Trials & Errors #68: The Value of YouTube vs. In-Person Elmers

This is the discussion for the column at this link. Please make sure you contribute your thoughts on this one in this forum. The topic was a lot of fun to write about and included the comments of many individuals. Thank you to those who replied to my request. I'm sorry that I could not manage to get everyone's thoughts included in their entirety. Feel free to post them completely in the forum below. Thanks, Dave W7DGJ

 

The one, and perhaps the singular advantage of using YT vides as part of your leaning process is that of timing.

The YT video is available 24 hr/day. No need to schedule a meting - perhaps - days in advance, and hope nothing comes up.

Reading a book or textbook to learn doesn't seem to be popular - at least with those I correspond with on solving issues with a radio set.
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Sadly, tooo many these days just don't read - period. Worse, in addition to not reading, many are poor to horrible readers, once the verbiage becomes difficult - they bail. I get that many, if not most, young people were raised in a video world. Add in 'funny' words for someone with a marginal set of vocabulary skills and ham radio - a technical hobby, soon is viewed as either too hard or only 'eggheads' will succeed.

Take a common technology, like X-ray imagining and you find sentences like:
"Silicon photodiode arrays combined with signal processing integrated circuits (IC). 64-256 ch arrays with or without scintillators. Mainly used for industrial inspection in the x-ray or visible range of the spectrum. Driver circuits available for easy implementation." This for flat panel sensors. Some descriptive text holds even longer sentences with polysyllabic words.

Much of the texts used to teach electronics/radio-electronics suffer from the same issue set... Long wordy sentences made of long (polysyllabic) words. Add in the fun of third person, impersonal style and you get something a good friend of mine, Gene, used to describe as 'This stuff is as hard as Chinese arithmetic'.
Which brings up the woeful state of math education - at least here in the US.

All of this bolsters your case for "Elmers" to tutor those new to the hobby. Even then, the issue of "I can explain it to you, but I cannot understand it for you. "it" being the subject at hand.

Looking at the requests for help found here on the Zed offer many examples of just this....offset.

If you are able to find a ARS operator with time to spare, a willingness to explain and demonstrate the hobby, you have found a real jewel of a person.

KL7KN/Don

 

In the end, the quality of YouTube videos varies from accurate and informative to "what the heck were they thinking of?". Definitely a buyer beware situation.

 

Mentor is fine if that's what you prefer. I tend to stick with the customs and traditions of the hobby and prefer “Elmer”.

My experience over the years has been that books on the topic tend to be accurate. I also find the advice given on this site is mostly what I'm familiar with after over 65 years in the hobby. In fact, we have some very competent contributors in the technical aspects of the hobby, antennas, and general operating techniques. Some of you guys really know your stuff.

When it comes to YT videos, not so much. Let me start by saying we don't need the weird contorted faces; they add nothing to the video. YT videos tend to run the gamut from those trying to pass opinion off as fact to those who do classroom-quality presentations.

The problem for the new ham radio operator comes from trying to separate fact from fiction/opinion. You don't know what you don't know, so how do you know what you're being told is correct? I'll try to give an example using one of my favorite ham radio topics...FCC rules and regulations. I've watched videos where the presenter insists that NATO phonetics are the “proper” phonetics to use. That's fine as an opinion, but as a matter of fact, Part 97 of the rules and regulations does not specify a phonetic alphabet or that one is required.

Any presentation video or written material has more credibility when it includes a link or other reference.

97.119 Station identification.(in part)
(2) By a phone emission in the English language. Use of a phonetic alphabet as an aid for correct station identification is encouraged.

A phonetic alphabet, not THE phonetic alphabet. Encouraged, not required.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97/subpart-B/section-97.119

 

My preference is to work with a good Elmer and I have been blessed with one of the best around, K4TO. I cherish the time I spend in his workshop with him, learning and listening to his wonderful stories. He is the epitome of what an Elmer should be. That being said, there are things I research on YouTube, as well as in books. I prefer working with an Elmer, because I can ask questions and follow up with him if needed. The personal link I have with my Elmer is better than gold, and I dread the day he becomes a SK.

