How to attract more young people into the Amateur Radio Hobby

[WRUE951]

I was listening to a Ham Radio Net yesterday and the topic was "How to attract more young people into the Amateur Radio Hobby"  There was a lot of corny ideas floating, like offer prizes, do a Santa Net, Let the kids say Hi on the radio with grandpa holding the radio etc..   Not one suggestion came out about GMRS..  Personally i think GMRS is the best way to get more young folks interested in Amateur Radio..  I live in a fairly good size desert community and we have quite a few young people enjoying the GMRS radio frequencies..  You hear them mostly on the weekends and they tend to stay on channels below 15..  In my opinion, there is no better way then getting kids to enjoy GMRS and letting them learn the hobby on an unlicensed specturm where they can hang with other friends..  Just curious what your thoughts are?  

[back4more70]

18 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

I live in a fairly good size desert community and we have quite a few young people enjoying the GMRS radio frequencies

Are they using call signs?  I'm wondering if they are goofing around on FRS.

 

19 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

In my opinion, there is no better way then getting kids to enjoy GMRS and letting them learn the hobby on an unlicensed specturm where they can hang with other friends

Except GMRS is not an unlicensed spectrum.

 

Not a bad idea though, I started my grandson off with FRS so he can start learning if he finds it interesting.  We are very much goofing around on FRS with each other.

[2017JK]

Start a morse code challenge on TikTok...

 

Sarcasm mode: OFF

Carry on

 

[WRYU400]

Gamers have taken interest into RadioSport (contesting) and are doing well. They get extra class licenses and really have a great time.

I think those young ones that have the desire for radio will eventually find their way to amateur radio. No reason to try and coerce them with prizes.


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[nokones]

Do away with the written test for the Technician Class license. Memorizing answers to test serves no real purpose for an entry level license. No one is going to remember what the answers were and cares. So, why have a test. It's a waste of time.

[AdmiralCochrane]

34 minutes ago, nokones said:

Do away with the written test for the Technician Class license. Memorizing answers to test serves no real purpose for an entry level license. No one is going to remember what the answers were and cares. So, why have a test. It's a waste of time.

Just buy a GMRS license, already has no test. Same for FRS.  Leave ham alone, there are services that meet your no test suggestion. 

[Sshannon]

24 minutes ago, nokones said:

Do away with the written test for the Technician Class license. Memorizing answers to test serves no real purpose for an entry level license. No one is going to remember what the answers were and cares. So, why have a test. It's a waste of time.

I disagree. Many of the questions that GMRS users ask on this forum are basic skills that hams learn when they’re studying for the Technician exam. People can easily start by using FRS radios and graduate to GMRS as they become more interested. If they want fewer limitations and more rights they can continue to ham radio.

I don’t remember exactly what the quantity was but each of the past several years the numbers have increased. 
 

[Lscott]

12 hours ago, WRUE951 said:

I was listening to a Ham Radio Net yesterday and the topic was "How to attract more young people into the Amateur Radio Hobby"  There was a lot of corny ideas floating, like offer prizes, do a Santa Net, Let the kids say Hi on the radio with grandpa holding the radio etc..

Two big ones

Eliminate the elitist attitude too many of the old hams have regarding those with a Tech Class License. There are Hams out there that won't even respond to a call that is a Tech Class. WTF?

Same goes for Morse Code. There are those out there that remark, often, you're not a "Real Ham" unless you can pound out CW at 50 WPM. Sad.

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

Sad.

...Thats why they're called Sad Hams.. Killing their own hobby, one potential new member at a time... 

[WRYU400]

...Thats why they're called Sad Hams.. Killing their own hobby, one potential new member at a time... 

50k active GMRS licenses
758k active amateur licenses
The amateur hobby is not dead nor killing members off.
Funny how non-hams complain about ham radio operators.
Thank you for the entertainment



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[WRQC527]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

you're not a "Real Ham" unless...

Those six words are the bane of amateur radio. Unfortunately, it's not just CW. A lot of the old farts who complain about the lack of CW testing also whine about internet linking and digital modes as not being real ham radio. The reality is there are more high-tech opportunities with amateur radio now than there ever were. That's what should be sold to young potential hams. Not talking to Santa on grandpa's HT. I know a kid who got his ham license a few years ago in high school and was working on a CubeSat that went into space. He's at Embry Riddle now. When I was in high school I was in auto shop learning to change the spark plugs.

