[CQ-Contest] Observations of a young ham

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

I think we missed the boat with NPOTA.  I was pretty much inactive from 
2012 -November of this year.  I found NPOTA and have really enjoyed it.  
It is not contesting and I appreciate the people spending their hard 
earned money activating those sites. There are a few contester types 
that are activators and those sure run more smoothly.  If you like to 
run rate there are place that are very desired.   The contesting 
community or clubs could have showcased their ability to set up a good 
station with good antennas and good ops and show of what we do and who 
we are. Maybe some did?  I have about a month of NPOTA experience but I 
have not seen where this community has done much with it.  We 
(contesters) could have activated  a vast number of these sites over a 
weekend day or days and made quite an impact.

My grandfather got me interested in radio and I was lucky enough to have 
a teacher like Carol who was a ham and who held radio classes at the 
Junior High School.  About 6 of us got licensed. While we were a club, 
there was not much club activity other than the classes and we did not 
have a station at the school.  The teacher also allowed us to come down 
to the science rooms during the free part of lunch and learn code, talk 
radio etc.  Without that I doubt I would have got my license.  I also 
had a number of neighbors close by that helped me with radios, what to 
buy, what to put up, what to do when and why.  One of them got me into 
contesting when I showed up at his house and he was working the 10-10 
qso party and then introduced me to others that liked contesting. I also 
had a friend that was a couple of years older that had his license and 
he invited us over to learn about his radio and he allowed us to make 
contacts and we sat and copied CW.  One neighbor was into SSTV but that 
was rather boring other than the naughty pictures that were produced!  
This neighbor also piqued my interest in computers and basic 
programming.  I guess I was pretty lucky to have so many hams in close 
proximity to where I lived.  We all lived on 3 to 5 acre lots so we had 
the ability to put antennas in trees or on telephone poles, towers etc.

W0MU

On 12/19/2016 3:23 PM, Carol Richards wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> First, I am a not so young ham; licensed when I was 12.  Like many of 
> my generation I grew up in a row house in a very large city. TV's were 
> black and white, and some color TV's in big furniture cabinets were 
> just making their appearnce. There was no cable TV, but lots of rusted 
> TV antennas and rabbit ears( for those who remember). There really 
> wan't much to do then. My parents controlled the TV ( all 4 channels). 
> I only had 1 hobby...coin collecting! I then met another boy about two 
> years older and only five blocks away. Not only was he into coin 
> collecting, but he was also a ham; very small world. Like me, He also 
> lived in a row house. This boy named Larry, was into something called 
> ham radio. Out of sheer luck, he introduced me to the hobby, and 
> mentored me for my license, helped me build a transmitter, loaned me a 
> receiver, and somehow got the blessings from my parents to put up a 
> 40m dipole across 4 roof tops.
>
>
> This story is not unique, but he did something more. He invited me to 
> join a club that was all teenagers. This was my intro into contesting, 
> A few years later, if I promised to have my extra class license, he 
> would introduce me to the world of a big-time multi-op contest 
> station; i.e.,W3BES later W3GM. I had never seen 100 foot layover 
> towers, 3 element full sized, monobanders for 40m, monobanders for the 
> other bands, each on their own separate tower. He nurtured me into 
> contesting to the point where I kept returning for every major contest 
> until he beame a SK.
>
>
> My career took an unexpected twist and I beame a teacher. I set up 
> free ham radio classes at the high school's night school and had 
> almost 500 graduates befor I gave it up. Again all of this was before 
> video games, computers, the internet etc. Many of my students were 
> young and acompanied their parents.
>
>
> Bottom line...
>
>
> My enthusiasm, spilled over and infected my students. They all got on 
> the air with few distractions.
>
> Often the "children" surpassed their parents.
>
> It was a hobby the entire family could enjoy.
>
> Today, most of them are still active, and contesting became a family 
> endeavor.
>
> These students were nurtured into contesting. Many ended up at the big 
> multi-op stations for contests, and many also began trying contesting 
> on their own from modest  low-power stations.
>
> Winning was never a goal. It was the excitement of just making lots 
> and lots of qsos with people as close as their own town or very far away.
>
> Patience, nurturing, and mentoring were the keys. Today things are 
> different. Our young people have too many other ways to occupy their 
> time. Instead of clubs, they get pushed into a VEC session, get their 
> licenses on the spot, and more often than not, thats where everything 
> ends. There are very few clubs that provide activities for them; 
> beyond field day. The meetings are run by the elder states-people, and 
> sometimes, picnics are held during the summer months at the home of 
> these same old people. If I go to a summer picnic, my-grown up 
> children and even my grandchildren, bring their i-phones and tablets 
> just to keep themselves occupied. They could care less about the 
> monster antennas and big stations. Their interests come from instant 
> gratification and derived from "their kind of activities".
>
>
> Fortunately, educators today are just beginning to understand what 
> 21st century teaching is all about. Our hobby and its rewards are 
> still 20th century. That is the disconnect that exists today. We need 
> to do more. The same excitement that drew us into contesting is 
> contageous if we let it become that. Camping or traveling to rare 
> counties, or summits, or even the NPOA event can do more to regaining 
> that enthusiasm. We as a community must begin, with baby steps, to 
> translate and transfer the excitement that we had.
>
>
>
> Carol
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Haverty" <k3fiv at arrl.net>
> To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Sent: Monday, December 19, 2016 3:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Observations of a young ham
>
>
>> The observations by and about young hams are right on target.  I think
>> it's part of a bigger picture though.  There are plenty of not-so-young
>> hams that fit the same description - they don't feel they have any
>> chance of winning the game, and have found that "competing" in the role
>> of a duck in the shooting gallery simply isn't much fun.
>>
>> I've known many hams who went through the process of getting the license
>> and even set up a simple station, perhaps 100W and a G5RV, who tried
>> contesting for a bit, got soundly trounced, and went on to do other
>> things that were more fun.
>>
>> Before I moved, 2 years ago, I had done quite a bit of contesting.
>> Never had much hope of winning anything with my 100W and a wire, but I
>> did actually win a few certificates - mostly because no one else showed
>> up in my assigned category/QTH.  Eventually, I'll probably set up my
>> station again in the new QTH.  But I haven't had the urge to do it yet -
>> just to hang up more losses in my log??.....
>>
>> People compete because they have a hope of winning, by showing their
>> superior skills against their opponents.  Except for the few who have
>> the right resources, e.g., location, and funds, and time, Ham Radio
>> contests don't provide that hope.  Many, like me, participate a bit
>> anyway, if only because we enjoy playing with the radio.  We provide the
>> cannon fodder for the big guns.  Contests simply provide the venues when
>> there are actually many other stations on the air.
>>
>> This topic comes up repeatedly, more often than the solar cycle.  About
>> 3 years ago, I wrote up an idea for "Challenge Contesting", which I
>> think still makes sense.  It requires no changes to any existing rules,
>> and it lets everyone actually compete with plausible hope of winning.
>>
>> All it requires is probably a bit of organization and a probably larger
>> bit of software.  Perhaps there's some interested kids out there who
>> would find creating Challenge Contesting a challenge in itself...?
>>
>> Here's that idea from 2013 if anyone's curious:
>>
>> http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/2013-12/msg00098.html
>>
>> Pass it on to the kids...
>>
>> 73,
>> /Jack de K3FIV
>>
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>
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