See
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2014/may/where_are_the_under_25s.htm#.U3Ey1rGZiSo
for an interesting piece about the lack of young people in our hobby.
The original article appeared in
Essex Ham.
See also
http://youtu.be/6UFP158SJbY .
Having given talks to several East Anglian radio clubs I can agree this is a
serious issue. Most in amateur radio in the UK are in the older generation. It is right these people should be enjoying our hobby, but youth and youngsters are
essential for its healthy future. We need to find new ways to bring them in and keep them interested.
Years ago, an amateur radio "ticket" was the
only passport to a means of talking around the world. Today, with smart phones and the internet, talking world-wide no longer holds the same fascination for young people as it once did. To me, radio is
still magic, but this is not the case for most young people.
Also note how many radio magazines there are on shop shelves compared with those about computers. We are in danger of facing a future
without RF engineers in the UK. This is even more serious than the lack of youngsters in our hobby. The two are very much linked: if we want future RF engineers we need to grow young, keen, radio amateurs - the future is ours to influence! I never did understand why radio seems to be (mainly) a male interest. Odd.
This design is a couple of years old and evolved from Chirpy. Unlike the original design, chirp on 10m is negligible. This design really works and gives credible results on 10m with just a handful of parts. Sensitivity could be better with a few more parts, but not this simple!
