KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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ARRL Surveying Youth

Posted: 06 May 2016 07:44 AM PDT
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This just in from GL Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK:

The ARRL Contest Advisory Committee is studying how to get more
youthÂ*involved in the contesting aspects of our hobby and has designed a
veryÂ*thorough survey to solicit input. The committee would like as
manyÂ*people to take the survey as possible and requests that you take
theÂ*survey and also ask any youth you know, whether they are hams or not,
to take it as well. The survey asks different questions that depend onÂ*the
answers you submit and will only take a few minutes to complete.

The link to the survey is: tinyurl.com/YouthHamRadio.

Please help them to gather data by taking the survey, asking others toÂ*take
it, and sharing this email with your friends and clubs.

Thanks and 73,

Dale WA8EFK

As an aside, does anyone else have a problem with calling kids youth? Its
perfectly correct, but it seems kind of stilted to me. Im far from being a
kid, but if I was younger, Im not sure Id like to be called a youth.

As another aside, do we really want to be encouraging youth to participate
in contests? One might say that there are already enough contesters on the
bands during contest weekends as it is.

The post ARRL Surveying Youth appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.


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Amateur radio in the news: storm spotters, special ed

Posted: 05 May 2016 10:33 AM PDT
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Storm spotters: unsung heroes of sever weather.Â*GRAYSON COUNTY, Texas
Storm spotters are often unsung heroes of severe weather.Â*Rick Simmons is a
storm spotter and a Ham Radio Emergency Coordinator.

Down Home LA: Radio Hams.Â*ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) The first thing you
notice when Darrell Nichols turns on his Ham Radio is the static that
immediately fills the room at the Louisiana Special Education Center. The
next sign is less common.Â*The faces of his two special needs students, Ryan
Trotter and RJ light up with excitement, eager to begin practice with the
old machine.

The amateur radio operators preparing for the worst.Â*There’s a sense of
urgency in the air at a Virginia nuclear power plant. Everything within at
least a five-mile radius is at immediate risk due to a critical meltdown.
One of the emergency responders opens the envelope she’s holding, scans its
contents, and announces the bad news: “We just lost 911 and the cell towers
are overloaded.�

There are some groans, but the team of amateur radio operators knew this
was a possibility, and they’re prepared. They have their radios at the
ready to coordinate evacuations, making sure that no shelters are
overwhelmed and that evacuees arrive at the right locations. Two detach
themselves from the rest and make their way over to the lead coordinator.
They’re acting as the points of contact for all emergency services, which
means they’re responsible for relaying information about everything from
fires to urgent medical care to illegal activities.

The post Amateur radio in the news: storm spotters, special ed appeared
first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.