of my radio tools, and operate from the camps with many of the youngsters around to promote this hobby.

It a hard challenge at this computer age to get as many interested in radio comparing it to the other communications facilities around, especially Internet, but we have to keep trying as hard as possible to maintain keeping Ham Radio hobby a live.

Just few days ago, a young member of the family was telling me that this is an aged men hobby and soon it’s going to be obsolete.

There are also many complications about Ham Radio licensing which is not in Internet communications and a lot of restrictions, this is all making the progress of promoting Ham Radio is rather real hard and slow.

I hope this hobby be maintained, I will be so sick if its go other wise.

73

[KB3LIX]

It HAS been an uphill climb but my club is lucky in that we have added 5 new members under 30 in the last year.

Most have come from the yearly technician classes we offer.

Will they remain active # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif # # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

That is the $ 64,000 question !!!


All we can do is to encourage them, assist in any way we can, and involve them in our activities.

Field Day was one good activity.
4 of the 5 came and made GOTA contacts.

We are planning at least 2 special event stations in the next 6 months where new licensees can make HF contacts. IF the local Boy Scout Council regains their sanity, we will operate a JOTA station this October.

Keep plugging away.
Better to try and fail, than NOT try at all.

Maybe this IS an OLD GEEZER activity, but the young ones TODAY will be OLD GEEZERS in not too many years.

[AK7V]

Quit dumbing it down. Make it more challenging. Re-instate the Morse requirement. Make the tests more difficult.

Smart kids want a challenge. They want to feel elite. If you want more smart kids, that's what you need to do.

If you want more mindless, unmotivated, whiny adults, you do what we're doing now. The kids don't see the point. Roger that?

[W5HTW]

I see comments about "when I was licensed back then" and that does bring back good memories. But when we were licensed in the 50s, 60s, and even the 70s, there were NONE of the gadgets available to us. As a teenager in high school in the 50s, I had no cell phone. I had no computer. My competition against ham radio was a car and a girl. (And a guitar, non-electric.)

Today's kids are overwhelmed with technology they don't care to understand. Like most of us who go out to our car, turn the key and drive to the store. We have no desire to understand what happens when that key is turned. The teen wants to download music. He doesn't care how. He just wants the music. He wants to download videos. He doesn't care how. It is the end product he wants.

And for us, the end product is to talk from here to there. From A to B. That is about as exciting as watching worms crawl, if you have two dozen ways to do it already in your pocket.

But this is just reiterating what I said earlier. It is a reality we don't want to face. We refuse to admit that ham radio is indeed boring. Almost every aspect of it is boring. It was NOT boring when it was the only game in town. It was NOT boring when we sat down in front of the S38C and heard voice from afar.

But this isn't "back then." This is now, and the entire world is a different ball game.

I've had people in their 20s say to me "you mean people still do this?" Note the word "still." They are aware it USED to be done. But they think it went out of style decades ago. It has been replaced.

And indeed it has. Even the word "radio" spells "antique." Who does radio? Kids don't listen to radio anymore. They listen to satellite, the internet, CDs, MVDs. Yeah, "back then" we parked the car, put an arm around the gal, and ran the battery down with the RADIO. They don't do that anymore!

So how many of us are computer hobbyists? Versus, how many of us turn on a computer, do a job, and turn off the computer? The vast majority (by the millions!) don't give a darn what is inside a computer. They want it to turn on, run a spreadsheet, write a letter, order from Sears, send a card to Mom, and then shut off and be quiet. They don't want to add hard drives or memory or faster processors. They just want it to do what it is supposed to do.

I would lead amateur radio away from the "join the Marines" approach. Stop trying to save the world. Try to make it fun. But as I said earlier, you can't make it at all interesting if you pit it against a dozen more modern communications techniques. That's like trying to run a Ford Escort next to a Corvette. We are the Escort. (I originally said Pinto but who today knows what a Pinto is!?)

Find ways to make it DIFFERENT from the internet, not just an alternate. If you go to class and sit down with a handheld and a computer, and demonstrate packet you have now accomplished anything at all except a waste of time.

So define amateur radio. Before you can tell someone else why they might find it fun, you have to figure out what it is.

