October Activity - Introduce a new YL to ham radio
I wrote an article in the Nov/Dec 2001 YL Harmonics where I suggested 12
activities that one can do in Amateur Radio during 2002 and recommended
that we devote one month to each activity. Some of these may be new to
you and others you may not have done. The list of activities are as follows:
This month topic is to introduce a new YL to ham radio. Most of the links listed below consists of links to various YL webpage and sites so you can see what other YLs do in addition to ham radio. If you know of any cool links, let me know.
Why introduce a new YL to ham radio?
Because why should all the OMs have all the fun! These days women are interested in all fields of study and ham radio is no different. A large number of women, myself included, got into ham radio because our OM, father or another friend (male or female) introduced us to hobby. A smaller number got into the hobby on their own. But why not introduce a new YL to ham radio, especially a good friend of yours. Once she is licensed or while she is working on her license, there are tons of activities you can introduce her too, including ragchewing on 2m, working contests together, helping each other with kit building,
How do I introduce a new YL to ham radio?
- Tell her you are a ham. Then show off your rig, HF or 2m. That is how I got my two YL friends into the hobby.
- Tell her about all the neat things you can do. I've worked contest, Field Day, built kits, etc. Also, tell her about other things being done in amateur radio. Who nows, she might decide to try something new that even you haven't gotten into.
- Find an exam book for her to study. I highly recommend "Now Your Talking", if taking the US amateur radio exam. There may be others you've used that you prefer, if so, use that. My friends devoted about 1-2 weeks on each section. I already had a copy of Now Your Talking and gave a brief overview of each section
- Be there to answer her questions. I was also around whenever they had any questions. Several sites on the web as well as in the book have sample questions that my friends took to practice what they studied.
- Stay positive. Come exam day, my friends took their exam and I'm glad to say they both passed.
- Keep communicating. One friend has since upgraded to the US General Exam class and my other friend has started working on her upgrade. We communicate back and forth to work, both have worked Field Day and this year we three drove together to the Dayton Hamvention. Next we plan to work on some QRP kits and then who knows...
YL clubs/groups
The following are sites that contain YL clubs, groups or webpages own by YLs. If you know of any not listed, let me know.
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Last updated Oct. 14, 2002