Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
 
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Many thanks to the many people who offered suggestions and advice on this subject, all of it worth pursuing. If it works out, there may come from it another participant in the Elecraft reflector some day. Thanks again, Ted, KN1CBR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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Here is one more approach:
I took a pine 1X2 and cut it into 3” pieces ; then screwed a couple of Fahnstock clips into the tops of each one near the ends. I then selected an assortment of 2 node components plus a pile of 6” cut copper wire pieces. Whoopee…we could then make stuff…doorbell plus switch, simple diode rcvr, then one with a single transistor audio amp plus speaker (needs 3 NODE block), morse code key and buzzer etc etc Tiny stuff can be intimidating…so the blocks fit his way of playing and we were off and running. A regen rcvr on a board for 40M can be a jump step and its all fun. Alan/K6ADG ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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I started with a flyer from Summer school that showed how to make a crystal set. Simple stuff, took a week or so to gather the materials and wire it all up with a wood burning converted soldering iron, hi. We did it on a bread board that Mom said was too marked up. Used a telephone hand held receiver, a cold water ground and a wire somewhere in the trees, and WE HAD AUDIO. We could hear the AM stations quite well. Then came the Regen receiver out of 1940's Popular Mechanic article. We had CW.......... Thats all it took for this ten year old in 1948.........I was hooked......
Mel, K6KBE From: Alan Geller via Elecraft <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email] Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2017 1:51 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics Here is one more approach: I took a pine 1X2 and cut it into 3” pieces ; then screwed a couple of Fahnstock clips into the tops of each one near the ends. I then selected an assortment of 2 node components plus a pile of 6” cut copper wire pieces. Whoopee…we could then make stuff…doorbell plus switch, simple diode rcvr, then one with a single transistor audio amp plus speaker (needs 3 NODE block), morse code key and buzzer etc etc Tiny stuff can be intimidating…so the blocks fit his way of playing and we were off and running. A regen rcvr on a board for 40M can be a jump step and its all fun. Alan/K6ADG ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list
Excellent idea Alan!
An added advantage of that kind of approach is that you can write on the blocks - like the name of the component, its schematic symbol, and he can see how to follow the schematic to connect them. Polarized devices like diodes can be marked with the anode and cathode ends and transistors can be marked with base, collector and emitter and the difference between an NPN and a PNP can be clearly indicated. Should make learning much easier for him and he will likely retain it better. Steps after that would be teaching the resistor color code and learning how to read the values on capacitors - capacitor values are not trivial these days. Then an introduction to data sheets. By the time he is a couple years older he will know more about circuits than many modern hams. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/17/2017 4:44 PM, Alan Geller via Elecraft wrote: > Here is one more approach: > > I took a pine 1X2 and cut it into 3” pieces ; then screwed a couple of Fahnstock clips into the > tops of each one near the ends. I then selected an assortment of 2 node components plus a > pile of 6” cut copper wire pieces. > Whoopee…we could then make stuff…doorbell plus switch, simple diode rcvr, then one with a > single transistor audio amp plus speaker (needs 3 NODE block), morse code key and buzzer > etc etc > Tiny stuff can be intimidating…so the blocks fit his way of playing and we were off and running. > A regen rcvr on a board for 40M can be a jump step and its all fun. Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list
After a period of experimenting with basic circuits, a good step is to
find an older copy of the ARRL Handbook. I studied the "Electrical Laws and Circuits" section of the handbook until I had a good understanding of what the components did. That is the source I learned from at the age of 15. By the time I graduated from high school, I was designing my own elementary transmitters and receivers. Then I went to college and learned the theory behind what made it work - so I sort of "did it backward" from many engineers. I know "how it worked" first, and then I learned "why". It gave me a lot of practical experience that aided me tremendously throughout my career. 10 may a bit too young for that, and that content is a bit better introduced when the student has some grasp of math - at least enough for parallel and series resistors, capacitors, and inductors - so he should be familiar with at least fractions, multiplication and division. Once he comes to the realization that the fraction bar indicates division, he should be ready for those kind of calculations. I am talking of analog stuff here. Digital is a whole other world, although voltage levels and current drawn by devices are in the never-never- land between digital and analog. TTL and CMOS devices in DIP format are still available, and simple gates are essential starting points for understanding digital operation at the circuit level. 73, Don W3FPR On 10/17/2017 4:44 PM, Alan Geller via Elecraft wrote: > Here is one more approach: > > I took a pine 1X2 and cut it into 3” pieces ; then screwed a couple of Fahnstock clips into the > tops of each one near the ends. I then selected an assortment of 2 node components plus a > pile of 6” cut copper wire pieces. > Whoopee…we could then make stuff…doorbell plus switch, simple diode rcvr, then one with a > single transistor audio amp plus speaker (needs 3 NODE block), morse code key and buzzer > etc etc ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Suggestions for Introducing a 10-year-old to Amateur Radio and Electronics
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The world isn't the same as when we were all 15.
I think what you have to do is find out what excites the kid, and then finding a part of amateur radio that matches. I'm far from 15, but I never got to love CW, even though I made more than a few contacts when I had my novice license. Gotta say SSB isn't that interesting either. Always liked digital modes, but I think it'd be hard to get the texting-generation interested in something that's far more universal in the age of social media. The ideas are great, but the first step in solving a problem is defining it. Want a specific kid involved, find out what they like, what tickles their curiosity. 73 -- Lynn On 10/17/2017 2:37 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: > That is the source I learned from at the age of 15. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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