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

Wed Sep 3 16:08:07 EDT 2025

Once again, you're talking about what makes YOU interested in ham radio 
... not what might entice somebody 25 to 55 years old to spend the time, 
effort, and money to get a license and stay active.

By the way, I live just outside Sierra Vista and that "big antenna farm" 
is broken and unused.  The club is just a shell and I counted maybe 15 
active slots at their recent annual hamfest, some of which were from out 
of town.

Dave   AB7E

On 9/3/2025 12:57 PM, mjrosen via Elecraft wrote:
> Well said. I got interested in HAM radio at age 12. At that time I lived in an urban apartment, my grandfather owned a furniture and appliance store that sold radios. The fellow that did most of the repairs and TV (black and white) service a WWII vet nicknamed 'Brownie' (Mr. Brown to me). I always liked going to the store and watching the vacuum tubes glow while he did his craft. One day he asked if I wanted to come to his house as his friends were helping him erect a new antenna for his ham shack. Grandpa took me there and after the monumental task completed, we went to the basement where,  in a cloud of cigarette smoke, a few beers shared by the vets,  the glow of those vacuum tubes brought voices from far away lands. I was enthralled and vowed I'd do the same. I couldn't master 5 wpm (Ameco 33 rpm record training) CW and so no Novice license, I did hang a wire out the window and built a Heathkit SW receiver that brought me Radio Moscow.
> 60 years later I was driving through Sierra Vista, AZ and drove by the big antenna farm of the Cochise County Amateur Radio Club! I thought the hobby died long ago, you can email around the world, facetime folks from Europe, get the BBC on cable networks….who needs it? But I never forgot the disappointment I felt never having accomplished that chidhood goal. I emailed the club, started a correspondence (one member in his 90s I recall) and of course trolled the internet for more. One year later Tech to Xtra in 45 days and now, I'm obsessed with learning CW! I still live in an urban setting in Phoenix, concrete for a yard and an ugly HOA. No antenna works well. Every weekend I spend a couple POTA hours, active in the FB AZ POTA group, sneak an antenna out on the patio now and then at my QTH.
> Last month I went camping with my son and 10 yo grandson. I brought my KX-3. and EFHW. Grandson helped throw a wire up into a tree. Set up the sloper configuration. We called 'C Q POTA' and when a voice on the other side of the country responded, I saw the same amazement of my youth from a kid that doesn't own a cell phone yet and, who's parents are not  invested in video games (my son did plenty of that in college I can assure you). The answer lies in making the hobby more accessable to all. FT8, satellites, moon bounce do that and give relevance to kids today! I have no interest in any of that but I'm 75! I could log a lot more parks with digital modes but that's not interesting to me. I like the human to human contact be it SSB or now hopefully soon CW! The nature of the game remains however pure. Human minds experimenting and acheiving in a scientific endeavor that communicates with other like-minded humans who share in that experince. This my friend the definition of community and the doors must remain open or a community ceases to thrive. 73s excuse the long winded bio..Marc KM7AZ
>
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail
>
>
> On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 11:33 AM, Fred Jensen via Elecraft <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
> Very good point!  Providing communications for charity runs, rides, and
> the like is an excellent way to put ham radio before the public.  Such
> events are nearly always conducted on VHF/UHF using HT's and smaller
> mobile radios which just happen to be the class of radios the vast
> majority of today's new hams are interested in.  An example is the Baker
> to Vegas annual run supporting law enforcement.
>
> One warning:  Not all are for charitable organizations.  Don't run your
> radio in support of those that are run by private
> individuals/organizations.
>
> 73,
>
> Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
> Sparks NV DM09dn
> Washoe County
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
>  From "Bob McGraw via Elecraft" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> To elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Date 9/3/2025 9:21:45 AM
> Subject [Elecraft] Effective ways to introduce amateur radio to
> newcomers?
>
>> Public visibility of amateur radio goes a long way.  Set up HF stations at local events, county fairs, city events, bicycle races,  city wide yard sales, etc.  HF is important showing world wide communications of people talking to people.  Use minimal equipment and basic wire or simple antennas.  KISS is the principle to employ.  Don't extol the $3000+ station appearance. Stay away from Morse code and digital operations.
>>
>>    I've never been a fan of demonstrating repeater operation.  Cell phone communications quickly blows the repeater idea away.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Bob, K4TAX
>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 1
>>> Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2025 16:44:24 +0000 (UTC)
>>> From: John Magliacane <kd2bd at yahoo.com>
>>> To: Josh Fiden <josh at voodoolab.com>
>>> Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Effective ways to introduce amateur radio to
>>>      newcomers?
>>> Message-ID: <841724487.1106674.1756831464772 at mail.yahoo.com>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>>>
>>>    On Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at 11:56:53 AM EDT, Josh Fiden <josh at voodoolab.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Would calling it an ?avocation? make you feel better?
>>>>
>>>> 73,
>>>> Josh W6XU
>>> I prefer "Amateur Activity", as described by Robert A. Stebbins, author of, "The Amateur: Two Sociological Definitions". Simply put, Amateur Activities are activities performed for personal interest rather than financial gain that have professional counterparts, and occasionally interact and cooperate with professionals. HamSCI is an excellent example of this.
>>>
>>> So, just as we have Amateur Astronomers, Amateur Photographers, Amateur Historians, and Amateur Radio Operators, we also have Professional Photographers, Professional Historians, and Professional/Commercial Radio Operators, etc.
>>>
>>>
>>> 73 de John, KD2BD
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
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>>> End of Elecraft Digest, Vol 257, Issue 3
>>> ****************************************
>> -- Patience please; Rome wasn't destroyed in a single day!
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