Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics

[Edward A. Dauer]

Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.

But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.

Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?

Thanks in advance,

Ted, KN1CBR

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[Grant Youngman-2]

That’s a good question.  Most kids’ grandpas, even it they’re hams, don’t have a workbench filled with boat anchors torn down in some state of repair or restoration, or aren’t into home brew of much more than getting a relay to work, wiring a connector, or something similar.  They may not even know another ham that does any of that aside from screwing ‘mysterious' black box radios together with preassembled cables, which is too bad in itself, but not the same topic.

Maybe something like this thing https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD <https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD>

Another option is a line of products called Snap Circuits (google it), which are pretty slick.  My 9 year old grand daughter has a couple of sets, and has done some interesting stuff with them.  Plus, they’re kind of fun … :-)

Grant NQ5T
K3 #2091, KX3 #8342

> On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.
>
> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>
> Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>

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[Mike Markowski-2]

Ted,

When my now-21 yr old son was about 14, he had by then earned his
Technician and learned CW.  At that point he had an iPod and put an
iambic keyer app on it.  He thought it would be fun to use as a key but
I pointed out that that would be modulated CW and not actual CW.  Using
his interest as an opportunity to teach some electronics, here's what we
did:

1. Bought some equal valued resistors.  Then we could use series and
parallel to get values needed.  A nice simple lesson there explaining
why that is.

2. Bought a quad op amp chip.  This is harder to fully teach a kid, of
course, but we wired up one as an inverting amplifier showing how the
feedback resistor divided by the input resistor determines the scale factor.

3. We wired up another as a comparator using a potentiometer.

4. Used an NPN as a switch to key the rig.

In the end, ipod (now, smart phone!) audio goes to the amplifier.
Amp out goes to comparator whose output is triggered by cw audio in.
Comparator output goes to NPN switch to key rig.

And then you have the world's most high tech key.  :-)  We topped it off
by having him solder together the circuit on perf board and mount it in,
of course, an Altoids tin.  Maybe a mini project along these lines would
work, tailored to suit his interests and age.

Good luck!
Mike ab3ap



On 10/15/2017 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward wrote:
> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.
>
> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>
> Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ted, KN1CBR
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[Rod Hardman]

Edward
I’d suggest anything under the Snap Circuits brand
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002AHQWS/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1508086022&sr=8-12&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=snap+circuits

The kits are easy to manipulate, marked clearly (with proper symbols) and use real components.

My kids love them

/Rod
VA3ON

On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46, Dauer, Edward <[hidden email]> wrote:

Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.

But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.

Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?

Thanks in advance,

Ted, KN1CBR

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[Nicklas Johnson]

I second this.  My first foray into electronics in general and radio in
particular came from the old Radio Shack / Science Fair "160 in one" and
"200 in one" project kits.  Prepare for a spaghetti-wire mess of jumpers
between spring terminals, but it was a really great means for me to begin
to understand, and it was a great way for someone of that age (I think I
started toying with them around the age of 9) to experiment.

My favorite kit build, of course, was the AM Radio transmitter, which led
to a lot of experimentation with different antennas to see how far around
our neighborhood I could pick up my signal, trying to find "improvements"
to the circuit, means of using speaker and line-level inputs instead of the
microphone input so I could play music more easily, etc. etc.  It turned
out that, for reasons I didn't understand at the time, a 6-foot-long sheet
of aluminum foil makes a pretty good broadcast band antenna for a toy kit,
much better than just a wire :-)

Eventually this led to a postal mail conversation with my uncle, who is a
Ham, who in turn sent me a copy of "Tune in the World with Ham Radio" to
help answer some questions I had about antennas.  And then, upon doing the
calculations, I was dismayed to learn that a proper vertical antenna for
the frequency I was trying to use would need to be over 150 feet high, well
beyond the allowed length for a Part 15 transmitter.  Someone should have
told me about loading coils... I bet I could have gotten a little more
range out of that aluminum foil!