[WRKC935]

Truth is, your NOT gonna draw people in mass to any forum of RF communications outside having the newest iPhone or Android device connected to it.

There are those of us that are radio people.  We enjoy the ability to communicate to a large group of people, share idea's and the like.  And NOT do it over TicToc or any other app on the phone. 

The bigger thing is drawing the current license holders back to the radio.  Because there may be 50K GMRS users and 758K of hams.  But it's a SMALL portion of them that are active.  And activity is what draws people in.  The ham repeaters are silent for the most part outside a bit of chatter here and there. 

The Midwest Link has WAY more activity than all the ham repeaters in the Columbus Ohio area.... And I would bet that's the case other places where the system has a linked repeater.

 

[OffRoaderX]

23 minutes ago, WRYU400 said:

The amateur hobby is not dead nor killing members off.

Now try actually reading what I wrote:

The amateur hobby is killing off POTENTIAL NEW members - if you don't believe this to be true then either your head is buried in the sand or you are part of the problem.

I dont give a sh!t one way or another, they already killed me off as a potential member long ago, i just think it's humorous when sad-hams try to pretend this is not an issue.

[WRKC935]

3 hours ago, nokones said:

Do away with the written test for the Technician Class license. Memorizing answers to test serves no real purpose for an entry level license. No one is going to remember what the answers were and cares. So, why have a test. It's a waste of time.

I knew better than to scroll up.  But I did it anyway.  So here we go.

This is NOT up to the American government.  The ITU sets the standard.  If the Tech class had zero HF privilege, then it MIGHT be possible.  But since they do, they are able to communicate outside the US on HF.  And since that's the case, there has to be a test that can attempt to show some level of competence while operating in the HF portion of the RF spectrum.

 

2 hours ago, Lscott said:

Two big ones

Eliminate the elitist attitude too many of the old hams have regarding those with a Tech Class License. There are Hams out there that won't even respond to a call that is a Tech Class. WTF?

Same goes for Morse Code. There are those out there that remark, often, you're not a "Real Ham" unless you can pound out CW at 50 WPM. Sad.

This is not gonna be possible until those guys leave the hobby completely or die off. 

I have been hearing that stupidity for 30 years now.   I got a no code tech license and listened to the curmudgeon old farts complain that it was gonna be the undoing of Ham radio... it continued to exist.  When they completely removed the code requirement, it went on again.  And here we are. 

 

12 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Now try actually reading what I wrote:

The amateur hobby is killing off POTENTIAL NEW members - if you don't believe this to be true then either your head is buried in the sand or you are part of the problem.

I dont give a sh!t one way or another, they already killed me off as a potential member long ago, i just think it's humorous when sad-hams try to pretend this is not an issue.

No one cares that you aren't a ham.  Hell I am thankful that you aren't a ham.  Your personality on here and in your videos put you right in the same mentality as the clowns that complain about how this or that change is gonna ruin ham radio.  NO one cares what you have to say.  And I KNOW you care about that.  If not you wouldn't continue to play halfwit youtube star with your GMRS videos. 

[OffRoaderX]

37 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:

NO one cares what you have to say

162,000 people disagree with you, but I'm sure you're probably right because you seem to be a real "expert".

[WRKC935]

6 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

162,000 people disagree with you, but I'm sure you're probably right because you seem to be a real "expert".

I would have to wonder how many of them tried to eat 'Tide Pods'.

But at 162000 followers, I do suppose you are doing better than Jim Jones.  I don't think he had quite that many suckers.... sorry... followers

[Sshannon]

There are sad hams, I’m sure, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the hams I have met.  From the ones younger than me (most of them) to the ones older I have met some nice people who are willing to explain what they know, recant the history they know, and even admit to learning a few things from me sometimes.

Every hobby has people who are convinced that some aspect of how the hobby is managed is reducing prospective members.  I see it in rocketry also, a constant message that we must be sensitive to how we behave or what aspects of our behavior dissuades potential new members from wanting to participate.

And the fact is, they’re correct.  There are always prospective members who will not become members.  No matter what we do there will be.  If we have a test we lose out on those who would join if we didn’t.  If we don’t have a test, we will lose those who insist that we maintain our high standards.  It’s just human nature that we will never please everyone. But we should make sure that the test is relevant, and not given just to make ourselves feel better about having passed it. 

