[TowerTalk] Fees for Amateur Radio

[J. Gordon Beattie, Jr., W2TTT]

Dave,
License costs become a factor when you want to involve young people.  I have
mentored a whole bunch in the last couple of years and have seen it
first-hand.

Parents' decisions to spend money on TV are "no brainers" for them on
several levels (HI HI).  When it comes to spending money on their kid's
off-beat hobby, it is huge!  These are the same brain-dead folks who will
pay $100 to put their kid in a sports uniform for to look cool and will give
you grief over a highly functional Scout uniform!  I've been lucky because
the families in our Boy Scout Troop are sensible folks, but there are those
who are not.  My own parents were really smart, reasonable people who DID
NOT appreciate the hobby and didn't want to "waste" money on something so
odd as Ham Radio and electronic parts.

I have a number of Scouts who we've licensed, in some cases for over a year,
who operate using borrowed equipment because they and their parents don't
know what to do.  I'm working on a simple guide for the parents and Scouts
to help them select equipment and to make intelligent purchasing decisions
to address this problem.

Remember, that most of us, no matter when we were licensed, got our tickets
because of catching the bug as a teenager.  
Get 'em licensed early and often and you will have a larger population years
out.

Thanks & 73,
Gordon Beattie, W2TTT
201.314.6964