   Nick


On 15 October 2017 at 09:20, GRANT YOUNGMAN <[hidden email]> wrote:

> That’s a good question.  Most kids’ grandpas, even it they’re hams, don’t
> have a workbench filled with boat anchors torn down in some state of repair
> or restoration, or aren’t into home brew of much more than getting a relay
> to work, wiring a connector, or something similar.  They may not even know
> another ham that does any of that aside from screwing ‘mysterious' black
> box radios together with preassembled cables, which is too bad in itself,
> but not the same topic.
>
> Maybe something like this thing https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-
> Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/
> ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_
> r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&
> refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD <https://www.amazon.com/
> Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/
> ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_
> r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&
> refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD>
>
> Another option is a line of products called Snap Circuits (google it),
> which are pretty slick.  My 9 year old grand daughter has a couple of sets,
> and has done some interesting stuff with them.  Plus, they’re kind of fun …
> :-)
>
> Grant NQ5T
> K3 #2091, KX3 #8342
>
> > On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might
> interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept
> at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my
> grandson.
> >
> > But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary
> smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can
> learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family
> radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
> >
> > Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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>

--
*N6OL*
Saying something doesn't make it true.  Belief in something doesn't make it
real. And if you have to lie to support a position, that position is not
worth supporting.
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[Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT-2]

Some of us "homebrew" in software.

Then there is the whole "maker" community that should be a nice fit.

73 -- Lynn

On 10/15/2017 9:20 AM, GRANT YOUNGMAN wrote:

> That’s a good question.  Most kids’ grandpas, even it they’re hams, don’t have a workbench filled with boat anchors torn down in some state of repair or restoration, or aren’t into home brew of much more than getting a relay to work, wiring a connector, or something similar.  They may not even know another ham that does any of that aside from screwing ‘mysterious' black box radios together with preassembled cables, which is too bad in itself, but not the same topic.
>
> Maybe something like this thing https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD <https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronic-Playground-Learning-Center/dp/B0035XSZDI/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0035XSZDI&pd_rd_r=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD&pd_rd_w=VORMc&pd_rd_wg=Gq7yR&psc=1&refRID=NGPKH7KZXG9W97CMB6TD>
>
> Another option is a line of products called Snap Circuits (google it), which are pretty slick.  My 9 year old grand daughter has a couple of sets, and has done some interesting stuff with them.  Plus, they’re kind of fun … :-)
>
> Grant NQ5T
> K3 #2091, KX3 #8342
>
>> On Oct 15, 2017, at 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.
>>
>> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>>
>> Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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[Bob Anderson]

Companies like Elenco still make the 150-in-1 and 300-in-1 Electronic
Project Labs that let you easily walk through theory and application with
quick results yet still allow you to do the builds and easily modify
circuits. Safely. They have the "Snap Circuits" line of kits for things
like building an FM radio receiver. These kits are very simple to build but
show a result quickly. The labs are better for minds that are ready to
experiment and tinker, but the targeted kits may be a better introduction.
There are also a lot of Arduino kits with different sensors, inputs,
outputs, lights, switches, etc. that can make some fun projects quickly if
there is any interest in programming.

https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-300-in-One-Electronic-Project-Lab/dp/B00005K86O
https://www.adafruit.com/product/170

Bob
N8ZVX


On Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 12:44 PM, Mike Markowski <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Ted,
>
> When my now-21 yr old son was about 14, he had by then earned his
> Technician and learned CW.  At that point he had an iPod and put an iambic
> keyer app on it.  He thought it would be fun to use as a key but I pointed
> out that that would be modulated CW and not actual CW.  Using his interest
> as an opportunity to teach some electronics, here's what we did:
>
> 1. Bought some equal valued resistors.  Then we could use series and
> parallel to get values needed.  A nice simple lesson there explaining why
> that is.
>
> 2. Bought a quad op amp chip.  This is harder to fully teach a kid, of
> course, but we wired up one as an inverting amplifier showing how the
> feedback resistor divided by the input resistor determines the scale factor.
>
> 3. We wired up another as a comparator using a potentiometer.
>
> 4. Used an NPN as a switch to key the rig.
>
> In the end, ipod (now, smart phone!) audio goes to the amplifier.
> Amp out goes to comparator whose output is triggered by cw audio in.
> Comparator output goes to NPN switch to key rig.
>
> And then you have the world's most high tech key.  :-)  We topped it off
> by having him solder together the circuit on perf board and mount it in, of
> course, an Altoids tin.  Maybe a mini project along these lines would work,
> tailored to suit his interests and age.
>
> Good luck!
> Mike ab3ap
>
>
>
>
> On 10/15/2017 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward wrote:
>
>> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might
>> interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept
>> at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my
>> grandson.
>>
>> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary
>> smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can
>> learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family
>> radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>>
>> Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Ted, KN1CBR
>>
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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[Don Wilhelm]

Ted,

G3RJV - the Reverend George Dobbs has spent a lot of time and energy
creating easy to build radios.  He has also done a lot with children to
help their interest in building and radio.
His name is familiar to most QRPers and until last year has presented at
FDIM - always quite interesting.