And, we should be welcoming and we should help people who have an interest so they are not intimidated away from the hobby. And we should listen to those who have ideas that differ from our own, because that’s where we are sometimes the weakest, in seeing the faults within us.

So, @OffRoaderX, please tell us what happened that permanently convinced you that you would never become a ham and what we need to do to prevent alienating prospective members?

[WRQI583]

Simply put - ABOLISH MODERN COMMUNICATION!
Get rid of cellular and internet communication. I realized this on a trip I took with my wife camping. Our camp site had cell service. After leaving and taking the long way home going down the Golden Road from the Greenville Maine area to Millinocket Maine, our cell service died. No big deal. It didn't bother me because I have 3 radios that communicate locally sitting right in my console. Well, I have to say, GMRS was used heavily on that road. It really brought me back to the days when I first got into Ham Radio and it brought a smile to my face. It was a really good feeling I had not felt since the 1990's. It was a time when not everyone and their mother had cell phones. The internet? It was confined to a huge box on a big bubble screen monitor in your living room and your connection costed you dearly and was slow. Radio communication was faster and more reliable and attractive. Today, your cell phone is much more reliable and you have everything to communicate and research information with all in the palm of your hand. Until that crashes, you are never going to get "new blood" into any radio service. If you add some of the shenanigans that happen on Ham or any other service, it will turn kids or anyone else off to radio. Kids today grow up with technology that works solidly in the palm of their hand. Radio is something that you find in a museum. As much as many will give me grief over what I am saying, today's communication far surpasses radio, even if "one day" all communication will go down, except for radio, the fact is, our ways of communicating today are more solid and faster. I still have radio and on a rare occasion still operate radio, but Zello is my two way radio in many cases, except for when I go out with my wife shopping and doing other tasks together in which case the radios come out because cell signal is not always great inside of buildings.

If you want to get kids into radio, keep todays technology out of their hands until they are old enough to drive a car. I see kids today that aren't old enough to use the toilet with cell phones and tablets in their hands. Even if I didn't see it, I hear about it when 911 misdials come into these dispatch centers and the parent apologizes because their kid was playing with their cell phone. If you want kids interested in something, buy a couple cheap bubble pack radios and let them play with them. Communicate over them with your kids. Stop placing the world in their hands. That cell phone is YOURS, not your kids. I was inadvertently exposed to radios (scanners and pagers) when I was younger, and as I became a teenager, CB radio walkie talkies and then my own scanner. I wasn't exposed to the internet until I was well into the Ham Radio hobby when I was 18 years old and that was slow speed dial up with a limited internet world. If you do this with kids, it's probably your only chance you have to get them involved with radio.

[nokones]

Why not have a "Restricted Operators License" (ROL) in the Amateur Radio Services (ARS) that restricts the use to just the 2m, 70cm, and 33cm bands within the United States, and only allow the subject licensee to operate only type-accepted equipment, maybe with voice emissions only, to prevent any accidental/inappropriate use outside of those bands. What harm would that cause to the ARS.  

I understand that existing ARS licensees would object because they went through the testing process in order to obtain a license and they feel that others should do the same because of the International rules and I get that. However, this would be a great way to promote/introduce people to the ARS so they can work their way up to the Technician Level just like people think that FRS is a way to GMRS.

I also believe such a Restricted Operators License can be granted as stated above without the ITU involvement since those subject bands can be or are  restricted to use only within the United States as a condition of the ROL.

[BoxCar]

1 hour ago, nokones said:

Why not have a "Restricted Operators License" (ROL) in the Amateur Radio Services (ARS) that restricts the use to just the 2m, 70cm, and 33cm bands within the United States, and only allow the subject licensee to operate only type-accepted equipment, maybe with voice emissions only, to prevent any accidental/inappropriate use outside of those bands. What harm would that cause to the ARS.

Please think this through. You can't contain radio waves to a single country. There are enough issues with frequency assignments along the Canadian border (Lines a & C) and with Mexico in the south. Add into the mix the digital modes which can link to the Internet and you have another issue. The Tech test is not that difficult and for a person with some basic knowledge of electronics and radio it only takes an hour or so of reading through the rules to gain enough knowledge to pass the test. The training course from the ARRL is designed for those who have no knowledge of electronics or radio other than where the power and volume controls are located.

