Ham Radio Is In The $hit!!!! 

I'm 20 years old, I've had my license for 6 years, and I just showed my HAM radio to a friend a few months ago and he got his license last week!

19 year old here! I agree with you Eric that something needs to happen. I am such an outlier compared to most people my age because they don’t even know what ham radio is. The only possible solution that I see to get younger blood interested is to frame ham radio into emergency preparedness. That might be a long shot idea but it seems like the most practical.

I am 15, I just did field day and there is another guy in my club that is 19. I had tons of fun and have no problem sticking to the hobby, in fact, it’s my passion. I made 34 contacts and had lots of fun with everyone on field day. Not to mention I have my own radio club, and what usually gets their attention is the fact that they can talk to the astronaut and be able to have it in case of emergencies. But I honestly still wish that there was a more solid reason for them to be in the hobby.

"A large US population cannot even tell time from an analog clock. Good luck !! "

Eric, the one thing that attracted young people into the hobby was (the ham club) renting a space at the Fairgrounds during a Fair. We set up a tent and had 2 HF stations (we let people on the air) and 1 dual band radio. We had all the literature to make it as easy as possible. Our club grew (young and older) overnight. Hope that helps.

Absolutely more needs to be done. Unfortunately many older Ham's dont seem to be very accepting or have the personal skills or engagement to interest younger people. Yesterday I attended one of my local Field Day sites, and while they had a few setups running, it did not feel very inviting. I did not know anyone there and no one tried to engage with me. There were a few small groups of "elderly" gentlemen that talked amongst themselves, because it seemed they all knew each other. I observed quite a few people show up to check things out. They were like me, you could tell they didn't know anyone there but was curious about the hobby. They meandered around a little bit, didn't have anyone to talk to and wasn't "welcomed" by anyone. Then one by one they all left, looking fairly disappointed. There was one guy from the local ARES group that walked around asking people to "sign in" on his roster, but then walked away without really talking to any of the new people that showed up. This is one of the biggest problems with the amatuer radio hobby..... it's just not very inviting and can be rather intimidating to new people because its a lot of infomation to take in, and many people dont know where to start.

Just tested and passed my general ticket today.....and I agree, but then again, I got my technician at 53. Never too late.

Ay bro you said nobody watching your Chanel but I am 13 and I watch your stuff

22 year old new ham here. Been watching for a channel for a bit. I’ll see what I can do on my level, 73.

I had a teacher in school that brought his ham radio equipment in and had the class talk on it and use it and that's what got me enthused

I got into the hobby to have chin wags (rag chews) around the world. That does not happen. Call CQ, make a contact, log it, all over rover. We are killing it ourselves, all for the price of completing awards for contacts. Clubs killing it, driving young people away with old folks complaining that digital is cheating, and not moving with the times. Not one Elmer in my entire area. Closest help I’ve found is 150miles away. Have you seen the rule set for field day ? Why bother !

For what it's worth, I was a young guy in the 80s when I got my license and I was hearing the same concerns from hams during that era. The thing that appealed to me back then was talking around the world, but we didn't have the Internet at our fingertips back then. The thing that brought me back was emergency preparedness. It's easy to think we'll be able to pick our cell phone or use a sat phone, but those come with their own limitations that might leave you ill-prepared in the event of an actual emergency. But if you want to attract young people who don't care about emergency preparedness, I have yet to find anybody who didn't find it cool to hear an astronaut on the air, or even just to make contact with somebody through a satellite. One more thought I had that's maybe too late for teenagers, but when I was a kid, I had a set of Fisher Price walkie talkies I loved. I hear kids around my neighborhood talking on walkie talkies and they sound like they're having fun. Maybe you have to start them off young. There's still something magical and nostalgic about getting on the air for me and I attribute a good bit of it to my childhood.

I'm 58 now, but when I started in ham radio at 15, it was presented as a hobby that would enhance my future job prospects. That's probably how it should be presented to students as a STEM hobby.

i hop to be 80 years old and still on the radio talking to the young ones and having fun That’s what is all about having FUN

Im the youngest member in my club at 35 years old. But my kids show interest in the hobby. I got my gmrs license so my kids can get use to the callsign thing and jump on the gmrs repeaters here. They have a wednesday kids net and they talk about video games and all sorts engaging things for the kids. The biggest thing I noticed though is, my kids will watch so much but if I put the mic in their hand they love it. They get the nervous excitement hoping somebody will call back. Yesterday I had my 7 year old calling CQ on .520 and when somebody came back, he lit up! from my perspective the younger generation wants fast results no matter how they get there. I have found that giving them the end result first and letting them find a way to bridge the gap is helpful. like handing them a mic you know somebody will call back on, later on they inquire how or why as apposed to starting with that question. Now they know its exciting and fun and will want to delve into it more and more.