He has publish many articles and books, but one that may be of interest
is available online at
http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/george_dobbs_trf_radio.html.

Inexpensive materials and easy to build are two things that George
always adhered to.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/15/2017 11:46 AM, Dauer, Edward wrote:
> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.
>
> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>
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[ab2tc]

Hi all,

Interesting OT thread. It's getting closed to the limit for OT threads, but
I'll risk another entry anyway. It reverberates with me since I just became
a grandfather. Of course I have another 10 years or so before I have to
really start thinking about this.

On G3RJV's book. It is very interesting, but dates back to 1972! All
semiconductors are germanium and Eurocentric to boot. I used the glass
encapsulated OC45 and OC71 as a teenager way back in Norway. I don't think
these were ever sold in NA. OC45 is an RF transistor (of sorts) and in his
final design it's used as both an RF amplifier and first stage AF amplifier.
He doesn't mention this in the text. The design is strikingly similar to the
one in my first spring terminal based trainer kit, probably around
1965-1970. On the OC transistors, they were glass encapsulated with a black
lacquer coating. One had to be very careful not to injure this coating as
they would become sensitive to light if you did. With lamp lighting you'd
get hum. Don't ask how I know this.

On the OPs question, for a 10 year old I think the "trainer" style kits
would be more appropriate as they come with all materials needed. The
posting prior to Don's had what appears to be a good suggestion, but Amazon
had only one left in stock last time I checked.

AB2TC - Knut


Don Wilhelm wrote

> Ted,
>
> G3RJV - the Reverend George Dobbs has spent a lot of time and energy
> creating easy to build radios.  He has also done a lot with children to
> help their interest in building and radio.
> His name is familiar to most QRPers and until last year has presented at
> FDIM - always quite interesting.
>
> He has publish many articles and books, but one that may be of interest
> is available online at
> http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/george_dobbs_trf_radio.html.
>
> Inexpensive materials and easy to build are two things that George
> always adhered to.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
> <snip>

--
Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/
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[Gary Hawkins]

I'll try a completely different tack.

If you like the outdoors, how about Summits-on-the-Air (SOTA)? You'll get to spend time planning your SOTA adventure, and taking the hike to the peak.  He'll get to see you operating and hopefully that will encourage him to be interested as well. He can help you to build things like portable antennas and battery packs. If you get really adventurous one day adventures can turn into weekend camping.

My daughter is 3 years old. We have started her on short hikes and I hopeful next year she can do her first small peaks. Not sure how I'll keep her entertained on the summit but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

73's Gary K6YOA

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[k6dgw]

Number of wives: 1.  Number of wives interested in ham radio: 0.  We
have 4 kids, 11 grandkids, and 5 great grandkids [so far].  Number
showing any interest in my ham radio: essentially zero.  Joe, at perhaps
14, came in and asked what I was doing.  When I told him I was competing
in a contest, he got a bit excited and his next question was, "How do
you win?" His interest did not extend past that question.

A number of resources have been suggested [kits, projects, etc] but in
my experience, those "work" only if they can tap into an interest area
your grandson already has.  For example, a good friend has a now 14 yr
old grandson who was somewhat immersed in Scouting, and really liked
outdoors activities [hiking, camping, etc].  My friend ran into Summits
on the Air when grandson was about 10.

Radio and SOTA added a new dimension to outdoor things and had the added
advantage that he and his grandson could take advantage of shorter time
periods than camping required to activate a summit. He bought a used
FT-817 for grandson who now has a General.  Kids today carry the "Magic
of Radio" around in the pockets of their cargo shorts, and a home-brewed
station is exceedingly rare. Everything is pretty much just plug-N-play,
like everything else in their lives.

