Hi Folks, Well, here is a young lady who has decided the Amateur Radio - and Contesting - is her hobby of choice.
Violetta (Kat) Latham, KM4ATT, has been invited to speak at IDXC 2020 in Visalia, CA. Violetta lives in Greencastle, PA and is a 15-year old Amateur Extra. She’s raising funds for her trip to Visalia. Violetta has a nice QRZ.COM page at https://www.qrz.com/db/KM4ATT Violetta's image was chosen to be on the cover of the new ARRL publication Amateur Radio Contesting for Beginners. Here's a link to the image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xyd0fqm8e484x87/KM4ATT%20Cover.docx?dl=0 I’ve known Violetta and her family for a few years, and she’s a very accomplished young Amateur. She likes contesting and being the DX in contests, too. She’s quite excited about some South American DX she’s worked recently. Violetta has established a GoFundMe page to raise money for her trip to Visalia here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-a-young-speaker-travel-to-dx-convention-2020?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet Here's a very direct and practical way to reach across the chronological divide. I’ve contributed, and I hope you will consider contributing as well. Thank you. - 73 and good DX de Mike, K6MKF, NCDXC Secretary > -----Original Message----- > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net <elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> > On Behalf Of W0MU Mike Fatchett > Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2019 08:12 > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide > > There are many ways to get enjoyment from Ham Radio, long distance contacts > being just one of them. I am a DXer and Contester by heart as that is what I > was > exposed to as a young ham. I never got into the rag chewing. I had a sched > with > my Grandfather weekly yet we still still talked just as much on the > telephone. People stay involved in hobbies that are fun. It has gotten > increasingly more difficult to find homes that allow ham activities, ie > towers and > outside antennas. The entry cost can be high. I am curious to see if Remote > is > going to bring in any new folks. It is keeping older ones active that desire > to > move to assisted living or smaller more easily maintained homes. Contesting > could probably be bigger than it is now but there is nothing close to level > playing > field which you can find with online games or Esports. The guy with the most > bucks and best location is going to have a huge advantage. We in the west > can't > compete with the east coast that can run EU all day long in most DX > contests. Domestic contests are different but look who consistently wins. > These > are big stations. > > I am also involved with 3D printing as a hobby as I play table top games and I > build terrain, walls, trees, miniatures. This hobby is booming and is filled > with > young and old alike. Entry is about 200 bucks and requires a bit of space on > a > desk. Same mind set for many as there is a lot to learn about the printing > process to setup and make good prints. It is not a plug in and go hobby. > > Young people would rather binge watch shows on their phone or tv instead of > actually meeting people. > > I think there could be a draw but what I find is many hams don't want more > hams. They want exclusivity and for some don't really want competition as > someone else might win their paper or wooden plaque. People want the stuff > and want to win and want the accolades but would prefer to do it without > competition. I know a person that is part of horse club that my XYL and > daughter > are part of. She used to always win a saddle because she was the only one > that > would enter that class, which required you compete in 3 classes. She got mad > when the club removed that class and started giving saddles away for the > individual classes. Her comment, well I can't beat...so and so.............. > so I just > won't compete anymore. Many competitors do it only for fun and themselves > and know they have little chance to win. This is very similar to ham radio > contesting where most are really just participants and not serious > competitors. > > I am not sure how you sell Ham Radio to people today. I have two sons and a > daughter. One son got licensed really young and did some contests and mobile > activities with me but never got hooked like I did. People have less free > time > than ever and there are more options for entertainment than ever. > > W0MU > > On 12/13/2019 9:36 PM, David Gilbert wrote: > > > > This of course is a discussion that isn't likely to die before we do, > > but I really don't think that any significant portion of today's youth > > will ever look at amateur radio like we do. I wish that weren't the > > case, but reality bites. > > > > 1. The major lure of amateur radio for most of us was the ability to > > freely talk to faraway places. Young people today can do that with FM > > quality and yet often they don't ... they text or chat via message > > groups and forums. > > > > 2. Communicating today is license free, and while even now with > > today's lesser requirements getting