Ed

[KA2P]

Quote[/b] (N5PVL @ July 06 2007,05:05)]There are some new hams that start off in the teen or preteen years but in almost every case, they go inactive in the late teens or early twenties as almost all of thier attention and financial resources go into establishing a family and home. This period of inactivity usually lasts for at least a decade, if not for life.

I'm 29 and this describes me to the proverbial "T." I was bitten by the ham radio/astronomy bug around 12 or 13, and wanted an HF radio and telescope. Unfortunately, as many have already stated, these things cost hundreds of dollars for even the most basic setup. My parents were not willing to fund my hobbies so they had to wait.

[wa3vjb]

Poor guy posts a request for youth-recruitment ideas, and gets everything but. Unfortunately, the points about rival interests are very valid, and it's been shaping up that way for at least 20 years, ever since PONG and PacMan, really.

The answer has also been posted here, if your goal is to find people who will be interested in joining the hobby:

Quote[/b] ]Another, larger group of new hams are those who are starting retirement or are looking forward to upcoming retirement. The kids are gone, thier finances are settled, and they have time to do things that require personal attention. This is most certainly the single most significant source of new hams.

Charles/N5PVL is absolutely right -- the demographic with the greatest prospect for recruitment AND retention in the hobby is the male, 45+ . These folks are friendly to the concept of "radio" and have already been exposed as kids to the lure of shortwave and of communicating voice-to-voice. Imagine the feeling of success they may feel if they went back to some part of their past that had some mystery and simplicity to it, and is not part of the hyperactive high-tech world we have at work, and that the kids today are growing up with.

This older audience is the same slice of the population that AARP has successfully targeted. If there were a lobbying group or some sort of association that represented Amateur Radio, they would beat a door to AARP's Washington DC offices, begging for a cooperative arrangement to cross-promote.


