As a teenager in HAM radio, it can be a bit nerve racking talking on the radio for the first time. That is how it was for me. I did my best to get on the air, but I was nervous. One day I was saying to myself, it is now or never, so I started to get on the air more, but I also wanted to communicate with kids, and the only people that replied to me were adults. So, I decided to start a Youth net on a local repeater network. It went on for a few months with only a few checkins each time, two of them were helpers with the net, and out scheduled got busy, so I decided to end the net, at least for now. In my time running the net I met someone who kind of had the same interests as me, and a few times he came to my church with his family (apparently they knew another family at church). I still talk to him to date. I wanted to meet more friends on HAM radio, so I heard about an organization that advocates Youth in HAM radio called the Young Amateurs Communication HAM Team (YACHT). Although it wasn't located in my area, they did a net over Echolink, which I checked in for the first time this week and it was fun hearing people from all over. I will try to check in weekly as much as I can. I recommend any Young HAM join, it is free, and you can meet lots of cool people. Did I mention, I made a few friends already in the one time I checked in.
