[Elecraft] Effective ways to introduce amateur radio to newcomers?

Tue Sep 2 09:20:40 EDT 2025

OK,

Numbers may not be the answer.  I DO know a number of licensed hams that 
are not active, my wife included.
So, quality over numbers.  See:

www.youtube.com

Inside HamSCI’s First Field Exercise at K3LR: Dr. Nathaniel Frissell 
W2NAF <#>

HamSCI just completed its first-ever multi-day field exercise at the 
world-class K3LR contest station in West Middlesex, PA. For four days, 
students, profess...

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZUuLhQNRaU&t=1386s 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZUuLhQNRaU&t=1386s>

  I crossed paths with Nate at a BSA National Jamboree at K2BSA in 2010 
(maybe 2005?).  I participated in the solar eclipse QSO Party...

Get them hooked into some aspect of electronics, computers, and radio...

Keep in mind, the purpose of Ham Radio; the Amateur Radio Service...
The FCC rules and regulations are designed to provide an amateur radio 
service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following 
principles:

     1. Recognition as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, 
particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
     2. Continuation of the advancement of the radio art.
     3. Encouragement through rules which provide for advancing skills 
in the communication and technical phases of the art.
     4. Expansion of trained operators,*technicians, and electronics 
experts*.
     5. To enhance international goodwill.

73, Steve WB3LGC

On 8/30/25 19:10, David Gilbert via Elecraft wrote:
>
> Like I said ... anecdotes.  The numbers tell a totally different 
> story.  And the "everything is all right ... we don't need to change 
> anything" attitude is why.
>
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
> On 8/30/2025 1:37 PM, MIKE ZANE wrote:
>> I think youi might also tell this to all those school clubs, that at 
>> leasst get a few licensed. Listen to school clubs on the air ...alive 
>> and well.  Mike n6zw 87 years and very active, now in QRP.
>>> On 08/30/2025 10:45 AM PDT David Gilbert via Elecraft 
>>> <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>   65 years old for the U.S. is a low side estimate ... some 
>>> estimates go
>>> as high as 75.  Check out this image from the latest Southern 
>>> California
>>> DX Club Christmas party, or any of the multiple pictures from the 
>>> Dayton
>>> Hamfest:
>>>
>>> https://www.scdxc.org/
>>>
>>> So yes, the hobby is declining and as you imply, a huge number of the
>>> 800,000 licensed hams the ARRL likes to tout are not active at all.
>>>
>>> Clearly we'd all like to induce non-hams to join the hobby, but the
>>> reason is always to preserve it because WE enjoy it ... mostly for
>>> legacy reasons.   It's a selfish reason and ignores why younger people
>>> aren't interested.  Even among our own hobby, the bands are mostly dead
>>> except for contest weekends and FT8 in general ...  and that's at the
>>> peak of the sunspot cycle!  The fact is that the hobby simply doesn't
>>> offer much that young people can't get with less hassle elsewhere.
>>>
>>> The most popular contests in the world are the CQWW SSB and CW contests
>>> that drew 35,000 participants combined last fall.  The Memphis BBQ
>>> championship weekend draws more than that.  The average mud bog event
>>> draws 3,000 people and one is held almost every weekend somewhere in 
>>> the
>>> U.S.  Even such relatively obscure activities as those are more popular
>>> than ham radio.  I'll even bet that most hams spend more time on
>>> internet forums like this one than they do on the air.
>>>
>>> The only two ham radio activities I can think of that have been 
>>> actually
>>> growing are Parks On The Air and FT8, but POTA is mostly just a
>>> different activity for existing hams (yes, there are anecdotal
>>> exceptions) and most hams turn their noses up at FT8. Hams are a stodgy
>>> group and most resist any effort to significantly change the hobby.
>>> It's dying because it won't change, and that's the way of the world.
>>>
>>> Lots of hams (almost literally) whistle past the graveyard and claim
>>> that the hobby is alive and well, but tell that to all the commercial
>>> suppliers that are no longer in business.
>>>
>>> Lot's of folks point to emergency communications as a reason to 
>>> preserve
>>> ham radio, but VERY few hams actually care about it and during 
>>> Katrina I
>>> spent many hours monitoring the emergency channels on 20m and 40m.
>>> Guess what 95% of the activity I heard was?  It was relaying cell phone
>>> numbers from one official entity (Fire, Police, FEMA, etc) to another
>>> because there was so little cooperation between those organizations
>>> ahead of time.  The actual traffic was via cell phone.
>>>
>>> So I ask again ... why is it necessary that we talk non-hams into
>>> joining us?  We don't actually care enough to offer them anything 
>>> different.
>>>
>>> Dave   AB7E
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/30/2025 8:12 AM, email via Elecraft wrote:
>>>> Why ?? (Why is it necessary that we talk other people into ham radio
>>>> in the first place??)  WELL, In the USA, the average age (determined
>>>> by my browser) is 65 years old.  That means in 20-30 years, that 800K
>>>> number will be 400K without adding new (younger hams) ???
>>>>
>>>> My kids are in there 30's (and have let the license lapse - but plan
>>>> on renewing ??)
>>>> My wife is not active...
>>>> I know a number of hams in retirement communities that are not active.
>>>> How many of the 800K are active ??
>>>>
>>>> I have a friend (Scout admin I work with/for) that had a novice in
>>>> grade school, she let it lapse a number of years ago.  I have been
>>>> giving her Tech class info and she may have time to do the zoom
>>>> class...  She did like CW (still knows it).  I may give/lend her my
>>>> "old" NorCal 40.  It would be nice to have a kit again ??? for new
>>>> hams.  The NorCal 40 is simple to use and a single band dipole is
>>>> simple to "throw" into a tree...
>>>>
>>>> 73, Steve WB3LGC
>>>>
>>>> On 7/26/25 18:57, David Gilbert via Elecraft wrote:
>>>>> Exactly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Trying to talk people into being interested in things we're
>>>>> interested in for the reasons we're interested in them is a foolish
>>>>> endeavor.  Evangelism is boring and off-putting.  The best we can do
>>>>> is describe what ham radio can offer and let people decide if that
>>>>> has any interest for them.
>>>>>
>>>>> If we have to convince somebody that ham radio is interesting to
>>>>> them, then it probably isn't and even if they go along it won't last.
>>>>>
>>>>> Which brings me to this question:
>>>>> *
>>>>> Why is it necessary that we talk other people into ham radio in the
>>>>> first place?? * There are supposedly close to 800,000 licensed hams
>>>>> in the U.S., which is a bigger market and a bigger pool of like minds
>>>>> than LOTS of other activities.  Is there some sort of collective
>>>>> insecurity complex going on every time this comes up? And it comes up
>>>>> with annoying frequency on almost every forum.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dave   AB7E
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/26/2025 2:27 PM, Fred Jensen via Elecraft wrote:
>>>>>> They almost all view ham radio from a utilitarian perspective, not
>>>>>> as a hobby ... they have hobbies and interests. Probably the largest
>>>>>> non-work interests were in the outdoors.
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