--Paul/VJB

~~~
Oh, what's THIS ??
Quote[/b] ] That's like trying to run a Ford Escort next to a Corvette.

What's a "Corvette," Ed ? Do they still make them? I see old guys with too much cologne driving them, so yeah, maybe that works for the ham radio target. No good for ground planes however, if the car is still made of plastic.

[AK7V]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ July 06 2007,15:39)]
...
Today's kids are overwhelmed with technology they don't care to understand. Like most of us who go out to our car, turn the key and drive to the store. We have no desire to understand what happens when that key is turned. The teen wants to download music. He doesn't care how. He just wants the music. He wants to download videos. He doesn't care how. It is the end product he wants.
...
There have always been incurious dolts. And there will always be kids fascinated with radio and how things work.

Kids are writing the software that makes downloading music possible, in some cases. I know because I was a kid who programmed and got a ham license and tinkered with electronics - and this wasn't too long ago. Kids are not universally the way you describe, and they've never been universally the type that would or could get involved with ham radio, either. So don't generalize in that matter -- it's not attractive to the people we're hoping to attract.

Smart kids today have a lot of opportunity to flex their techy-curiosity muscles. Some will choose to get into ham radio. Some will build robots and play with PICs. Some will hack software. Some will tweak computer hardware. Tons of families have computers in the home. But admittedly, we're doing a good job of making ham radio seem extra uninteresting, simplistic, and not worth the meager effort. There's a whole world of computer things to keep them occupied. And the brightest can earn prestige among their peers in that world, and perhaps even make a good living in the long run.

Turning ham radio into a lowest-common-denominator yack-fest isn't going to bring in the brightest kids. It will drive them away.

[kf5kwo]

I think my kids (ages 7 and 4 and 1/2) are interested in ham radio because I don't operate in a separate room of the house. I've done it either in the kitchen or in the family room. They were immediately interested and have even spoken on the radio with some very patient and understanding hams. It was part of the family, and being naturally curious, they wanted to see what Daddy was doing.

I always played up the QSL cards - checking the mail, opening the cards with them, and coloring in the states and countries on little maps with the kiddies. They got interested in geography that way.

Enter CW. I told my little ones that I was learning a 'secret code' that Grandpa (WB5BLR) and I could use on the radio. They can now use the G4FON software, know a good handful of letters, and can even send those letters using my paddles/keyer.

I try to get them on every Kids' Day as well.

SUMMARY: My experience has taught me that not shoving the ham radio away from the family into a garage or separate room has enabled my kids to see a hobby that I enjoy, and that they are curious about. I made the hobby appeal to them by getting them involved mostly in the aspects of the hobby that are easy for them - looking for the states and countries of the QSLs I get, a few QSOs, etc. The 'secret code with Grandpa' I think got them interested in CW.

FINAL WORD: Keep it in the family! Keep it fun! Don't pressure them! And DON'T brainwash them about No-Code/Know-Code. A mode is a mode is a mode.

73 de Jeff, KF5KWO
Helotes, TX

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[ai4ep]

Bring the morse code requirement back

tell them they are not smart enough to be an amateur radio operator...insult them, tell them it takes a special person to be an amateur radio operator. Ordinary folks do not qualify.

Tell them that the real smart ones use C W for their communication, that is a " special code " that only the wisest can learn .

Tell them that any one can hold a microphone in their hand ( most like CB ) and that to prove they are as smart as they THINK they are, they must learn and communicate daily with others using the "Special cw code " , the faster and morer accaurate they are, ....make it like a game ( which it really is )

Tell them that learning CW cant be memorized like a written test, that it takes your BRAIN to work to learn the C W language and that even a machine can not work CW as well as your brain can .

Make amateur radio a challenge to be a part of...they WANT challenges to try to overcome.

The internet and iPods, etc do not offer that great of a challenge that C W does. Plus the SIMPLICITY of cw will really blow their minds.

[ky5u]

Quote[/b] (N2RJ @ July 06 2007,09:36)]In many countries, outside of the United States, hams are younger. Maybe not teenagers, but in their 20s, 30s and early 40s.
90% or more of Amateurs are over the USA "median age". Show USA kids scenes from foreign discos and bars and they laugh at the bumpkins. Goes back to advertizing and what is accepted as cool in the US.

By in large, what happens in AR in other countries has almost ZERO influence in the US. We enjoy the foreign DX, the friendships, but the politics is not influential.

[WW3QB]

Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ July 06 2007,19:18)]Tell them that the real smart ones use C W for their communication, that is a " special code " that only the wisest can learn .
Have you ever tried using the kid's code of today, 1337? It's 1337, but pronounced "leet" (like feet). Google 1337 for info. On the Jeopardy game show, a college student stumped Trebek using it. It's harder than CW to send and receive via text messaging (for an old guy like me).

I also left the hobby in my 20's and recently returned (now 48). A very common story. But in my teens, I wanted to learn technical stuff, and there was really nothing else at the time (1970's). Later, I got into computers when huge mainframes ruled and few had access to them (I was lucky). I made computers a career and ham radio went bye-bye.

[VE7NOT]

Quote[/b] (n9lya @ July 06 2007,01:56)]Quote[/b] (VE7NOT @ July 05 2007,18:32)]Kids nowadays it seems are trained to have only 3 hobbies:


1. Strumming a gutair and making weird sounds (heavey metal)

2. Seeing how much booze and drugs they can take

3. Getting a 9000 dollar stereo with a boom box in your car

This is the problem you with have with people under 20.

