[Elecraft] Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics

[Nicklas Johnson]

I second this.  My first foray into electronics in general and radio in
particular came from the old Radio Shack / Science Fair "160 in one" and
"200 in one" project kits.  Prepare for a spaghetti-wire mess of jumpers
between spring terminals, but it was a really great means for me to begin
to understand, and it was a great way for someone of that age (I think I
started toying with them around the age of 9) to experiment.

My favorite kit build, of course, was the AM Radio transmitter, which led
to a lot of experimentation with different antennas to see how far around
our neighborhood I could pick up my signal, trying to find "improvements"
to the circuit, means of using speaker and line-level inputs instead of the
microphone input so I could play music more easily, etc. etc.  It turned
out that, for reasons I didn't understand at the time, a 6-foot-long sheet
of aluminum foil makes a pretty good broadcast band antenna for a toy kit,
much better than just a wire :-)

Eventually this led to a postal mail conversation with my uncle, who is a
Ham, who in turn sent me a copy of "Tune in the World with Ham Radio" to
help answer some questions I had about antennas.  And then, upon doing the
calculations, I was dismayed to learn that a proper vertical antenna for
the frequency I was trying to use would need to be over 150 feet high, well
beyond the allowed length for a Part 15 transmitter.  Someone should have
told me about loading coils... I bet I could have gotten a little more
range out of that aluminum foil!

   Nick


On 15 October 2017 at 09:20, GRANT YOUNGMAN <ghyoungman at gmail.com> wrote:

> That’s a good question.  Most kids’ grandpas, even it they’re hams, don’t
> have a workbench filled with boat anchors torn down in some state of repair
> or restoration, or aren’t into home brew of much more than getting a relay
> to work, wiring a connector, or something similar.  They may not even know
> another ham that does any of that aside from screwing ‘mysterious' black
> box radios together with preassembled cables, which is too bad in itself,
> but not the same topic.
>
> Maybe something like this thing https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-
> Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/
> ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_
> r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&
> refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD <https://www.amazon.com/
> Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/
> ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_
> r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&
> refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD>
>
> Another option is a line of products called Snap Circuits (google it),
> which are pretty slick.  My 9 year old grand daughter has a couple of sets,
> and has done some interesting stuff with them.  Plus, they’re kind of fun …
> :-)
>
> Grant NQ5T
> K3 #2091, KX3 #8342
>
> > On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward <edauer at law.du.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might
> interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept
> at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my
> grandson.
> >
> > But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary
> smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can
> learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family
> radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
> >
> > Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
>
>
>
>
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