[ARC5] Interest in "command" sets - where is a new generation?

[jmfranke at cox.net]

Good words! Now for some off the top of the head thinking to get thoughts moving. 
I have always noted that teenagers are attracted to doing things. Radio was an early way for an individual to listen to or communicate with distant cultures, etc. The main investment was time and handy work. That has changed. Amateur astronomy required the time and patience to grind mirrors, test optics, construct telescopes and mounts, accompanied by learning the sky. Working with others drew together diverse resources and progress. Now, inexpensive telescopes are easily acquired and even astrophotography can be done with reasonably priced cameras and software. When I was young, there was an interest in go-carts. With time and scrap parts, one, or a club, could assemble a go-cart and have a set of "wheels" which lead to better cars, etc. There is interest in robotics. But, the tools are available at a relatively low cost and it takes a remarkably short time to produce results. Similarly, the downloading of music or information was once fascinating, but can now be done in minutes with a handheld black-box. Much of programming is splicing of functional blocks from a library. 
What is needed is long term goals with a path that has many turns, but achievable intermediate results along the way. It is important that the results require an investment in time and activity. It is helpful if the task requires or is more fun when other people are involved.
So, the need is to find the right goals, goals that can be assisted by electronics, preferably goals that require multiple participants. The teenagers will develop interest in the tools to reach the goals. Maybe the teenagers would eventually partner with an elder to form a team. The elder would identify the needs and the teenager help meet the need through learning electronics. The teenagers would not only increase the knowledge of electronics, but also learn the science associated with the goals. I have always thought that this idea would breathe life into my own interest of science and electronics. 
Okay, so what are the goals? I think the goals have to come from others who have used electronics for diverse hobby interests. Perhaps if such persons could be identified in your own city, they could give a presentation at the radio club - now an electronics and science club. Ask around. Has anyone built or needed an electronic device to assist in their other hobbies? Radio control, weather monitoring, astronomy, robotics, microcontrollers? 

John WA4WDL


---- Leslie Smith <vk2bcu at operamail.com> wrote: 
> 
>           The next generation of engineers (or hobbyists)
> 
> I am a member of Westlakes Radio Club.  We have few members under 50
> years of age.  Yet 30 years ago the situation was the opposite.  The
> club founder, Kieth Howard, was the science master at the local high
> school, and every Saturday afternoon the train station near the club was
> flooded with teenagers - all going to Westlakes Radio Club.  Today, our
> club has about 200 members; but nearly every club member joined in the
> 60s and '70s.
> 
> I spoke with several people directly engaged in teaching science at the
> secondary and tertiary level.  There is some interest in computing, but
> little for physics, chemistry or maths.  You may substitute the word
> "electronics" or "radio" for physics.
> 
> I don't know a single reader on this list under 50 years of age (but
> then I apologize to those whose age I estimate incorrectly!)  In the
> recent thread about the Hallicrafters S-38 I read (or at least infer) a
> lot of enthusiasm for radio/electronics in teen-years; I read about
> school-teachers teaching with infectious enthusiasm.  I read accounts by
> list-readers who caught that enthusiasm (and who made two-way radio
> contact around the world using basic stations cobbled together from
> "command" sets or Hallicrafters S-38 and a one-tube MOPA).
> 
> Now, of course, we can talk around the word for a ten-cent phone call. 
> We can use Skype to do the same thing for nothing!  Has the PC killed an
> interest in radio?  Dare I ask a question,  "Who will continue our
> interest in these old radios?"  More than our narrow interest in
> "command/ARC-5" radio, who will make the next generation of engineers
> and technicians?  This is an interesting question?  Is there some way to
> re-kindle interest in radio/electronics?
> 
> Les
> 
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