There are a minority that are actually interested in things and it is this group you must target.
Hum.. Lets see and your generation did what when they were under 20... Lets see Woodstock.. Psycodelic drugs, Fast Cars, Free open sex, etc...

I just do not get it..

Damn hipocrits..

73 Jerry
I'm not even 30 http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[KA2P]

Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ July 06 2007,19:18)]Tell them that learning CW cant be memorized like a written test, that it takes your BRAIN to work to learn the C W language and that even a machine can not work CW as well as your brain can .

The internet and iPods, etc do not offer that great of a challenge that C W does. Plus the SIMPLICITY of cw will really blow their minds.

I showed a non-ham but talented guitar/banjo player friend of mine how I worked stations on HF CW. I showed him squeeze-keying and how to zero-beat with your ear...he was legitimately impressed. He picked it up pretty fast and said sending CW was very similar to playing an instrument, especially keeping the characters precisely separated to maintain intelligibility.

I think DXing is probably the only thing left in HR that will impress kids today, especially using CW. Why? Digimodes aren't going to impress them...they didn't with me...probably because I used IM and IRC extensively in college. Phone isn't going to do it either because of VOIP technology.

But playing instruments is perpetually cool and learning a foreign language gets girls too. CW is in fact both!

Combine an eco-friendly powered station with a modern, solid state rig w/DSP hooked to a simple dipole. Pipe the audio to a laptop with a spectrogram so they can visualize what's going on as you are tuning. Pick a time of day where one of the bands will open in a particular direction. Use a DX program to explain propagation. Find a CQ DX as "proof" and let 'er rip. Show them cool QSL cards as the "trophy" for bagging a DX station.

To sum it up: NO boat-anchors, towers or other expensive and antiquated equipment. If your shack looks like a SAC command center, that is not going to score points. Likewise for the well-equipped contest battle station...they will immediately think, "way too expensive."

Most people want to try stuff out for cheap...I've had several people drill me on the cost of HR...I say it's like fishing. You can buy a cheap pole and dig up your worms and have a fun day on a dock. Or you can skipper a saltwater boat and hunt the world's most elusive species.

Think simple, portable, yet still high tech. Bonus for solar,wind, biofuel, etc. Promote it like you would fishing or investing in the stock market. Some days are good and exciting...others not so much. It's a challenge and that's the fun in it.

[k0dxc]

I will tell you firsthand. First you demonstrate. Then you need to make a really cool contact in front of them. Then you need to give info.

Hey, it worked on me http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[NN3W]

Quote[/b] (KA2P @ July 06 2007,21:07)]Quote[/b] (ai4ep @ July 06 2007,19:18)]Tell them that learning CW cant be memorized like a written test, that it takes your BRAIN to work to learn the C W language and that even a machine can not work CW as well as your brain can .

The internet and iPods, etc do not offer that great of a challenge that C W does. Plus the SIMPLICITY of cw will really blow their minds.

I showed a non-ham but talented guitar/banjo player friend of mine how I worked stations on HF CW. I showed him squeeze-keying and how to zero-beat with your ear...he was legitimately impressed. He picked it up pretty fast and said sending CW was very similar to playing an instrument, especially keeping the characters precisely separated to maintain intelligibility.

I think DXing is probably the only thing left in HR that will impress kids today, especially using CW. Why? Digimodes aren't going to impress them...they didn't with me...probably because I used IM and IRC extensively in college. Phone isn't going to do it either because of VOIP technology. #
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. #Kids compete and want to be competitive. #Let them DX and let them contest. #

EmComm, Skywarn, etc. brings out a lot of bozos and LIDs that resemble more of a Star Trek convention than anything worthy. #If I were 16, I'd rather drop dead than hang around a bunch of wanna-be cops, old farts with 6 HTs on their waists, and guys who haven't seen their feet since they were in their early 20s. #I'd never bring a young kid or teenager to Dayton. #Never, never, never.

Its all image and interest, and both are severely lacking unless you throw them into a room with a group of highly motivated amateurs - primarily DXers, contest operators, and possibly T-hunters.

[NN3W]

Quote[/b] (N5PVL @ July 06 2007,05:05)]
Quote[/b] ]The perception that the future of amateur radio hangs upon recruiting kids and teenagers is way off base. Historically ( and today ) the youngest hams make up a tiny, insignificant minority within the ham radio population. - And there is absolutely no cause for alarm on this account.

There are some new hams that start off in the teen or preteen years but in almost every case, they go inactive in the late teens or early twenties as almost all of thier attention and financial resources go into establishing a family and home. This period of inactivity usually lasts for at least a decade, if not for life.

This is part true, and part wrong. There were lots of young hams in the old days. Speak to any old timer who has been licensed from the 30s, 40s, or 50s. Young hams were all over the place, because ham radio back then was novel. If you want ready proof, look at the number of ham radio college clubs that existed back then. They were all over the place. Now, there are but a few active ones - Stanford, MIT, and perhaps a couple others.

I will agree that, as a rule, there is a prolonged period of inactivity after college which often stretches a decade or so. I'm one example of that.

Quote[/b] ]The exception to this are the small number group of younger hams in thier twenties and early thirties who make up a great majority of the whiners and ‘gimme gimme’ types, so vocal in criticising every aspect of the hobby.

What the hell are you talking about? I've heard more bitching and moaning from old farts than from the 20- and 30-somethings. Most of the hell-raisers who exist on the air - as opposed to the Zed - are all old farts - or at least in their 50s.

Stop with the broad generalizations.