Good luck, I hope you can find an avenue

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 10/15/2017 8:46 AM, Dauer, Edward wrote:

> Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.
>
> But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.
>
> Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ted, KN1CBR
>

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[ab2tc]

Hi again,

Not a bad idea. We were very successful in getting our four children
interesting in the outdoors. The oldest daughter and her husband are even
into backpacking in the back country (Algonquin park), something we never
got into. The other three are very good hikers, too.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I am not sure if I understand the joy of
activating peaks on ham radio. How do other hikers react to this? I know I
am extremely annoyed by people gabbing on their cell phones on the trail. Is
ham radio that much different?

Knut - AB2TC


Gary Hawkins wrote

> I'll try a completely different tack.
>
> If you like the outdoors, how about Summits-on-the-Air (SOTA)? You'll get
> to spend time planning your SOTA adventure, and taking the hike to the
> peak.  He'll get to see you operating and hopefully that will encourage
> him to be interested as well. He can help you to build things like
> portable antennas and battery packs. If you get really adventurous one day
> adventures can turn into weekend camping.
>
> My daughter is 3 years old. We have started her on short hikes and I
> hopeful next year she can do her first small peaks. Not sure how I'll keep
> her entertained on the summit but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
>
> 73's Gary K6YOA
>
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[Edward R Cole]

I got started in 1958 (almost 60 years ago).

There was no Internet, google, personal computers, or even hand
calculators (unless you include the pencil).

I was not introduced by a mentor (elmer) or any ham.  It was some
neighbor kids family table Zenith Ocean-O-Graphic radio.  I was
twelve and visiting a couple friends and noticed the radio had
several bands and one said "police".  I asked if they ever listened
to the police on the radio; they hadn't. So I suggested giving it a
try.  Well we heard no police at 5-MHz but after tuning lower
encountered a lot of people talking (it was below 4-MHz).  I later
found out that was ham radio.

I suppose there was some books at the community library (I was kinda
strange as I frequented the library looking things up in the
encyclopedia and reading magazines).  I was building model rockets
with stuff from the hardware store at least a couple years before Sputnik.

As I said there were no local hams in our little farm community.  But
sometime later I found out about an evening class on ham radio at a
nearby town.  I got my dad to drive me there over several weeks and
the teacher was a young HS music teacher who became my elmer giving
me my Novice Exam.

I had listened late at night to AM stations from far away so guess
that also contributed to my interest.  But I had to build my first
radio from a kit (Knight kit Ocean Hopper).  I saved up allowance for
half a year and did not even have any tools (my dad bought me a
solder gun for my birthday).  He also bought my first transmitter
(DX35) from my elmer who wanted to upgrade to a DX100.  My license
arrive Nov. 11, 1958.
http://www.kl7uw.com/1958%20HamStation.jpg

I built my first antenna from TV twinlead (40m folded dipole).  After
we moved to a larger community (2000) there was a TV shop so I
frequented that (owner and one of the technicians were hams).

The rest was history "as they say".  There were $15 WWII surplus
radios, old TV towers, more HB antenna, and Heathkit.  My CW key came
by mail order from a store in Connecticut called the radio shack (way
before the chain existed).

So many more ways to get started these days.  In the end its the
kid's own curiosity and interest that will bring him into ham radio.

73, Ed - KL7UW
   http://www.kl7uw.com
Dubus-NA Business mail:
   [hidden email]

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[Richard Thorne-4]

Hi Knut,

I've operated a couple SOTA's this year.

So far other hikers have been quite interested in what I was doing and
didn't seemed to be annoyed, just curious in what I was doing.

Rich - N5ZC

On 10/15/2017 4:21 PM, ab2tc wrote:

> Hi again,
>
> Not a bad idea. We were very successful in getting our four children
> interesting in the outdoors. The oldest daughter and her husband are even
> into backpacking in the back country (Algonquin park), something we never
> got into. The other three are very good hikers, too.
>
> I hate to be a wet blanket, but I am not sure if I understand the joy of
> activating peaks on ham radio. How do other hikers react to this? I know I
> am extremely annoyed by people gabbing on their cell phones on the trail. Is
> ham radio that much different?
>
> Knut - AB2TC
>
>
> Gary Hawkins wrote
>> I'll try a completely different tack.
>>
>> If you like the outdoors, how about Summits-on-the-Air (SOTA)? You'll get
>> to spend time planning your SOTA adventure, and taking the hike to the
>> peak.  He'll get to see you operating and hopefully that will encourage
>> him to be interested as well. He can help you to build things like
>> portable antennas and battery packs. If you get really adventurous one day
>> adventures can turn into weekend camping.
>>
>> My daughter is 3 years old. We have started her on short hikes and I
>> hopeful next year she can do her first small peaks. Not sure how I'll keep
>> her entertained on the summit but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
>>
>> 73's Gary K6YOA
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
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>> lists+1215531472858-365791@.nabble
>
>
>
>
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[Tox]

