Youth Column on ARRL Website

Hi I am 14 Years old and just got my Tech license last April I would really like to see some people my age on the air, but don't regulary...

It would be very cool if we had a community of Ham's that are @ or under the age of 30

 

Hello Everyone,

 It's great to see such activity here on the QRZ message board!  I hope you've all gone to the ARRL site to read my column (It's called Youth@HamRadio.Fun -- if you don't see it on the ARRL homepage, do a  search for it on the League's site).  I feature a ham, Nathan KC0LCS, who has planned a 20-meter youth net.  His email address is in the column, so get in touch with him as well via email.

 In regards to clubs, there is also one called LYRA, which is the League for Young Radio Amateurs.  It is modeled like the ARRL with sections and areas.  Check it out.  Just do a search on the web for LYRA.

 Many of you are looking to get onto Internet mailing lists to keep in touch.  Many exist.  Eham.net also has a Youth forum.

 Mailing lists are great and all, but please remember one thing:  The only way we as youth can recruit new youth to Amateur Radio is if we are active on the bands.  This is also true if we want to keep young hams active in Amateur Radio.  Plan an HF net (like Nathan's) and let's recruit as many hams as possible to get on the net and have a fun time on the air.  Especially with summer coming around!

 Keep up the great work, guys and gals...keep on recruiting young people to join our ranks in Amateur Radio, and stay active on the air!

73,
Brian, N5ZGT

 

It is great to see the youth getting involved in ham radio.  I have a nine year old daughter(KG4OPC), who will hopefully pass her code this week giving her full general priveledges.  She has been wanting to find other young hams out there to talk to.  Thanks for posting information on the youth groups, I know she will find it useful.
73,
Angela

 

HI

MY NAME IS DANIEL SPEARS AE6CZ I'M 16 YEARS OLD
I VE BEEN A HAM FOR TWO YEARS I LIVE IN FALLBROOK SANDIEGO CA.
I RELLY LIKE HAM RADIO I MEET LOTS OF PEOPLE IT'S RELLY COOL.
HEY CHECK OUT http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/farc/

73S FROM AE6CZ
MY EMAIL IS
RUNNINGSPRING@TFB.COM

 

I am 13 years old and live in Nassau Bahamas I am an active ham , mainly on 20 meters. my sugestion is that there is an online club where HAM's cam meet say people under 30 can join and trade information and spread the word of HAM radio . C6ANU

 

Hey, all. I was first licensed at 19 and I am now a semi-young 28 years old, Advanced class. I would be interested in joining a group of hams on the internet in this age range! I will be in touch...and look for me on the bands from the mobile for New England QSO Party today May 5.

73 de KD1XH- Litchfield County, CT

 

Hi! I am 16. I have read all the links and decided to start my own group as well. The website is: Youthful Hams web group
I hope you all would join because I think this will be a great thing for people to use and enjoy. Also I intend on having an HF net that is open to Kids, Teens, and youthful people of all ages once I get my General and save up to get an HF radio.

Thanks for your time and look forward to seeing you in my group!

 

The "internet group" thing has been done.... do a search for LYRA (not the currency, the "League of Young Radio Amateurs"), i know a few of the founding members... well, the club has been up and down as far as operations...it was going strong last time i checked on it.

As far as the ARRL is concerned, (as i believe was posted on a reflector someplace) "Young ends at the age of cuteness". Like it or not, they need to promote school clubs, but not necessarily the grade school clubs... the high school and college clubs need to be emphasized. I contacted the ARRL about possibly running an article about my school's club on out 70th anniversary.... i got brushed off. While grade school clubs may spark a little interest, it is during the college years that many lasting impressions are made. These are the times amny things, and many years of schooling, begin to come together for people, as we get ready to go out and start careers. If we don't do anyting with radio now, chances are not very good that it will be a big, if any, part of our lives later. The saddest part of all of this is the number of collegiate amateur radio clubs that are DYING!! being moved, displaced, forced to tear down antennas.... UM columbia, Cincinatti, and the list is growing.... we need PUBLICITY, we need to get people interested in the clubs... Countless people here on campus have licences, but don't even know about the club untill it's too late. While this is partially the clubs fault, we also have no way to promote our club on a national level, so everyone knows we are here. we get on the air whenever possible, but there is a limit to how far this can get us.


While it is nice that there is something on the ARRL website about this, I'm willing to bet that there are far fewer people that read the arrrticles on the website than read through, or even skim through a QST magazine. Would it hurt them to maybe set aside a few pages for a spotlight on a school club or two (heck, spotlight a grade school club, a high school club, and a collegiate club&#33, and other things pertaining to those of ages less than 60.... I can't count the number of people visiting our shack on tours that think ham radio is just a bunch of old guys playing with tubes and straight keys....they're suprised when they see that we use computers, new equipment (with TRANSISTORS!!&#33 and other such things.... we need to get over those old stereotypes. While QST can't do this for EVERYONE (well, if someone is reading QST already, they're interested in amateur radio already), i'm sure we can get national publicity along the same lines....

(ok, so maybe not all real radios DON'T glow in the dark.... but real AMPLIFIERS do.)

