Amateur radio needs more young folks.

[LeoG]

1 hour ago, WSIK532 said:

Absolutely, that's why I carry my radio on my hip everywhere I go if someone ask me about it I can then pique their interest.  

That's how you get the chicks.

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, WSIK532 said:

Absolutely, that's why I carry my radio on my hip everywhere I go if someone ask me about it I can then pique their interest.  

 

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

I do it to impress the chicks.. Ones the young'ins realize what a chick-magnet it is, they'll be all over H.A.M.s radios.

 

Can't do that stuff in my neighborhood.  These youngn's will rob you in a heartbeat.  They don't even know what it is.  They think they're stealing the new iPone.

[WRYZ926]

14 hours ago, marcspaz said:

Can't do that stuff in my neighborhood.  These youngn's will rob you in a heartbeat.  They don't even know what it is.  They think they're stealing the new iPone.

That's when you get one of them special radios from the middle east.  

[WSDX985]

So, I do not think this is a lost or aging area or hobby. and young people are still interested in the hobby, however if they were like me, I have wanted to get into Ham radio for a while but didn't know where to start. I got my GMRS license and started there with learning how to use repeaters and now, I am 36 and working toward getting my technician license. I grew up with my grandfather using CB radio in the house and wanted to do that kind of thing to remember him and hope they my 6- and 3-year-old daughters get an ich for the hobby.

[TNFrank]

I think a lot of younger folks take for granted that their cell phones will always work. As someone who grew up well before cell phones I was used to either finding a pay phone or for short range would use a CB radio to talk with friends. 

There's been a couple times when cell service has gone down even in a big city like Phoenix where a good HAM radio going through a repeater would have been nice to stay in touch with people. 

I'm working at getting my grandkids and younger work acquaintances interested in at the very least GMRS(the gateway drug radio service)and later HAM.

[Lscott]

On 9/21/2025 at 8:08 AM, WRYZ926 said:

That's when you get one of them special radios from the middle east.

I got two of the UHF models from a seller in the Middle East. Specifically Abu Dhabi.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/500-ic-f3162dt-front-and-back-sidepng/?context=new

Yup. Now who uses dPMR in North America?

[WRYZ926]

33 minutes ago, Lscott said:

I got two of the UHF models from a seller in the Middle East. Specifically Abu Dhabi.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/500-ic-f3162dt-front-and-back-sidepng/?context=new

Yup. Now who uses dPMR in North America?

Those aren't the type of special radios I was talking about. I was talking about the ones Hamas and Hezbollah were using 

[Lscott]

6 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Those aren't the type of special radios I was talking about. I was talking about the ones Hamas and Hezbollah were using 

That crossed my mind since that happened not too long after I got the radios. Those were Icom radios that exploded, but a different model than what I got.

[jrkiefer]

22 hours ago, TNFrank said:

I think a lot of younger folks take for granted that their cell phones will always work. As someone who grew up well before cell phones I was used to either finding a pay phone or for short range would use a CB radio to talk with friends. 

There's been a couple times when cell service has gone down even in a big city like Phoenix where a good HAM radio going through a repeater would have been nice to stay in touch with people. 

I'm working at getting my grandkids and younger work acquaintances interested in at the very least GMRS(the gateway drug radio service)and later HAM.

I think one thing that would help is if the FCC or powers to be, would allow digital with GMRS repeaters. Something similar to APRS, D-Star, etc. I believe this is only allowed for licensed Ham operators but in theory, could be implemented into GMRS barring FCC acceptance. Kids are more digital these days. 

[TNFrank]

On 9/23/2025 at 6:58 PM, WRYZ926 said:

Those aren't the type of special radios I was talking about. I was talking about the ones Hamas and Hezbollah were using 

A lot of those were pagers. 

[WRYZ926]

9 hours ago, TNFrank said:

A lot of those were pagers. 

Yes there were a lot of pagers, but also a lot of radios too.

[Lscott]

10 hours ago, TNFrank said:

A lot of those were pagers. 

The guys that put them in their front pant's pocket didn't fair too well. 

[SteveShannon]

11 hours ago, TNFrank said:

A lot of those were pagers. 

 

1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:

Yes there were a lot of pagers, but also a lot of radios too.

As I recall it was two orchestrated waves, first the pagers exploded and then, when they were trying to communicate with each other using their handheld radios the radios were detonated.

The handheld radios were not genuine Icom radios, but counterfeits that had been “upgraded”.

[Lscott]

26 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

The handheld radios were not genuine Icom radios, but counterfeits

Likely from the Chinese, they'll copy anything.

[WSKB818]

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

[radioruck]

45 minutes ago, WSKB818 said:

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

I basically just did a bunch of the practice exams using the HamStudy app and then checked which answers I got wrong. Was much more enjoyable that "studying".

[WRYZ926]

48 minutes ago, WSKB818 said:

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

I'm 53. I took my technician test in October 2023 and my General test in January 2024. 

Using the practice tests from HamStudy or QRZ helps quite a bit. You are ready for the actual test once you repeatedly score a 90% or higher on the practice tests.

[WSEZ864]

1 hour ago, WSKB818 said:

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

I was in my early 50s when I passed my first amateur exam, but I admit to having some radio and electronic experience. I am a Volunteer Examiner and our club gives monthly exams. You'd be surprised at the age spread among applicants we see.

I'm not a well-disciplined study either, but with so many practice sites and so many ways to go about it, you can probably find a good fit. I'd suggest starting with this 'HamExam site and playing around with the 'flash cards' for the Technician exam:

https://hamexam.org/

 

 

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, WSKB818 said:

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

I got mine at 66 and I used HamStudy. It’s a free website that works like flash cards. 

[WRUU653]

5 hours ago, WSKB818 said:

I'm thinking about getting my ham license. I'm 52 so not so young lol. I also hate studying so it might be tough lol. 

Another user of HamStudy here, got mine at 60. That’s 420 in dog years. 

[WRHS218]

I did my part. I was young when I got my Amateur license. Well, younger anyway. It's weird being the same age as old people.

[Bocephus91]

On 9/13/2025 at 10:20 PM, TNFrank said:

I was watching a video on YouTube of a Hamfest and the vast majority of people there were 60+ year old guys. If this hobbies is going to survive we need to bring more young folks in and show them just how much fun it can be to talk to someone on a radio. 

I remember the Pre-Cellphone days(yep, I'm old, lol)and all my buddies in High School has CB radios and we do our best to keep in touch with them. 

I helped a few folks out with helping them program their radios and trying to show them how practical they can be. GMRS is a good place for new radio users to get their feet wet since it only requires a $35 fee to get the license.  After that they can work on studying for their HAM license and really open up things. 

If you can talk to some young folks about radio and maybe help them to pick up one and give it a try. We really need some young folks to get involved if we want radio in the future.

I'm trying to learn gmrs and Ham both. It don't come natural to me like it does my father in law but I'm trying. I'm 34 and it seems no one my age is remotely interested in radios. It's a shame.

[OffRoaderX]

8 minutes ago, Bocephus91 said:

I'm 34 and it seems no one my age is remotely interested in radios.

Yah, but that's probably just because they are all normal.

[WRUU653]

1 hour ago, WRHS218 said:

It's weird being the same age as old people.

I couldn’t have said it better.

[SteveShannon]

31 minutes ago, Bocephus91 said:

I'm trying to learn gmrs and Ham both. It don't come natural to me like it does my father in law but I'm trying. I'm 34 and it seems no one my age is remotely interested in radios. It's a shame.

Good for you. Very few of my previous circle of friends was interested but I’ve made new friends (I still have the old friends).