Tucker,
Thanks for your comments!
I think you have the ham radio and contesting bug for much of the same
reasons that all of us here do. Is there a way lure others over with
flashy screens, scoreboards or other ways to get them interested in hooked?
I am curious how you became a ham. What was the driving force?
Is a family member a ham/contester?
Do you have a local club you are in?
Do you have other friends around your same age that you radio with?
We have another young person that wants to see a scoreboard feature.
This is a call out to out top competitors who have been pushing back the
hardest on this. Are you ready to yet to give this a try or is winning
that $60.00 plaque still more important than trying something that can
have a lasting effect on the hobby and possibly bring new blood to our
sport? Are you still convinced that some how your competitor will find
out all your secrets and beat you from a scoreboard? Do you see any
value or fun when we are all hooked up together and we see that W1AA
just broke a million points or worked a double mult or got his sweep or
worked a real juicy new one? I disagree on not making it required as
you need to have 100 buy in. In gaming we don't get to choose if we use
the scoreboard or not it is an inherent part of the game or esport.
From reading the younger perspective I think we, including myself are
not reaching out and inviting these young people into our shacks
enough. If you are, thank you! I am going to try to reach out more and
suggest our Contest club start some type of outreach program.
How about a new Rookie &Vet class or at least go out of our way
recognize people that are doing this type of thing for our sport?
W0MU
On 12/20/2016 7:20 AM, Tucker McGuire wrote:
*OK. I have been watching this thread for a while now and figured I'd give
my 2 cents. I am an 18 yr old operator and my main interests are
contesting and DX'ing. I'll go through and address the issues the OP's son
has with the radiosport/amateur radio in general.*
1. Cost to get in the game and have a chance to win is prohibitive. You
need a great station, land, etc to really win or compete. The playing
field is so unbalanced that it becomes a show stopper. For him he has no
costs when at home. I consider my station modest with a 70 ft tower and
land to put up Inv L's and full sized 80m verticals and some receiving
antennas. I could do more but we have horses and they need to roam and are
hell on things in the pasture.
*This is somewhat true. I most certainly do NOT have a super station. Just
100 watts and a wire actually and I still have a good time when operating
from home. No matter where you are in the USA there is most likely a large
contest station within driving distance. In my experience if a local
contest station owner gets wind that there's a youth operator interested in
contesting, they're very generous and offer to let said young guy operate a
contest using their station. You have to network to meet these station
owners and be proactive to do so. Opportunities are there, you just have to
seek them out. *
2. You have to invest a lot of time to get good. If he can not have a
really good station then why invest the time to get good if you are not
going to be able to really compete.
*Yes. You DO have to invest time to get good just like with ANY other
competitive sport/activity. "Practice makes perfect" and sometimes practice
consumes time. I refer back to my answer to #1 as far as "If he can't have
a really good station why invest the time?".*
2. The tools we use to contest, logging software, packet look like old dos
programs. He called them ugly and boring. He is used to amazing graphics
in games. I found this observation interesting. I feel that the tools we
have are pretty good and give me what I want to see readily available. I
was not expecting this answer.
*OK. These are logging programs. They are fairly simple so why do they need
to be "flashy". I look at logging programs like I look at Microsoft
Office, It's has a simple interface and basic display but it gets the job
done, and gets the job done very effectively. Not every program has to be
super flashy, just needs to work effectively.*
3. He is far more interested in using packet where he can immediately chase
things. Packet essentially gives him a list of things to do or goals. It
is more visual so more interesting. He thought that more automated systems
would be interesting. Young people and even us older folk expect things to
happen much faster. They are the generation of instant satisfaction and
some of that even rubs off on us older folk.
*Packet is great. I really enjoy using spots during contests and it keeps
my attention up and "in the game" for longer.*
4. Talking to someone over the airwaves is still pretty cool. You can
instantly talk around the world if the right condx exist, but we can talk
all over the world with our phones so it is not as amazing as it once was.
*For me, the appeal of talking around the world with my radio is that I did
it using antennas and equipment that I built. Sure you can talk around the
world on a cell phone, but I didn't build a whole cellular network so
there's not really any satisfaction in it because it isn't work of my own.
The satisfaction of building something yourself that works and you can
make contacts with is really an awesome feeling.*
5. CW is interesting but he was surprised that we don't have better code
readers. While he would like to learn the code time is once again the
factor. They have so many other outlets for entertainment that it is hard
to find time for all of them.