Eric i was doing a pota last wk and had to stop for an hour as group of teenagers came over and were very interested.more people need to stop hiding away in their shacks n get out n promote the hobby .hope you n shell are ok73

Almost sadly need a off the grid scenario for them to take it seriously..only thing that could level the playing field to show interest. Kids freak the hell out if no internet .. Thet dont know a world without it. Born in 73 so early 50s perspective

I'm very much into PR and I'm always willing to setup at public events. EVERY time I bring up a public event or anything outside the home QTH at the meeting it's crickets from the peanut gallery! It makes me SO MAD... everyone knows and says we need to get younger people into this. But they WILL NOT help me try to go out to show what we do.

I've been hearing this same concern for the 30 years I've been a ham. Everyone thinks the hobby will die if it's not popular with youth. Yet, the hobby keeps growing. What people fail to realize is youth isn't the only way a hobby grows. While attracting youth is great, it's also okay that the new folks entering the hobby are 40+

They need to dumb the radios down a bit add more color screens make the radios more interactive as a fun device and reach the younger crowd.

We got an amateur radio club started at the local high school. All it took was for them to know one of their alumni (Mike Barrett) was going overhead in the ISS and they could talk to him via radio.

Radios today are more and more software based where traditional "radio" knowledge is now in complex algorithms. You can't even consider repairing or modifying the current crop of SDR radsios. I built my own basic and many Heatkit radios, amps, antennas,. customized Heathkits, etc..Today, you buy appliances, plug them in, and use them. With social media and the internet, you can talk to anyone with crystal clear audio (and video), so there is no "challenmge" in talking to someone far away. Emergency measures? Unless someone has lived through some, there is zero interest. Add to this OFs that resist change ... Just look at the struggle we had to go through to change the archaic "baud rate" rule for data because OFs didn't want the change, or the OFs who insult no-coders. Amateur radio is viewed by MOST of the young crowd as "old & obsolete stuff", and that won't get better! Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet as like what you saw, the average age in the ham clubs here in SoCAL where I live is also 50+, with many in their 70's and higher (I am 71 BTW ... but I embrace technology). Like you , I have also tried to find something that will attract young blood but apart from a few techno nerds, it fails miserably. I will not give up but I can sadly see the day when ham radio becomes totally unregulated (it's almost that today), and ultimately lose frequencies to commercial interests.

This hobby of ours takes knowledge of physics. A lot of physics. Along with physics come capacity of abstraction and capacity of syntehsis. 2/3 of american high schoolers DON'T study physics in school AT ALL. After learning CISCO course of CCNA, one value got "supreme": connectivity !!! Make one guy who never studied physics to believe in it. Come on ...

This is why I am a whole hearted Midway Museum Volunteer, who puts in 100% dedication heading the Scout Radio Merit Badge program, encouraging the scouts to put in a little more effort to get their ticket! -Our team of 10 mentors, help these youngsters with their workbook, going over each area ensuring they understand the material. They then go to the flight deck, divided into "packs" (Teams), using handhelds on simplex low power, to speak with "net control" describing various aircraft, to get a feel on how to use a radio and the lingo (Phonetics, etc) involved. After the exercise, we take them back to the classroom and sign their blue cards and again, encouraging them to get their ticket. The gratifying part...is when they leave shaking our hands and saying thank you.😁

With the price of equipment, it's no longer a hobbyist's hobby, it's a rich person's fancy.

I'm 30 and live in the UK. I've had my foundation license (M3) since I was 12. My dad was huge into ham radio too, so I've been listening to people talking on ham radio since I was 6 years old and couldn't wait until we could get the money together to get me licensed. Once I got licensed, I'd spend my summer holidays talking around the world late at night on HF alongside my dad. I guess it's a different generation we're dealing with now, but it would be amazing to get the youngsters into the hobby.

Good video, all points valid! Been working here locally at our radio club to light these fires. Unfortunately, not everyone has vision beyond their own experience. Being involved in youth groups, volunteering your time and introducing the concepts of ham radio, or at least making yourself available for demonstrations to scouts, church youth groups, etc....perhaps this is a start. But, you're right. Answer the question, "Why should I be interested in this hobby?"