One of the past speakers at Pacificon sold it at a private high school as
teaching how to talk to the ISS and satellites. Everything else came
following that hook.

On Oct 15, 2017 2:46 PM, "Richard Thorne" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Knut,
>
> I've operated a couple SOTA's this year.
>
> So far other hikers have been quite interested in what I was doing and
> didn't seemed to be annoyed, just curious in what I was doing.
>
> Rich - N5ZC
>
> On 10/15/2017 4:21 PM, ab2tc wrote:
>
>> Hi again,
>>
>> Not a bad idea. We were very successful in getting our four children
>> interesting in the outdoors. The oldest daughter and her husband are even
>> into backpacking in the back country (Algonquin park), something we never
>> got into. The other three are very good hikers, too.
>>
>> I hate to be a wet blanket, but I am not sure if I understand the joy of
>> activating peaks on ham radio. How do other hikers react to this? I know I
>> am extremely annoyed by people gabbing on their cell phones on the trail.
>> Is
>> ham radio that much different?
>>
>> Knut - AB2TC
>>
>>
>> Gary Hawkins wrote
>>
>>> I'll try a completely different tack.
>>>
>>> If you like the outdoors, how about Summits-on-the-Air (SOTA)? You'll get
>>> to spend time planning your SOTA adventure, and taking the hike to the
>>> peak.  He'll get to see you operating and hopefully that will encourage
>>> him to be interested as well. He can help you to build things like
>>> portable antennas and battery packs. If you get really adventurous one
>>> day
>>> adventures can turn into weekend camping.
>>>
>>> My daughter is 3 years old. We have started her on short hikes and I
>>> hopeful next year she can do her first small peaks. Not sure how I'll
>>> keep
>>> her entertained on the summit but I'll cross that bridge when I get
>>> there.
>>>
>>> 73's Gary K6YOA
>>>
>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>> Elecraft mailing list
>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>> Post: mailto:
>>> Elecraft@.qth
>>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>> Message delivered to
>>> lists+1215531472858-365791@.nabble
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
> ______________________________________________________________
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>

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[Cady, Fred-2]

It sounds to me like the makerspace idea is pretty cool.  I may have to join one here in Bozeman cause project space (and projects) are seriously limited in the new digs.

Googling makerspace for Denver looks like there are number of places.  Maybe some would be better than others for your grandson.


Might be a good idea on 40m but I don't have a mobile antenna for that band.


Cheers,

Fred


________________________________
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> on behalf of Dauer, Edward <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2017 9:46 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics

Looking for suggestion about books or kits or whatever else that might interest a ten year old to electronics and to amateur radio.  He is adept at mechanical things and pretty bright.  What else could he be?  He’s my grandson.

But his understanding of electronics is well insulated by contemporary smart phones and games and the like, about the innards of which one can learn nothing in the old way – the way we did it, by taking the family radio apart and then having to learn how to put it back together.

Any other grandpas or grandmas out there have experiences to share?

Thanks in advance,

Ted, KN1CBR

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[David Shoaf]

I'm with Fred.  I gave both of my grandsons a  Kano and they have just love
them <https://kano.me/>  .  This is, essentially, a  Raspberry Pi with a
custom-built Linux operating system <https://www.raspberrypi.org/>  .  

They've learned Scratch, a procedural-type of programming language that uses
building blocks to create the procedures.  They've also learned how to use
programming to make things go faster when playing  Minecraft
<https://minecraft.net/en-us/>  .  

The kids don't know they're learning process, procedure and logic but they
do.  When they're introduced to more formal programming, however, they'll be
well up the learning curve.  This is the introduction to the Maker movement
for them.  They've since been to a robot summer camp and they ate that up,
too.