*CW is my favorite mode, and I'm not exactly Pro-codereaders. Controversial
but I believe I don't think code readers should be allowed in CW contests
(Leaving it at that. Just wanted to let my opinion be known for background
info). "Time is once again the factor". I realize that some folks are
really busy but if you truly want to learn CW you'll sit down and learn it.
If not that's fine too. You don't HAVE to learn CW to contest or be active
in ham radio but I know as a teenager I had plenty of time to set aside to
learn CW enough to get on the air with that mode. If a person really has an
interest in learning the code they can set aside enough time. It doesn't
require a ton.*
6. Results take far too long to come out
*There are thousands of logs submitted in the typical DX contest. Log
checking is done by only a handful of volunteers. They want to make sure
that whoever wins, dserves it and that their log was scored correctly, so
they take their time. I understand this completely. Sometimes I wish that
log checking was quicker too but at this point in time, it is what it is.
Patience is a virtue and if we're being completely honest, is something
some kids/teenagers/youth, are lacking.*
7. He proposed that all participants use a scoreboard type system. Many
of us have said this was something we need to do but have instead met with
amazing resistance and a ton of excuses why people refuse to use it. A
system where everyone can check it out and see what is going in in the
contest. We are back to visuals.
*I like this suggestion. I personally like watching the real-time scoring
on cqcontest.net <http://cqcontest.net>. It's very entertaining. I don't
think everyone should be REQUIRED to use it though. I do think it should be
encouraged to use this system though.*
6. Playing radio in the car driving is fun because there is not much else
to do but drive.
*Yep. Operating mobile is a lot of fun.*
7. He has his general license but he does not have the technical skills or
electronic knowledge to build a shack or decent station. I am not a great
teacher especially to my own kids so I take some of the blame for this but
it is hard to teach people things when they don't want to devote much time
to it. I feel a reluctance to even try to do something without having the
proper knowledge. A far cry from when I was young and tried all sorts of
silly antennas and projects that mostly failed miserably but boy did I
learn from those mistakes.
*We have the internet. There are SO many great resources online to teach
yourself basic electronics and learn about antenna designs. If that's not
an option, get out to a local club meeting and network with folks. I've
found that the smartest electrical engineers and station builders are
always willing to lend a helping hand and share their knowledge. If that's
not an option then perhaps he just doesn't WANT to build a station,
experiment with antennas, etc. That's fine too but you can't blame that on
lack of resources (Internet, Local operators).*
*OK. Off of my soapbox. Ham radio is a really fun and rewarding hobby and
I've met lots of great people thanks to the hobby. Hope your son finds it
rewarding as well.*
*Cheers & 73,*
*Tucker*
*W4FS*
On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 7:28 AM, Ken Low <kenke3x@gmail.com> wrote:
K2WR wrote:
"There is something (or many somethings) that is failing to attract the
younger generation(s) that nobody has quite identified yet."
I think it's easily identifiable: that 'something' is the social aspect.
Gaming is an excellent comparison. Example: My 18-year old was
accepted Early Decision to college last week and within 24-hours he was
already playing League of Legends with a group of his future Class of
2021's. Kids bond around an activity. Can you imagine one of them saying
"Hi - hope to work you in CQWPX CW next Spring!"
Yes - you will occasionally find a teenager with the patience to learn
about propagation, or (God forbid) learn Morse Code, and Amateur Radio may
be additive to that kid's life.
But what most kids really want is friends, fun, social acceptance and a
competitive outlet. Contesting may have satisfied some of those basic needs
in the 1970's but today there are more efficient outlets. The technology
has moved forward - but human nature has not changed.
Disclaimer: I have 3 kids (ages 22, 21 and 18) with General class
licenses and one who competed for Team USA in High Speed Telegraphy. They
all started with Radio Merit Badge in Scouts. If they do any contesting
at all, it's only because Dad invites them to help with a family Multi-Op.
They would never sit down at the radio themselves, mostly because none of
their friends are on the other end of the airwaves. My 11-year old will
do Radio Merit Badge next year to learn the basic principles, and maybe
he'll get his Technician license, but I anticipate a similar outcome to his
brothers' after that.
73,
Ken KE3X
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