I AM 72. STARTED 2007 . KE7LGD SOUTHWEST UTAH. THE YOUNGER GUYS AND GALS ARE PLAYING WITH THIER CELL PHONES. ! ! ! 😇

I'm not cutting down 11 meters, BUT it's a shame that I hear 11 meters open and NO activity on 10 except for FT-8. Again, NOT trying to step on toes here. FT-8 has it's place. I'm thinking that if people are still into 11 meters, there IS STILL interest in radio. RU-vid has been a Godsend in promoting ham radio. The big question here is what is going to happen to the frequencies? As long as interest seems to go toward higher and higher frequencies, it takes the pressure off of the short wave ham bands. Hams need to talk about their hobby more. When people ask "what are those antennas for", don't say rudely "You've got to have a license, STAY OFF these frequencies!" like what kept me from getting my license over 35 years ago. I WAS interested in the hams radios when I used to pump gas and I asked the customer what that radio in his car was for. I put off getting my license 5 more years because of that ham treating his radio as if it were privileged and arcane information. One thing I've started doing in leaving my QST magazines on the table in doctors and dentists offices during a visit. We have little or no positive tv exposure outside of a few mentions in older "Simpson's" episodes.

Just this week I pulled into a parking spot in front of a market, where a gentleman probably in his 60's said to me, "You have a lot of antennas on your truck". I said yes, I am a Ham Radio Operator... His response was "I thought that was DEAD" I told him no, we still have people getting into the hobby but it is not what it used to be. You can thank Smart Phones, gaming and Anti-Social Media for the decline in Ham Radio activity. Young people today expect instant gratification in what ever they do. I think they find ham radio boring.... That is my opinion... Thanks for the rant!

I stopped by the local ham radio club’s field day event yesterday. It was being held indoors in a private office building, in an office park with very little Saturday traffic. There was one station set up for perhaps 5 hours. I am 56 and was one of the youngest in the room. One of the club members stated that he was just there for the pizza which never came. 🙄 I’ve had my license for almost 30 years and I can count on one hand the number of times that this club has held field day in a public venue. No wonder ham radio is mostly old men.

Last year I taught a months long course for a homeschool group and we had 4 under the age of 20 license for tech. It can happen, just has to be fun, interesting and supported. We give away radios and help them get over the cost of entry. Helps to look for the right demographic like homeschool, scouts, engineering, etc.

Friendly Bunch Kids night every Saturday 8pm 3919khz

Greetings, I have 4 sons, 2 of which are Hams. Both under 30. Both are very involved in emcomm as well as other facets of amateur Radio. They both work at least 60 hours a week making a living and taking care of family, ect. Therefore, they don’t often make the ham events but they are very involved in amateur radio. As for myself, I have participated in a radio technologies class given at the Polaris school in Anchorage, Ak which had 25 students involved. The oldest being in high school. The teacher was also under 30. I have also participated in radio classes given at a Boy Scout camp where they earn badges. The 3 hams at the Boy Scout Ranch are all under 30. All of that has been in the past 30 days....... I also work with a storm chaser that is a ham. He is 24. Therefore, I respectfully disagree that Ham Radio is dead due to it being an old mans hobby and not having younger participants. I appreciate the video and the thoughts that went into it. 73, JR

********** You are are 100% correct on all points !! I was a CB'er in the 1970's and had a few friends who were Radio tech's during WWII and Ham radio guys, well they convinced me to get my Ham Radio license with another CB Friend. This was about 1985, So I took the "New" No code test and passed and some Old Timers made some Rude comments about "No Coders not being REAL HAMS, I ignored them . Here it is 35 years plus, I still have my Original call sign, I'm still a "Tech" , the FCC gives me enough priviliges, why upgrade !! My pleasure is building and using radios ( EBay is my Toy store. With the advent of Cell phones, Kids don't want to do "HAM !! or anyone else!! Take a Test to talk on a Radio, people will laugh !! I also have had a GMRS license over 20 Years, and own two GMRS Repeaters with many users !! ............ PEOPLE ENJOY THAT !! *********

Great video, Eric. I think Digital Voice Modes is the only thing that can make young people in this generation join the Amateur Radio Service. Young people love internet, so if we teach them on how to use Linux, build servers, create reflectors, build hotspot and make new friends around world via voice and text messaging QSO, they'll love it. But, the ancient operations underestimated D-STAR, C4FM, and M17. I'm not sure if there's any of these DV modes QSO during this field day. How many D-STAR image and text QSO we have today? That's my humble opinion.

