开云体育

I changed the topic to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up; sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True, you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.

I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.

Jack, W8TEE