 

As I scan through all of the posts to Brian’s original message, I notice that most of the replies keep pointing to the main culprit of youngsters not joining the amateur ranks…. THE INTERNET.

Now, don’t get me wrong…the internet has it’s place in keeping us all informed about what’s new and fresh in amateur radio, but if we are to keep young hams active, turn off the computer and turn on the radio.

I’m 19 and I have been an Extra since February of 2000, and everyday I have made it my goal to make at least 5 contacts on the air. Sometimes I go well over, sometimes I only make 1 or 2.

Every young ham that has posted a message or is reading this one…make a commitment to yourself by contacting at least five different stations per day. You’ll be surprised at how many of you will remain active through the years.


73
Adam S. Hoffman, AF4QZ
af4qz@arrl.net

 

Hello,
My name is Trevor, W7TDC and Im almost 16 years old. I've been licensed for a little over 2 years and loving every minute of it. I'm an extra class licensee. I think it is great to have youth nets and youth clubs. Im currently a avid member of a local club and ARES group. I'm a "member" of the youngerhams group on YAHOO. I think it would be great to have a national or worldwide youth organization.

Check out my website at www.w7tdc.com
E-mail me at trevor@w7tdc.com

 

Hi everyone.
I'm an extra in wisconsin, I'm 17 and was licensed when I was 10, but that isn't my point.

I am an Executive Committee member of an organization called the League of Young Radio Amateurs. We have a web site at http://www.youngradioamateurs.com/
(Go to the message board, there isn't much on the rest of the web site)

The League is not incredibly active at this time, it has been around for many years but never really took off, the reason partially being our inability to contact other young hams.

If you are interested in LYRA or a fellow young hams club in another country PLEASE EMAIL ME at k9nl@arrl.net.


73
Nick Luther, K9NL
Executive Committee Member, LYRA
k9nl@arrl.net

 

I'm 13 years old, licensed since 11. I've volunteered for a bunch of events (Walk for Hunger, MS Walk, etc.), and got BARC (Boston Amateur Radio Club) to have a booth at my school's science fair. I think the reason we don't have a lot of kids in ham radio is because of things like AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). They decide to take the easy route, and don't fully understand what ham radio is.
-Joseph, KB1EIP

P.S. I got my mom to do ham radio (I bugged her into doing it)

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (AF4QZ @ May 06 2002,14:09)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">As I scan through all of the posts to Brian’s original message, I notice that most of the replies keep pointing to the main culprit of youngsters not joining the amateur ranks…. THE INTERNET.

Now, don’t get me wrong…the internet has it’s place in keeping us all informed about what’s new and fresh in amateur radio, but if we are to keep young hams active, turn off the computer and turn on the radio.

I’m 19 and I have been an Extra since February of 2000, and everyday I have made it my goal to make at least 5 contacts on the air. Sometimes I go well over, sometimes I only make 1 or 2.

Every young ham that has posted a message or is reading this one…make a commitment to yourself by contacting at least five different stations per day. You’ll be surprised at how many of you will remain active through the years.


73
Adam S. Hoffman, AF4QZ
af4qz@arrl.net[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Thank you for telling the truth. This kind of posting I find very bothersome. It is wholey and completely misleading. True HAM RADIO has absolutly NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INTERNET!!!!!!! HAM RADIO has EVERYTHING to do with RADIO!!!!! and NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WWW!!!!! I sincerly hope that the youth that finds out about the wonderfull hobby of HAM RADIO... EMPHASIS ON THE WORD "RADIO"..... will have the ability to descerne that RADIO is RADIO and that the WWW is the WWW. MEANING THE YOUTH.. CHOOSE TO MIX THE OLD WITH THE NEW... THAT IS THEY'RE CHOICE AND THAT IS FINE WITH ME. But please stop "Tom Brokenjawing" these kids and stop lieing to them. The WWW and Ham Radio are TWO distinctly differently systems. Sure... one can compliment the other, but please do not bluure the line between the two. Just my five bucks worth.

 

Hi, I am Andrew Styles, W4CCE, a past president of LYRA. I am also a memeber of the Board of Trustees for the organization.

The organization is moving along a little slow right this moment, but if there are energized people interested in the organization, you are invited to join and get involved. A notice will probably be sent out soon about elections in the organization.

We are also looking for members who can help maintaint the website as there is no one overly interested at this moment in time.

LYRA's Virginia Section will soon be hosting a youth licensing class in the Charlottesville, Virginia, area this summer.

Contact me at andrew@excellweb.com for more information and I will help you get in contact with the appropriate people at LYRA.

Thanks, & 73!

 

This is why I don't agree with the existence of something like "I-Link"-
I admit that it is cool to be able to talk to people all around the world with an HT
through your local repeater, but it should be done with radio and only
radio...like a 10 meter FM link. When the band is open it is a great thing
to have...same with 6 meters. If you want to talk to people in foreign
lands on the computer go on Yahoo Messenger or whatever! This kind
of thing will kill interest in the radio aspect of the hobby, and cause people
not to upgrade and lose interest...just my point of view