A lot of the issues here are because younger folks are more interested in Play Station, XBox etc. Why use a radio when I can just get on Facebook, Instagram, and all the other social media avenues. It has nothing to do with older Hams not making the hobby interesting for young people. There are some that jump in with both feet, but most have no interests. Schools need to get involved. Teachers and administrators should encourage their staff to get licensed and start a school club Station. They have made a difference in younger folks interests in this hobby. It's got nothing to do with us hams trying to open younger folks eyes into the hobby. Blam social media, videos games as the problem. When I got my ticket back in the early 80's there was no cell phones, video games or social media. After playing out side with his buddies, my son sat with me in the shack and learned Morse Code, electrical theory and antenna building. He got his ticket at 11 years old. These conditions hardly exist anymore Eric.

Aint gonna happen because this newer generation could care less. This all started with cb radio in the late 90s. Its just a matter of time. With all this new vr and virtual reality plus cell phone and computers, its a lost cause

As a senior citizen and a retired Broadcast Engineer, I can tell you, you’re absolutely right! The entire field of radio is NOT interesting to the young people of today❗️ Why❓ We all grew up listening to AM radio, then FM radio. I built the AM transmitter (all tubes) for the college I attended. For us, vacuum tubes, capacitors, resistors, coils, and don’t forget those big transformers, were fascinating. We tinkered with our b/w television set. I remember going to radio shops as a kid way before Radio Shack was even thought of. Radio and then black & white television, then the excitement of “The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC” All of that was my world. Fast forward to today, the overwhelming majority of young people DON’T listen to AM, FM, or over the air television. They STREAM EVERYTHING. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon music, etc, etc. Ask almost any young person about whether they’ve heard of receiving television through the air. I have and they haven’t‼️ Broadcast Engineering has become a lost art. The solution, I honestly don’t know.

When younger people find out that I am a HAM, a common response is, "I'm coming to your house when the poop hits the fan". I think the younger generation is concerned about the condition of the world. Maybe we need to emphasize the prepping angle and disaster preparedness. Another young guy doing work at my house, commented on my tower/antennas. I said, yeah I can talk around the world, but you can do the same with your cellphone. To my surprise, he responded by saying, yes, but when the cellphones don't work, you'll still be able to communicate.

Maybe starting a summer school HAM radio program across the nation.

I agree. When I got into the hobby I was in my early 20s. Those who had been licensed a long time were anxious to help and advise. It was wonderful. But some years after that, it became just a lot of cliques. As a member of the local club, I showed up to help with Field Day. Not ONE person offered to let me operate a radio, or even just help set up. I was at one time recording secretary of the club. After saying hello, no one even talked to me. I stayed around about 4 hours and tried to have some conversations, but no one wanted to be bothered by a new-comer, even after I had been licensed for 5 years and had my own home station. I never went back, and I dropped my membership. No one ever asked why. You're either in with the IN crowd, or you're OUT.

teach electronics in school as math class starting in 6th -9th

Hey what does the ‘copy 1 delta’ part of your field day exchange mean?

I feel like the most important thing about ham radio is that this world is set on a course for disaster and when the power grid is gone and cellphones become unreliable, whether it's due to solar activity, or an emp, or who knows what ham radio is going to shine. It already has proven itself in emergency situations. Who really cares whether you can talk halfway around the world, or to the ISS. It's when you are on the front line of an emergency situation, that's when you will realize your full importance. There are a lot of young people who would opt for that opportunity. Darryl Smith AI0DS (Extra) Oskaloosa, Iowa.

We need radio classes in High Schools.

Got my technician license two months ago at 58 years old. Went to my local BCARS Field Day event in my area and joined the club. "One more for the Team" I'm going to participate next year with my mobile 10 meter EV station, solar with batteries. Gonna camp-out from the rear hatchback of the car. Will probably use an end fed dipole on a portable wheel mount mast instead of the vehicle magnet mount antenna. I agree with you about the young people, They Don't understand nor probably care that one day Two way radio is going to be the only means of communication again. The way things are going in the world these days. Cell phone service and internet will eventually be defeated.

36 yo here. Just got technician this year. I have no idea what to do. I really wish that I did, because this is an incredibly cool hobby, and it would be really sad to have to watch it literally die out. I've got suggestion about how to keep younger folks interested in the hobby, but not how to get them into it to start with. How do you get people interested in technical hobbies in general? How do you compete with the internet? Young people are already bombarded by (often unwanted) worldwide communication. The fact that you can do similar things with an HF radio and no infrastructure means nothing to most young people. I think that we need to emphasize the parts of ham radio that are more than just 20 second voice exchanges with random people. It is already possible to talk to anyone in the world with almost perfect audio quality via the internet. I have no idea how to get over that hurdle for people that don't care about technology to begin with. I just subscribed, maybe someone will come up with good ideas here. I'll do my best to help however I can. Good luck!

I'm 41, just getting into the hobby seriously this year. I just joined the local club and am the second youngest member. I'm starting to think about how to attract others to the club. I think there are plenty of people my age and younger that could certainly find enjoyment and excitement in the hobby. I believe there is a large portion of this demographic that are fed up with the current state of (not so) social media and would embrace something like this as an alternative way to connect with other people. Granted, I'm completely out of the loop with the current 20 something crowd, but I can see 2 main barriers to entry: First, lack of exposure. It's hard to get excited about something you've never seen or even heard of. Second, the cost. Even for a middle aged person with a career and a family, a decent HF setup is no small chunk of change. It also helps if you own property to put up antennas. No way I could have done this in my teens or twenties unless someone was heavily subsidizing me. Living expenses are climbing and an ever smaller percentage of the population has the disposable income to put towards things like this. Perhaps having a club collection of gear that could be loaned and/or donated to aspiring young hams? The best thing I can come up with is trying to reach out to other organizations such as scouts or maker/robotics type clubs where there might be some crossover interest. Personally, one of the things that appeals to me the most is the eccentric, "old school", decentralized, analog nature of it. Digital modes don't appeal much, honestly. I like staticky HF and simple voice communications and am learning CW. I like that it is an alternative way to tinker and enjoy technology and electronics while being the antithesis of the bleeding edge, main stream, latest cell phone type tech. A technological counter culture perhaps? I don't believe I'm alone in the desire for this type of outlet. Interestingly, the youngest member of our club is the only other person there that seems to be interested in CW. Mostly, I think it just comes down to showing others what's out there, and then being helpful and welcoming if they show some interest.

We literally just talked about this on our podcast. I’ve seen too many HAM guys try to chase away newer HAMs with gatekeeping, purity tests, and elitism. You can’t grow a community with that element closing the door behind them, and as the community ages without new blood it’ll start to die off. I got into GMRS as this element isn’t as prevalent in that community yet, and I hope it never takes root.

There's a fundamental problem with the nature of the hobby itself as far as attracting young people, at least as far as HF goes. Young people generally have less access to the necessary funds and space (property) to make use of the HF bands. The occasional field day isn't going to be enough really. There are plenty of young people on on HTs that may open the door to further exploration one day when they have some money and a yard.

At our club field day yesterday at a local wildlife reserve we set up a 3000' fence as a dipole antenna QRP using a Xiegu G90. We had a blast and had several families with kids show up, including an eagle scout.

I’m 38, I literally stopped going to my cities ham radio club meetings and events because all the 70 and up old farts didn’t give two shits about us young folk and new members. No guidance, no friendly actions, no interest.

You want a "cat call?" 😁 - How about W4BOG? "Boots On the Ground" or "K4CAT? 😅 - hihi Ham radio, in my opinion, was the original internet. You could reach out and talk to someone across the globe. The world was at your fingertips. Not only that, you learned practical skills, how things work, and physics. I love it. My opinion of what makes it a successful hobby is the people. Your last 30secs was very moving about staying up late and oping all night. I can tell you this, it's 100% the people. Younger kids aren't interested because their parents never were. You sir, are the solution. Just enjoying the hobby for what it is and introducing it to your kid goes a long way. Not everyone enjoys the hobby the same way, and allowing your kid and family to discover it along with you provides the best environment. I've always said, "Ham radio is just the beginning!" It truly is a gateway into so many other hobbies and fields of study. But, you have to be curious! Here's to another 100 years of on air enjoyment! God bless!

I’m studying now, I recently got my gmrs license and picked up a rino 755t as I like to hike with my dog ,joined my gmrs and seen a really big repeater the range 45.6 miles it reaches where I am so I requested to get access BEEN ABOUT A WEEK no reply nothing Guy didn’t Evan acknowledge me I’m just like how do people learn when peoples ego are crammed so far up there ass when they pull it out they swear it don’t stink. I am new to all this but gmrs there’s no traffic, CB to this day blows it out of the water flip that thing on and bam people Your absolutely right people should learn this and get into it

Hello Eric, My name is Matt Maier. I am at the very beginning of my Ham Radio Journey. I sit for my Tech license in mid July. I could not agree with you more regarding the next generation of Hams. I am 46, and as I said, I am just starting my journey. I wish I got into it when I was 20.