 

I think YouTube videos have a place when it comes to learning, I've used YouTube to learn about things for my job, my radio hobby, and my other hobbies. But the one thing I've found that's consistent no matter the content is this: a majority of YouTubers are being paid for their content. Sometimes it's just being paid for views, other times it's being sponsored. That's where you have to be careful. A newcomer might watch a YT video of a radio review, for example, and that video might talk about how Radio XYZ is the best thing ever and you have to have it now; without realizing that actually Radio XYZ is a piece of Chinese garbage but the video creator was paid (sponsored) by Radio XYZ company to sell that product.

Now that's slightly different than personal bias, which we all have. If you ask me what kind of radio you should but I'm going to say Yaesu or Icom and never, ever recommend a China radio. That's my personal bias, not something I was paid to say.

Interesting topic, good article.

 

Maybe videos are the "mode of the day" but for me, they are only one element of learning (or teaching) anything. I personally think that the interactive conversation of an in-person session is priceless. That conversation can include rapid question and answer discussion, as well as the ability to rapidly change topics if one is so inclined. Videos are "one-way, non-reversible" while in-person sessions are "full duplex."

YouTube, or any other videos, are like books. You have to use them from start to finish, with no "quick question" capability, and no way to ask the presenter's opinion. They also preclude the use of one of my favorite teaching tools -- the Socratic method (where the mentor helps by asking the student a series of questions which lead the student to find the answer for themselves, rather than simply being told the answer).

 

YouTube can be a great resource for all manner of things. However, from what I have seen so far with very few exceptions, ham radio YouTube has become nothing more than clickbait material for views, subscriber numbers and money generation. As has been noted, most ham video content creators prefer to operate as "influencers" and at the the end of day are in it for sponsorships and to please the YouTuber algorithm that increases their channel's popularity.

It is the last place I would recommend to anyone seeking amateur radio Elmering or mentoring of any sort. Heck, many ham Tubers will openly admit they are not even knowledgeable about the content they are speaking about, let alone able to convey any ability to teach. I categorize them as nothing more than entertainers and some are even bad at that.

Given my initial experience with them, I mostly now watch electronics content creators, such as Mr. Carson's Lab, IMSAI Guy, Zenwizard Studios, and others of that ilk to name a few. On the ham radio side, David Casler, Jeff Tranter and W2AEW are some of only a few I can trust to watch, when it comes to wanting to learn about something. However with that said, regardless, nothing beats in-person Elmering. I often hear some say they can't find an in-person Elmer. I call BS on that. When I first decided to get into this hobby, I cold called a ham I found after doing some research and finding his name in a local news article that did a story about him teaching Tec classes. I then went even further and found a Club and went to one of their meetings cold turkey and eventually became a member and met all kinds of Elmers. All this to say, it can be done, no matter where you live and if you are willing to put in the effort to seek it out. Therefore I tend to believe, those attracted to YouTube Elmering are either too lazy to put forth the effort, or either have in-person social interaction issues and prefer to live in anonymity or as hermit, which is fine, but they should be honest about it, instead of using the "I can't find an Elmer" excuse or the other popular aside of "my local Club was not welcoming enough to me." etc...etc..

Unfortunately, the current reality is, I don't see much changing. The Tubers have seized on the fact that younger generations lack social interactions skills and they are more than willing to capitalize on it by producing entertaining and influencing videos, albeit with zero accurate knowledge sharing, while simultaneously lining their pockets in the process.

Sadly, going forward I see no reason to not predict more and more hams gravitating to YouTube as either naive information seekers or as amateur entrepreneurs, looking to make a relatively easy buck or two with the added perk of maybe getting some free gear from China.

Welcome to the new way of Elmering and social interaction in ham radio! SMH.

 

Thanks Debby! I felt the same way about my two Elmers, now both SK.

 

Don KL7KN made the comment that, "If you are able to find a ARS operator with time to spare, a willingness to explain and demonstrate the hobby, you have found a real jewel of a person."