There are enough people on both sides of the fence advocating for both higher and lower requirements to keep this argument going aover possible changes to "improve" the service or its attractiveness to new users. 

[Sshannon]

2 hours ago, nokones said:

Why not have a "Restricted Operators License" (ROL) in the Amateur Radio Services (ARS) that restricts the use to just the 2m, 70cm, and 33cm bands within the United States, and only allow the subject licensee to operate only type-accepted equipment, maybe with voice emissions only, to prevent any accidental/inappropriate use outside of those bands. What harm would that cause to the ARS.  

I understand that existing ARS licensees would object because they went through the testing process in order to obtain a license and they feel that others should do the same because of the International rules and I get that. However, this would be a great way to promote/introduce people to the ARS so they can work their way up to the Technician Level just like people think that FRS is a way to GMRS.

I also believe such a Restricted Operators License can be granted as stated above without the ITU involvement since those subject bands can be or are  restricted to use only within the United States as a condition of the ROL.

Kenny,

I have written and rewritten my response, but I think I’m not being as open to your suggestion as I could be so I’m going to approach this differently.

Do you believe that some level of training is necessary before allowing a person to use a radio on the amateur bands? If so, how do we verify that training?

I notice that you are not a ham radio operator. Have you considered getting licensed?  Is the test the reason you haven’t?

 

[OffRoaderX]

4 hours ago, Sshannon said:

There are sad hams, I’m sure, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the hams I have met.  From the ones younger than me (most of them) to the ones older I have met some nice people who are willing to explain what they know, recant the history they know, and even admit to learning a few things from me sometimes.

So, @OffRoaderX, please tell us what happened that permanently convinced you that you would never become a ham and what we need to do to prevent alienating prospective members?

99.99% of hams i have met in person were very pleasant and are not sad-hams.  It's when you go online that the sad-hams thrive, and thats where the young people go to learn, and often the first thing they run into is a sad-ham. 

That is what happened to me - I went online and had the audacity to ask questions about the test or electrical theory or something that I didnt understand, and it was quickly made clear to me that people asking such questions were not welcome in this exclusive club.  Not just once, but multiple times, in multiple places.  I see it here every day, and have even seen it a few times already in this thread.  HUNDREDS of my viewers have also commented on my videos that the exact same thing happened to them, so the impact of sad-hams cannot be denied.. 

I am actually thankful because when the sad-hams turned me off from ham I found GMRS and realized that I dont want/need a "hobby", I just needed a better way to communicate on the trail - and GMRS does that perfectly for me. 

The sad part is that most sad-hams dont realize that they are the ones giving a bad name to their hobby, and also giving me more material to make fun of.

[Sshannon]

6 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

99.99% of hams i have met in person were very pleasant and are not sad-hams.  It's when you go online that the sad-hams thrive, and thats where the young people go to learn, and often the first thing they run into is a sad-ham. 

That is what happened to me - I went online and had the audacity to ask questions about the test or electrical theory or something that I didnt understand, and it was quickly made clear to me that people asking such questions were not welcome in this exclusive club.  Not just once, but multiple times, in multiple places.  I see it here every day, and have even seen it a few times already in this thread.  HUNDREDS of my viewers have also commented on my videos that the exact same thing happened to them, so the impact of sad-hams cannot be denied.. 

I am actually thankful because when the sad-hams turned me off from ham I found GMRS and realized that I dont want/need a "hobby", I just needed a better way to communicate on the trail - and GMRS does that perfectly for me. 

The sad part is that most sad-hams dont realize that they are the ones giving a bad name to their hobby, and also giving me more material to make fun of.

I’m sorry (sad even) that happened to you.  If I ever do it (or have done it) please call me on it.

 

[OffRoaderX]

5 hours ago, WRKC935 said:

I would have to wonder how many of them tried to eat 'Tide Pods'.

But at 162000 followers, I do suppose you are doing better than Jim Jones.  I don't think he had quite that many suckers.... sorry... followers

You know, for someone that proclaims that NO ONE cares what I say, you sure do seem to care a lot.

[Blaise]

14 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

I found GMRS and realized that I dont want/need a "hobby"

And yet here you are obsessively testing new equipment and posting instructional videos online!  To be fair, I guess you've made GMRS more of a job than a hobby...