[CQ-Contest] Why Are European Contesters Younger?

[Felipe J Hernandez]

Remi, Igor and Zoli

Yes, its good to remember those days.. It makes me think that 
perhaps we are giving more weight to the playstations , Internet and other "sources of distractions" than we have to.

Maybe older Amateurs like us decided we where too tired to get envolved more with 
the aspiring amateur community. could it be mostly our fault? Not sure, but I remember 
our amateur mentors being very enthusiastic about teaching us Cw and Dxing. How much of the same have we done?

In fact It wasnt much about contesting in the early days, It was more of building antennas and dx ing and rig building and showing off qsl cards. all mostly related to pure operating.

I was talking to a close Amateur friend the other day and he mentioned that for him the competitivity of the sport and field work/antenna  where his main factors to continue as an amateur, and I spoke to some of the young guys (already hams) that showed up on an activity and believe it or not  they said that they where a little scared of using  ssb and cw and they took these chances to learn more from the OM's.

Us guys, that we were exposed to Ham radio and had a club station around to play and listen, we were never afraid, we just wanted to operate and I believe that having mentors and experienced operators around really helped us to understand the hobby better and loose that fear.

I would love to hear how has been the experience for USA operators/club houses, perhaps 
we can nail a trend or focus more our energy towards finding a solution.

As of what to do, looks inevitable to look back at the roots of our hobby and make operating the key, as far as the new technology, its very easy to integrate 
computers to our hobby and entice more youngers than ever..

 Find a location organize weekly meetings, teach morse code, contesting basics and  prepare some activities with a radio to play with, fuel it with competition and  im sure it will make a big difference. 

Felipe

Np4z/kp3z
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: LY8O 
  To: Felipe J Hernandez 
  Cc: cq-contest at contesting.com 
  Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 1:42 PM
  Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Why Are European Contesters Younger?


  Felipe,

  You are right - club stations or "clubhouses" were very important. I have had started in the club station - UK2BBB, hope oldtimers can remember this call. We were perhaps 5 youngsters in the team and we have had a superb chance to grow up and to learn a lot from well none operators. And there were much more well known club stations from Lithuania - UK2BAS, UK2PAF, UK2PRC, UK2PCR, UK2BBE for example. So what do we have today? In real life - only one M/M club station so far in Lithuania LY7A ex UK2PCR (my respect for they live effort) and time to time cooperation of high skilled hams for M/S or M/2 attempts (LY9Y+LY7Z and LY6A+LY9A) and one at the Youngsters Creation Palace (not so sure do I have named it right...) LY3MR, but we need to rebuild it to become it allive. And perhaps one or two more.... That is because of historical changes, because of licensing rules changes, because of country law changes. Simply we have no real places for youngsters to start or for some skilled
   amateurs to cooperate... That could be one of the problems why Amateur Radio Society getting older and older.
  We have some contests for youngsters (with skilled persones in other catogories) but we need more places to invite young operators. I think there could be some special categories in bigger or biggest contest to let youngsters to compete inbetween and to grow up. It could be based on age or license "age" or better on both... 
  I think I can say YES, I see a relationship between clubhouses and amateur population. And we must to do something, but what???

  73, Remi LY8O

  ----- Pradinis laiškas -----
  Nuo: Felipe J Hernandez 
  > Remi,
  > 
  > Thats what I imagined, I remember well those days, got my ham license 
  > also  29 yrs ago and now 44 yrs young..I remember well the soviet union's 
  > calls and great activity from those days.
  > 
  > I think we are struggling everywhere with Ham population, but somehow 
  > still comes to my mind that "clubhouses" were important to attract people 
  > like in the old days.
  > I think that possible hams can have a broader idea of the hobby and 
  > find common interests with others that can entice them to look deeper 
  > into the hobby when they congregate.
  > 
  > Have the number of club stations on your country diminished?
  > Do you see a relationship between that and amateur population?
  > I would like to hear from other amateurs if they see a relationship 
  > between clubhouses and amateur population.
  > 
  > Regards,
  > 
  > Felipe
  > Np4Z


  _______________________________________________
  CQ-Contest mailing list
  CQ-Contest at contesting.com
  http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest