No need to apologize, Dave -- the personal connections we make with ham radio *are* one of the reasons we stick with it.
It's not relevant to the art, science, or hobby of ham radio that the unexplored potential of my new ham license kept me going through the absolute mental health *disaster* that was seventh grade, but it's important to me, and it's part of why *I've* stuck around the hobby (and at all). 73, Julie On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM Dave W8OV via Elecraft < [email protected]> wrote: > After reading various posts on this topic, and re-reading the Subject, > it does say "...ways to introduce amateur radio...", without "and > persist in". I've had a half dozen hobbies in my 80+ years, but I have > persisted in only amateur radio to this day. I dabble in one or two > others, but no comparison to amateur radio in time, expense, and > enjoyment. So I have failed to persist in, say, 5 out of 6 hobbies. > > One activity I did as a high school physics teacher, during a unit on > electricity and magnetism, was bring in an HF radio, put a simple > antenna on the school lawn, and feed it through an open window. A > demonstration and discussion of amateur radio was a lesson for only one > day each class each year, although I sponsored a radio club after school. > > The students in the radio club made a 5-element loop antenna and a > wooden tripod support for it. We used it to make a brief contact with > the second Space Shuttle amateur radio operation. While that was > thrilling, the contact during class I treasure was one in which, by > chance, a station we heard caught the attention of one boy who said > "That's my dad!" We gave him a call and had a short QSO, and the boy got > to contact his dad. To appreciate that, you need to know that the boy > had left his family and joined a cult (yes, as a teenager) and had no > contact with his family. This QSO led to his reuniting with his family. > I don't know if the boy ever got a radio license, or persisted in > amateur radio, but for him and his family amateur radio was priceless. > > One year, after I announced the radio demonstration would be held in a > few days, two of my students who, unknown to me, had amateur radio > licenses, approached me and asked if they could demonstrate their 2m > handheld radios with a repeater contact. They had a radio in hand and > showed me how the repeater worked and I made a phone-patch call to my > wife. That was my first introduction to repeaters and the VHF/UHF > frequencies. So the radio instruction worked both ways that year. > > Sorry for the off-topic parts, but the point is that one's introduction > efforts can have benefits of importance, whether or not staying active > in the hobby is achieved. > > 73, Dave W8OV > > On 2025-07-23 21:52, Wayne Burdick via Elecraft wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > Please share any methods you've used for stirring interest in our shared > > pastime. How have you communicated the science, the camaraderie, and the > > intrigue of the radio art? Real-world examples would be inspiring to read > > about. > > > > 73, > > Wayne > > N6KR > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