I got in radio as a teen but that was basically making a phone possible. Radio has to become a game like geocaching…radio gave me the power of communication in a vehicle. It gave me something….what does it give young people? Phones laptop, wifi.. We do airsoft style games where radio is used. You have to get a js8call message and an aprs message to complete the game…get directions via radio…make it part of the game not the focus…ATV is part of the game, that’s what I do…I’ll take pointers too…that’s my idea Eric

im 23 i dont think id ever get the license and do HAM i do think its interesting though

Videos from k6ark showing the adventure of summits on the air and low power got me into the hobby. A lot of people that we meet seem to light up when we tell them about summits on the air and parks on the air in particular. It's a good gateway!

I'm in my mid 30s and got licensed in mid 20s. I would personally like to see more DATA\DIGITAL\NETWORKING stuff. I would like encryption to have some room for experimentation in the hobby, not to exclude or hide from anyone, but purely from an experimentation and learning aspect. I feel that the hobby is not at the edge of technology like it once was because of rules and regulations.

Eric I worked 20-40 m all night long for my local club. Had fun on 40 from 2:30 am till 7 am. Worked loads of stations. Kids YL’s too. The youngest member in our club is 11 yo. Second youngest is 26.

Eric I'm 14 and I watch your channel a lot and I love Ham Radio. I got into the hobby because my dad was a ham when he was 14. Just saying there are few of us young hams out there. That being said most hams I know are above the age of 40 and will start dying off soon. So you are right we do need more young people in this hobby.

I been doing cb for years but love to lesson to the hams talk I need to get in to ham radio

The hobby no longer offers incentives for the youth. I have 4 adult children. They all have 0 interest. They ask questions about the bands how things work and how they can get licensed. This is the point when they lose interest. They also tell me the radios cost a great deal of money. This is where we are losing people's interest in this hobby. I love every aspect of this hobby. I have gotten people involved in this wonderful hobby by giving demos of it in action. I guess it is a niche crowd-no cell phones are involved. I guess I am with you Eric 100%.

I am 20 years old, and also the 2023 Young Ham of the Year. I have been pondering this problem for years. We have to embrace newer technologies and pursue some crazy project that will get youth interested. I already have a book full of ideas that I keep available that have some ham radio component. 73 de W0AAE

Well change the concept than, if app,pc,drone,decoding,offgrid is attracting. Combine it with our hobby and maybe the cq will come back.

As a 35 year old I have been interested for about 10 years, from what I have heard and experienced it’s just the time to get past the test especially with the quick satisfaction factor, with the gmrs license letting you just pay for the license. The cost of equipment and the current economic situation would sway younger people to say just pay for a cellphone to communicate.

My 10 year old grandson is eating up with it. He was operating on field day as well as helping put up antennas . I totally disagree that kids are not interested, we just have to invest in them . Us as hams need to quit acting like we know everything and become an encouraging force to these kids and the club I’m in does that.

My 20 year old son found that engineering professors from his school he's attending are active hams (Extras). He's ready get started. He helped me pass general. He can easily get a tech and ham.

Hey Eric, Yes, I think you are wrong. I went to the Lake County Amature Radio Association, and we had a GOTA station. I saw 3 little kids between 7 and 10; their eyes lit up when the little box with the lights answered them on Field day. The video will be out this week. I also talked to some 16 -13-year-old kids who were also there learning about HAM Radio. Relax the future is bright. It is not up to the kids to find out on their own; it's our job to do it. You are right on that. Keep up the good work.

You are correct. But when there's a Field Day and local clubs in different areas do not advertise , put signs up whether printed or hand written its hard to find out what a "Field Day" is all about. I tried to go to the "Field Day 2024" here in Manitowoc Wisconsin and could find Noone at the park where it was supposed to be held on Sunday. Nor any information posted on the entrance door to the local club if it was still being held or canceled !!! Disappointing !!!

I’ve been watching your channel since I got my license in April of 2009. I’m just now surpassing the requirements to be monetized, slow but sure. Keep at it. 73 from KC0VFO in Aurora, CO.

I like the idea of gamification in ham radio - my son is immersed into games and this would be a gateway for him to become interested.. I also rediscovered the fun in application development and coding for ham radio. There are tons of modules for Arduino, Raspberry Pi, STM32, etc that can be used to make radio fun. STEM programs are were you are going to win hearts and minds. I also believe that we can expand on digital modes for the youth. They don't want to actually talk to people - lol.

The average age of ham radio licensees is 68 years old. I'm older than that. How do you get young people who have phones that reach all corners of the earth to get excited about using a radio to do that? I love it because I've been doing it since I was pre-teen. But it's challenging to get young people to find it exciting.

