DELARA NEWS is the monthly publication of the Delaware Amateur Radio Association, Delaware OH. October 2020 VOL 39 Number 10

Welcome

This is the official newsletter of a great ham radio club! Our DELARA family appreciates what you’re doing with the hobby! Why not take a few minutes and write out what interests you in our hobby! We have room for your article always! Send it to Stan [at] standi.com by the end of the month.

The Prez’s Shack

How do we grow?

We hear this all the time: “We need to get the kids involved!” “How do we get into the elementary schools?” “Get them while they’re young!” I submit from my own experience, we’re going after the mouse and letting the bear go by. (With apologies for my slightly twisted hunting reference.) Here’s my story. I, like several friends in school, captured a novice license in 1964 at around age 14. I used my dad’s SX- 11 received, later adding a Hammerlund HQ-110 to the Eico 720 transmitter. Ran out a 40-meter dipole and was on the air. That lasted a year, of course, but by then I’d discovered girls, cars, girls, jobs and guitars and the radios wound up gathering dust on the shelf. It wasn’t until 1979 when I started listening to the Central Ohio Severe Weather Net and found no reason not to get a license. It wasn’t particularly because I’d already been in the hobby but I was at least familiar. I think that’s pretty representative of the interests of youth. Are we missing a more ‘productive’ group of potential recruits? I see value in offering a license class to those over the magic “50”… grown adults who remember watching parent or grandparent operate a ham radio station and who now have the time and nostalgic interest. They might require a but more elmering at first, but I believe they would be a welcomed addition. But that’s not my main target. Consider the young professional man or woman, perhaps around age 30. College (and partying) is pretty much complete. Family, now with kids all settled into home with cars, a well-launched career with adult life basically settled and underway places our professional in a search for something to round out life. It’s then when we see boats, RV’s, hobby vehicles, gym equipment and other such items start to show up (many in the driveway!) It’s that normal search for a way to invest one’s spare time. I submit with this that we are looking at the prime target for amateur radio. These are people who are completely comfortable with computers and technology and it’s not as if they’re in a foreign land to consider radio technology as a logical step. Yes, they do have some funds to buy into the hobby. I would add that there’s always been an instinctive urge to get involved with some type of service to the community at the same age, but sadly I don’t see that today. It’s not just ham radio but all traditional public service organizations are desperately battling a more self-centered, not-for-me attitude. (And don’t get me started about the lack of volunteer fire recruits!) I digress. So how do we capture the attention of this interesting, skilled, and very active group? Not sure, really. One way is to welcome them with open arms into our club! No matter the hobby, it’s about relationships which are formed and which will last that will keep them coming, and keep them interested in the hobby. My opinion. Yours? Stan, N8BHL VP DELARA