I believe Don . . . It's harder and harder to find a person who will give the time and energy to mentor. I think that the YT videos have made it worse, because so many experienced operators will just recommend a particular link, or a YouTuber, and then the cycle repeats itself . . . Dave W7DGJ

 

In the article, I referenced an issue I had with getting ground rods into our Arizona dirt. Funny thing is that one of my respondents (Brando) had the same experience in his home State thousands of miles from me. He solved his issue with a YT video. I solved mine with an in-person Elmer! Both had the same result -- success!

 

Dave, You haven't really lost anything, just their physical presence.
Their friendships and skills they passed on are still within you.
Our 1st mentors were our parents. Friends were our next mentors because when we share we learn.
A number of my early mentors are now SK, but their Love, Friendship, and Mentorship live on in me.

If we ever stop being each others friends and mentors, I'm not sure life will be worth living.

 

There should be a place here to reserve special posts that can be re-read and re-read. Thank you Ron for one of those. Dave

 

Hi Dave,

You have a real thought-provoking topic here. On YT, anyone can give their opinion or instructions in the AR realm. They may be right or wrong. But it is like that in person, too. There are people I have met that are what I would describe as in person "click bait". It is really frustrating to see them talking to new hams and giving information that is not correct. I do not mean a different opinion, I mean flat out wrong. Experienced hams can even be duped, though our experience can be a guard, so to speak. New hams do not have that. It also does not help that they have to manoeuvre through convoluted owner's manuals only to find they have to download additional sections for further clarification (you reading that, the Big Three?)

I do subscribe to Mr. Carlson's Lab and watch a few other channels that are quite good. The problem for many is they do not know what good information is and what is not. I liken it to reading, say, a book about a country (like when I read about the United States), but you have never been there so while you may have some knowledge, you do not know the reality until you go there. Same with AR. Most of my Elmers have passed on, they were wonderful and the hands-on learning was invaluable, something you cannot get from YT. I miss them greatly; a memory will always take second place to a living relationship. I hope I have helped some in their licence endeavours like my Elmers did for me and I am not afraid to say I don't know if they have a query I cannot answer. I do not make up rubbish, I make an effort to find the answer, and to show them where the answer was and if it is convoluted the way it was written I try to simplify it. Usually that works. In that way I honour those that taught me. If their first radio is a Chinese brand, so what? Maybe that is all they can afford at the moment. Heck, I have had a learning curve with the ones I was mentoring trying to learn how the Chinese radios are programmed (I am used to Yaesu) so the learning can go both ways!

I do not think YT is a substitute for in person help, especially the AI driven cesspool, though it can augment it IF you are looking in the right place with good information. A pretty sparse territory that is. And then there is here, Dave. What you do I believe is a form of mentoring on this site and the ones that contribute to the discussion also fall into that category. A new ham reading these columns may not comment, but perhaps they learn something and the ideas start forming in their mind. That is the point, yes?

Great post, Dave. 73's
Tony
AA7FR

 

Thanks Tony. I am of the opinion that the "good stuff" on YouTube can supplement, but not "take the place of", a good relationship with a person who is knowledgeable and willing to share that info. As you stated, you have the same problem with people as you do with videos on YT. Some makes great sense and can be quite helpful. Other "advice" can be dubious and direct you to a dead end. The "sure bet" I had when I was a kid was reading material from the ARRL. And that's likely still true today. You can supplement your handa-on exposure with a personal mentor (Elmer) with ARRL materials, or printed materials from other countries' associations as well, and the combo makes you a much better ham. When selecting which online videos can be helpful, stick to those that explain processes and ideas, while avoiding those that "pitch" some kind of gadget or the latest and greatest. If it truly is great, you'll hear about it from your own acquaintances soon enough. Sometimes I'll highlight something I'm impressed with, but I do that only because it's worth further investigation by the reader and not necessarily an immediate click-to-buy. I love to read comments on eHam as well about those products. Thanks Tony, Dave