My oldest son loves CB Radio, and I call that a win! Both sons have expressed interest in Ham someday. Thankfully here in the Seattle area our ham clubs have some younger fans. Pretty thankful!

Just an idea ... incorporate younger hams (late teens- late 20's) on Facebook group videos, podcasts, groups, etc. Many are older guys, and old boomers like me. It might help for younger ones to see and hear younger guys having a great time in this groups. A bit of maturity and experience is needed for content discussion, but there really are talented young hams out there that could positively contribute and draw others into the field. Hope this helps.

I've been a tech ham operator for 5 years and then passed my general ham class license,I was hoping you would do a video on what you talked about and I will share this information,young people like cellphones,I don't 😊

I think the reality is that the interesting gateways these days are digital modes (and even CW), and then the educational aspect of how and why its relevant, meaning how it relates to modern digital communication. Im in my thirties and when i was much younger my dad tried to get me interested in voice modes, and even in the early 2000s i struggled to find it interesting or relevant. The operating concepts alone werent enough to get me into it when long distance communication for the sake of communication was being supplanted by the internet. What got me back into it 15 years ago was understanding the physics of propagation and the actual engineering that goes into RF communication. This connected the dots in a way that worked much better for me and piqued my interest, especially when it came to digital.

Ok, Eric I agree with you 100% about the hobby. I live in Australia, and studing for the Foundation Licence at the moment. I played around with CB radio in the early 80's, and the thought of talking to someone a fair distance away was pretty cool. Now for me, the idea of making a very basic wire antenna, and talking to someone in another part of the world is exciting as it is listening to shortwave radio. I see the biggest problem with ham radio is Smartphones, Social Media and Gaming Consoles that are dominating the minds of the younger generation. A good example is playing a mulitplayer game of Call of duty, (for example) using a large TV screen on line and competing with players from other countries and talking to each other in real time. So what could we do: Maybe clubs do a field day at a local park, each month, envite the local newspaper/TV station and do a display of every part of the Hobby ie, all digital modes including satelllite tracking and making contacts via satellite, contacting the ISS, EME, how repeaters work, ham radio TV. You might do this in the states already, but you have to have a WOW factor to atrract the younger crew.

Interesting thing was we were just talking about the exact same thing at our field Day down at the Dade Amateur Radio Club in Miami.

The word you're looking for is Relevance. Ham radio needs a purpose that gives it every day RELEVANCE . The problem is that most ham operators think that ham radio itself is relevant. No, today what is relevant is what the ham radio operator does with his or her radio. That is, "the community benefit that is achieved by use of the radio." It's not just about making contacts; ordinary non-ham folks don't see the relevance in the contact exchange. And truthfully they have a point.

I just got into HF this year I'm 78. I've had a tech license for 30 years but only used it for 2m FM. Now I'm hot for HF - long story. I'm loving it. Got my general four months ago. I think POTA could possibly attract younger folks. Just sayin'. How about TV ads? Or ads that show up in video games.

It's been my experience that the older hands don't want the younger people under because you think you're idiots and if they will act like idiots

Eric, I got into ham radio after watching a video of you doing QSO's wit a FT-817 at Vero Beach.

Excellent points Eric! I agree we need more younger HAMs. However, I don't see the lack of kids, teenagers and younger adults in the hobby as the end of HAM radio. Most people get the desire to be a HAM in their later years. Look how many new HAMs are 40 years old and up. It seems there are those that have to sow their wild oats and once they mature, they can appreciate HAM radio and they become interested in getting licensed. But I agree, we need to promote HAM radio and try to interest our younger people every chance we get. A good call for 'Boots" would be: K1TTY... O-ooppsss, already taken...73!

Man you are right, it's hard to explain for youngsters what it meant for me to be a ham radio, the best times in my life I've spent with radio buddies, the greatest people I've ever met, where ham radio operators, sadly i was in a hard spot and have to stop, and dedicate full time to work do i Lost 15 years of the hobby, now I'm back and much has changed, and yes we are mostly 40 and up (50 here) got my license at 17 i was a kid!, You inspired me with this video, i will start getting youngsters to the hobby, 73!