Why do I suggest this first rather than take them up to a mountain top and
send morse code with them?  Its the hook.  Once they see how we merge
computers and the digital modes, I'm expecting the grandsons to have a
better sense of what I'm doing.  They see me doing things with a Raspberry
Pi and an Arduino with ham radio.  That's the bridge.

It is all about pulling them along, folks.

Cheers,

David/KG6IRW



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[k6dgw]

www.sotawatch.org is the main site.  Like everything else, one size does
not fit all.  The programme [it started in the UK] offers a number of
awards which attract some but not all folks.  Some are just outdoor
folks who would be hiking/camping anyway.  Some don't hike but derive
pleasure from working the QRP/antenna challenged stations from home. 
They're called chasers and I am one, old injuries plus the accumulation
of birthdays that followed tend to restrict me physically.  There are
drive-up summits and I've done a few of them.  One very active summiteer
runs up the mountains.  Another [WG0AT] uses pack goats.

In all the times I've been on a summit, I've met a number of other
hikers.  I'm CW only, but I've activated with others on SSB and none of
the "visitors" have been upset.  SOTA almost universally takes place on
the summit itself, not the trail.

But SOTA was just an example for Ted.  The primary point was that
success with his grandson, if success means the kid getting interested
in ham radio, will likely be enhanced if he can couple the radio part up
with some interest the boy already has and enjoys.  Double points if his
grandson can include his friends in the activities.

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 10/15/2017 2:21 PM, ab2tc wrote:
> I hate to be a wet blanket, but I am not sure if I understand the joy of
> activating peaks on ham radio. How do other hikers react to this? I know I
> am extremely annoyed by people gabbing on their cell phones on the trail. Is
> ham radio that much different?
>
> Knut - AB2TC
>

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[Elecraft mailing list]

Hi everyone,

I've wrestled with this too.  My 9 year old son really enjoyed learning how to send his name perfectly in CW while being graded by the KX2's decoder.  He wouldn't stop until he got it perfect - no spaces or anything!  But my 11 year old gave up sorta quickly.  I drag them on SOTA activations and they quickly get bored at the summits, and they don't quite enjoy the hikes yet (less entertaining than video games).  Even the super tall ones.  I'd try a couple different aspects of the hobby and see which one sticks.  The Raspberry Pi idea is great, the CW thing took for one of my kids (could maybe sell it as a code you can talk in that nobody will know) but not really the other, contesting might grab an older competitive kid, and other kids might dig amateur radio satellites.  They're all different.  In the age of smart phones, Skype, and email, it can be hard to compete.  Skip's comment about getting friends interested too is pretty smart.

As far as other hikers during SOTA, I always try to operate out of the way with a small footprint (AlexLoop and KX2 with earphones).  I get more questions and probably do more good PR for ham radio than bad PR.  Lots of folks I meet while doing SOTA think it's interesting.  I usually mention how much power I'm using and which states/countries I reached.  Never had anyone complain.

-Brad Butler
W6BJB/JS6TQS

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Fred Jensen
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2017 8:38 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics

www.sotawatch.org is the main site.  Like everything else, one size does not fit all.  The programme [it started in the UK] offers a number of awards which attract some but not all folks.  Some are just outdoor folks who would be hiking/camping anyway.  Some don't hike but derive pleasure from working the QRP/antenna challenged stations from home. They're called chasers and I am one, old injuries plus the accumulation of birthdays that followed tend to restrict me physically.  There are drive-up summits and I've done a few of them.  One very active summiteer runs up the mountains.  Another [WG0AT] uses pack goats.

In all the times I've been on a summit, I've met a number of other hikers.  I'm CW only, but I've activated with others on SSB and none of the "visitors" have been upset.  SOTA almost universally takes place on the summit itself, not the trail.

But SOTA was just an example for Ted.  The primary point was that success with his grandson, if success means the kid getting interested in ham radio, will likely be enhanced if he can couple the radio part up with some interest the boy already has and enjoys.  Double points if his grandson can include his friends in the activities.

73,

Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 10/15/2017 2:21 PM, ab2tc wrote:
> I hate to be a wet blanket, but I am not sure if I understand the joy of
> activating peaks on ham radio. How do other hikers react to this? I know I
> am extremely annoyed by people gabbing on their cell phones on the trail. Is
> ham radio that much different?
>
> Knut - AB2TC
>

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