[CQ-Contest] Interesting Youth In Ham Radio (was Digest)

[Sean Waite]

Re-re-rereading Jim's email I can almost get his point, but I generally
disagree. At 33 I sit on a weird place mostly between the generations,
technically one of them damn millennials but probably closer in general to
the previous generation. I'm also in a place where I interact almost daily
with a crowd of teens and 20-somethings who are fairly technical and have
an interest in radio. Jim is right that our (read: the American) education
system really lets people down where it comes to basically everything. I
don't believe that makes the younger crowd any less technical. I'm sure not
everyone over the age of 40 is capable of a deep level of EE any more than
a 20 year old is, and those that are have the advantage of a few decades of
experience.

Matt, you're absolutely right in that it really doesn't interest most of
the younger crowd just to be able to talk to someone on the radio as a
hobby. Communication is easy these days. Contesting and DXing drives some
interest, because the radio is the means to an end (magic internet points!)
rather than being intrinsically interesting. High altitude ballooning,
satellite work, QRP portable on a mountain, radio comms while off-roading,
these are interesting things. Doing something with the radio, building up a
solution for a task that requires radio, that is where the interest is.

This is where the danger to the hobby lies. By disregarding the fact that
there is indeed a crowd of technically inclined teens who would love to do
something with radio beyond just rag chewing or checking in with a net we
lose out on a lot. The biggest turnoffs I see from that group is the cost
and space associated with HF gear and the good ol' boys club who
aggressively disagree with anyone who tries to make the hobby different
than what they do with the hobby. To a lesser degree I also see people
trying to figure out why we would do it, but the first two points turn away
a lot of people who are actually interested.

Funding college clubs would be a great step. College kids have time to do
wacky stuff and a captive audience.

Amateurs have spent decades building th foundations of radio, it's time to
help the new crowd take those foundations and build something of their own
on top of it.

73,
Sean WA1TE

On Tue, Nov 14, 2017, 06:28 Matt NQ6N <matt at nq6n.com> wrote:

> Jim has been a great source of mentor-ship for hams of all ages through is
> comments on various reflectors and through his many articles and
> presentation decks that he's shared.  As a relatively young ham (41 years
> young) I'll chime in a few thoughts:
>
> In much the same way that radio transmissions are magic to many of us, I
> think that the internet has been similarly magic for a lot of young
> techies. The idea of getting an app accepted into the app store is not just
> a dream to modern youngsters, it's a reality and it is far more common than
> one would expect.  I think the intrigue of it is very similar to that of
> radio -- one's effort can be magnified by being suddenly accessible to
> people all over the world.
>
> Imagine being a kid today. You can spend a weekend making an app that all
> your friends will think is cool, or you can spend the weekend with amateur
> radio. The difference is not in the kids, it's simply that there are a lot
> of other options that now compete with amateur radio for attention and
> provide similar "magic" for the technically inclined individual.  Also,
> compared to when I was a kid, video games today are much more challenging
> and more social than they once were.  There are apparently big communities
> that revolve around tactical voice chat for video game missions.
>
> I recall when studying for my novice how excited I was about showing off my
> forthcoming ability to talk to others across the country or world for no
> fee.  This is no longer something that is perceived as scarce (because of
> Skype, etc.), even though doing it with radios or antennas one has
> personally built/assembled is quite different from downloading a program.
>
> What makes me optimistic is that I think that the internet is becoming more
> and more obviously a vehicle to deliver ads and commercials into our
> brains, and many of the seemingly creative personas and statements of
> individuality that made the early internet so intriguing are becoming
> tired, repetitive, and indistinguishable from any other form of
> advertising.  Cynicism about the internet is on the rise among young
> people, particularly cynicism about being the "product" that is being sold
> to advertisers.
>
> A few evenings ago I was riding in an Uber cab with a former coworker who
> had come to town. We'd just had dinner during which I'd mentioned my
> long-time interest in amateur radio.  He'd apparently not realized I was a
> ham but had a lot of awareness of ham radio but wasn't sure how it was
> current/relevant.  I went into a 10 minute explanation of all the ways, and
> by the time the ride was over the (millennial) Uber driver was extremely
> fascinated and totally blown away by the stuff I was describing.  I would
> not be surprised if the driver winds up becoming a ham.
>
> Another person (likely in his early 30s) fairly recently interrupted me
> while I was reading over some of the WSJT-X source code and asked what I
> was working on.  I went on to explain the JT modes and how they relate to
> some of the basic information theory that launched the computer revolution.
> The person was totally shocked and really did not believe that the low
> power worldwide transmissions I was describing were possible.  I'm thinking
> that I'll have to start carrying my KX2 with me for impromptu demos when
> this sort of thing occurs.
>
> A few years ago I attended the GNURadio Conference. There were attendees of
> all ages, including some hams.  Many of the non-hams I spoke with had very
> little exposure to HF, propagation, etc. The wireless industry dominates
> the interest in SDR for recent college grads because it dominates hiring.
> Surely the same was true years ago when HF communications were more
> directly relevant to national defense, etc.
>
> But if the sales pitch for amateur radio is "hey look how fascinating
> ionospheric HF propagation is compared to big budget VHF/UHF line of sight
> communications" I think it's a very easy pitch to make.
>
> I think that we as amateurs need to realize that buying an old HF rig on
> eBay will cost $200 to $500 while building an app is free and publishing to
> the Apple app store is only $99.  For the young person who has $100 and is
> looking to invest in something with a high probability of fun, how does
> amateur radio stack up?  How much fun would it be for any of us with a $100
> station budget?  I think the payout for amateur radio is very high, but my
> point is that for the new, not-yet-licensed person with technical
> interests, there are a lot of things to spend one's time on (such as
> building apps) that can also result in landing a six-figure job after a few
> years of tinkering.  The economics of this do not favor amateur radio, as
> the learning curve and level of technical sophistication needed to launch a
> career in RF engineering requires a much greater level of skill and
> accomplishment to achieve a similar financial outcome.
>
> I think the solution is for the amateur radio community to make sure that
> as many colleges and universities )and high schools) as possible have a
> well-funded station with state of the art gear, antennas, test equipment,
> etc.  The shack should be something that offers "toys" that rival the fun
> to be had with off-the-shelf video games and app development environments.
> I think that if we do this and realize that there is real competition do
> decide what the most tech-savvy youth will do for fun, we will have a
> chance at attracting those people into the hobby.   The cost of video games
> is very high when you think about hours wasted learning hand-eye
> coordination, etc., but most young people will not amortize that cost
> appropriately and will balk at the upfront price tag of proper HF
> equipment.
>
> 73 and thanks for the great discussion.  Anyone wishing to donate to the U
> of Chicago or U of Michigan club stations feel free to contact me, and I
> can put you in touch with the proper person to talk to.
>
> Matt NQ6N
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 13, 2017 at 3:13 PM, Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On 11/13/2017 11:51 AM, Ria Jairam wrote:
> >
> >> Question - do you actually interact with younger people? Or do you
> >> simply look down on them?
> >>
> >
> > You obviously didn't read my email.
> >
> > 73, Jim
> >
> >
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