I worked yesterday and heard a young man on 20m and three young ladies on 40m. It was awesome hearing them but I never got through their pile ups. Also I'm 32 so not old enough for my ham hat yet. 😂

My brother got me into ham radio at 13 years old. At 18 when I signed up for the Air Force, I was lined up with a job in communications, due to testing. I opted to not join the Air Force due to reasons. When I hit 40 years old, I made a career change, a good one, into communications for a power company. Was a great career choice, and only got the option from my ham radio experience and knowledge in the field of communications. Retired now, but ham radio provided for a great part of my career. Sadly, it is hard to convince young people to invest in a 401k, so establishing the value of future planning is a sticking point.

I am 100% agree with you Eric, my experience with old ham is that they are not opened to change they say if you don't do HF you are cheating with digital mode. In my opinion Ham Radio is the ability to communicate with someone with whatever equipment you have. HF, VHF/UHF, DMR,D-Star or YSF the Idea is to use the radio in any way, beside going digital is a lot cheaper than going HF. That is one factor that need to be consider at all time .

I agree, we need to spread information of this hobby more, we need to get to the youngsters. I offered to the youth worker of the municpal that I could give few club evenings or introduction evenings to young peoples. So after summer we will look for it. Hope it will realize and I would be happy if we can get even one to be so interested that he turns to amateur. Looking for it.

I was 69 when I took my technician, and 4 months later, I took my general, now I'm trying to decide if I want to good for the EXTRA class or not

70-yr old ham licensed in 2014. Field radio is probably one of the better avenues. Not just Field Day, and not off in some isolated site for POTA. Be visible and radio-active. And with SSB or a digital mode other than CW. Hook with the science and technology, with at least a touch of SHTF "how's that phone working for you.". I got in because of CERT, but I think too many entering that way stop at Tech level. I think one needs General to have some serious fun building stuff and trying it out. Antennas are the one area where solid state electronics have't gotten in rhe way of real experimentation.

It’s a shame that every time a ham operators dies he gets not replaced. Me personally think that we as ham radio operators should be friendly and polite I find out that some guys are not friendly at all especially when we communicate in other languages besides English. 73 73’s N3XCP

Your absolutely right.....we as elmers need to pass this hobby on to the next generation or it dies with us. We had a handful of kids that came by and saw what field day was about they all seemed interested in it.

This thread is inspiring me to try something in my small rural community. Most people I know( and in a small town you know most peopl) are aware that I “do” radio but they have never seen me do it. So I'm going to try an experiment:. I will set up a QRP rig with a vertical whip in some very public spots. I will use a small external spesker so if snyoe is curious they can listen. I think I will forego mu KX3 in fsvor of my Xiegu x6100 with the waterfall nd graphics. I speak fluent French and German so I will work 20 M and higher for some DX QSOs and see what happens. Just a thought,worth a try. Get out of the shack.

Being in my 30s I'm by far the youngest one in my local club. Great people with great stories and lots of knowledge and experience but I wish some people closer to my age would be interested.

Being into offroading and struggling for cell signal at times was a big inspiration to me. Especially pota and sota stuff. So maybe try and get that crowds attention. Look for off road events and go set up and talk to people

Eric, I agree, brother! I have been a Ham for 40 years. But have you seen Gen Z's interest in anything other than a cell phone? What needs to happen is for every Club across the country to go into recruitment mode. Clubs need an active training plan. They need to be involved in the community. It is a struggle, and that struggle is genuine. As President of my local club, we have youth in our club and an 11-year-old Extra. However, we still need growth and be proactive as a club. Great Video! All True.

I often wonder this myself. I'm a newer ham in my early 30's and the very first thing that I noticed was there wasn't many young people in the hobby and everyone my age doesn't know what ham radio is. When I try to explain it to them, they think I'm crazy and that I talk to aliens! I personally enjoy the science of ham radio and love the technical challenge of it. Luckily for me, in my area, most older hams are inviting and willing to "train" newer younger people into the hobby. As younger person I've been pondering this for a while now and still haven't had that light bulb moment for a solution. Maybe a digital mode something similar to FT8 but can have more full conversation QSO's similar to texting on a cell phone? Maybe add more HF privileges to the tech level license? I also wonder if the ARRL can do more with engaging with high schools to teach students of the hobby/science of radio. The reality is we are asking young folks to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on equipment to operate a somewhat outdated form of communication (except for emergency situations for modern communications outage) to me it's not outdated because modern communication outages still exist. Maybe the hobby will still continue to grow with as younger people get older and maybe become more appealing to them. There's no good answer to this that I can think of.

I'm 38 and active on the hobby. From local repeaters, D-STAR, YSF and just everything on HF except cw. There are 3 operators including myself that are under 45. Honestly, go to local festivals with some club members or someone who chats with you on a local repeater and set up a POTA or just call cq to have a conversation with someone.