an amateur radio license is maybe > > not a roadblock it's a nuisance to have to study for something that > > you don't otherwise care about. > > > > 3. Effectively communicating today is far cheaper hardware-wise than > > for amateur radio, especially for long distances. > > > > 4. Communicating today is independent of time of day or position in > > the sunspot cycle. > > > > 5. A basic competency in amateur radio was once considered a stepping > > stone to a technical career. That is hardly the case today. In fact, > > I remember one manager of a test department in another company telling > > me he tried to avoid hiring hams because they talked about it too much > > on the job. > > > > One thing I do believe has carryover appeal is the spirit of > > competition. Humans in general always seem keen to compete at almost > > anything ... from eating hot dogs to running to vicariously watching > > football to quilting to barbeque. Young people today have video games > > that provide a FAR richer competitive environment than any ham radio > > contest (I do both, by the way), and I've always thought that one way > > to drum up interest in ham radio is to develop a contest format that > > has similar elements. Ham radio contests are essentially endurance > > events that involve independent action throughout the contest with the > > comparison occurring at the end, and often weeks or months later. > > Video games require different but otherwise comparable proficiency > > (both mental and physical) but involve real time counter moves to any > > opponent. The closest we hams come to offsetting somebody we view as > > competition is to steal their frequency or QRM them. I'm not at all > > suggesting that we do any such thing, but a contest where we could > > take some action that subtracted from somebody else's score is the > > kind of thing I'm talking about. And no, I don't know how to do that > > either, but it illustrates what I'm talking about. > > > > It's not any surprise to me that contesting is one of the few > > surviving ham radio activities with high participation. Even > > ragchewing has practically died out, and if anyone disputes that take > > a look at how much time you spend each week reading email reflectors > > versus being on the air (other than in a contest). > > > > I'm not really sure what Wayne was referring to here, and maybe he > > implied that same thing that I'm saying, but we aren't going to bring > > young folks into the hobby by trying to convince them that the same > > things that appealed to us 40 years ago are going to appeal to them. > > This isn't a communication or publicity problem. In spite of the > > comments from hams I've seen over the years, most young people pretty > > much know the general framework of ham radio and they've simply > > rejected it in favor of other things. There are always a few > > exceptions, of course, but I'd bet $100 that the bulk of those young > > people who pop up online or in QST as shining examples of young blood > > in the hobby are nowhere to be found two years later. > > > > If for any reason we want young folks to embrace the hobby, the hobby > > itself is going to have to adapt. That most of us seem unable to > > understand that fact is probably another facet of the problem ... > > we're old and inflexible (in both appearance and in fact), which > > doesn't help the image of the hobby one wit. The pictures from Dayton > > or any other hamfest have the same appeal as if they were taken at a > > Lawrence Welk concert. > > > > I guarantee that those of us who are still above ground five years > > from now will be having this same discussion, and it won't be because > > we weren't persuasive enough. > > > > 73, > > Dave AB7E > > > > > > On 12/13/2019 7:24 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote: > >> Hams of a certain age, including yours truly (first licensed in 1971) > >> recall their excitement on joining the hobby: there was the promise > >> of contact with faraway places, collection of vivid QSL cards, > >> mastery of esoteric equipment, synchrony with the rhythms of Morse > >> code, and the crafting of antennas to harness action at a distance. > >> > >> Most of us still feel that spark, occasionally--some on a daily > >> basis--experiencing the wonder all over again. > >> > >> While the accoutrements and equipage of youth have evolved over the > >> decades, their DNA has not. Somewhere, nestled between the genetic > >> codes for half-pipe snowboarding, Instagram, Juul, and ambient house, > >> there's a dormant sequence for the Radio Art waiting to be stirred. > >> > >> Is there a Battle Royale for ham radio? A tactical RPG? > >> > >> What is our sorcerer's stone? Our rap? > >> > >> Will Gen-Z or Gen-Alpha tickle the ionosphere, and if so...why? > >> > >> To hand our batons across the chronological divide, we'll need > >> empathetic, open-ended inquiry. > >> > >> 73, > >> Wayne > >> N6KR > >> > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > > w...@w0mu.com > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message > delivered to mike.flow...@gmail.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
