While I’ve been quite successful with my one-day Tech classes, I must admit that I haven’t been so successful following up with the new Techs. It’s not that I’ve abandoned them, but rather I don’t have a program to really engage them with the hobby. Many of those who have been in my classes have gone on to get advanced licenses and have a lot of fun with ham radio, but I can’t help but think that perhaps I could have helped more.
I would think about offering follow-on classes every once in a while, but I never really had enough time to both come up with a program and then develop the individual classes.
That’s why I got a little excited when I saw the article, “Making a Good hobby Better Through Post-Licensing Enrichment” by Tim Busch, N0CKR in the latest issue of Radio Waves. Radio Waves is the ARRL’s email newsletter that bills itself as, “News you can use for license instruction and radio science education.”
In the article, Tim describes several activities that his club encourages, including a “new ham net” and the Field Day GOTA station, but he also details a program of “mini classes” that will teach specific skills related to ham radio. These include:
- Programming Radios and Getting on the Air
- Soldering 101
- Multimeter 101
- Build and Use a Roll-Up J-Pole Antenna
- Build and Use a Satellite Antenna
- Foxhunts
- Operating Digital Modes: IRLP, AllStar, D-Star, EchoLink, etc.
- Remote Operation
- Software-Defined Radios
- Transitioning from VHF/UHF to HF Operating
- Chasing Awards
- Learn CW
- Contesting
- Build Projects
Tim writes,
Each class is intended to be no more than two hours at a sitting, so they can be held before a monthly club meeting. The variety of subject matter allows many club members to get involved in leading a topic. Materials kits are prepared in advance, so students walk away with practical items they can use at home.
I think this is a great set of classes, and I plan to try some of these in the fall. A couple of other topics that occur to me are:
- Power Supplies 101
- Mobile Operation 101
- ARRL 101
- RFI/TVI 101
Can you think of any other mini-classes that would fit into this program?
AA7US says
Hey Dan,
This is a wonderful idea.
While the intent may be to cover the under “digital modes,” I’d specifically recommend an introduction to ham radio VOIP modes such as IRLP, AllStar, D-Star, EchoLink, etc. They can open up access to the whole world of ham radio for those not fortunate enough to have local a linked repeater or HF capability.
73,
John
Dan KB6NU says
Thanks for your comment, John. I think that may have actually been the author’s intent. At least that’s how I read it. I’ve updated that bullet point.
Don Keith says
Great ideas, Dan! I’ve always been a big fan of the one-day licensing classes because they get folks past the first obstacle in becoming a ham…getting a ticket.
I did a lot of research in writing my latest book, GET ON THE AIR…NOW!, on what other roadblocks…real or perceived…kept would-be hams from going forward in ham radio and those who did get their licenses from becoming active in the hobby. Beyond the trepidation of getting a government-issued license that they thought required a bunch of study, a bit intimidating to some, I found five other big roadblocks, real or perceived:
— Obtaining a station and putting it on the air
— Putting up an antenna
— Knowing what activities they could do once on the air
— Knowing what to talk about without looking like a dumb newbie
— The jargon
I addressed each of these in the book and people tell me it helps. Drop me an email and I’ll be happy to send you a PDF of the book. Maybe it will give you some ideas for your “dive in and get your feet wet” classes. [email protected]
73,
Don N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com
http://www.donkeith.com
Ray Price says
Looks good. Exposing new hams to the different aspects of the hobby is a great idea. Showing different things that can be done on VHF and above will help get more people interested in weak signal on these bands.
Bob N6KZL says
How about a class in FLdigi, FLmsg, FLamp and SSTV? We are using these a lot in ARES.
Todd KD0TLS says
It’s a good idea, but the Devil is in the details.
I’d point out that a lot of “experienced” hams have little knowledge of digital modes, satcom, APRS, packet, or SDR. They could benefit from these classes, too.
One of the big developments we are seeing locally with DMR is old operators being mentored by younger operators. This is dramatically breaking down the toxic attitudes towards new hams, and undermining the elitist “expert” phenomena. We are all mentors, and we all rise together. And, as we exchange ideas and info about new aspects of the mode, we find that there’s a lot of education taking place on non-DMR subjects.
The old paradigm consisted of Idiots and Geniuses. If you admit that you didn’t know something, you were automatically moved to Idiot status — so no one ever admitted to ignorance. Now that older operators can admit that they don’t know about something, there’s a huge exchange of info in both directions, about a huge variety of niche aspects and approaches to exploration.
The key is breaking down this *top-down* flow of information, and making it *lateral*. To the greatest extent possible, I would suggest that new(er) operators should be the teachers of these courses in order to facilitate that.
Dan KB6NU says
One of the problems with books like this is what to include and what to leave out. It’s not a handbook, after all. The ARRL already publishes one of those.
In my mind, and I may or may not be right about this, I’d like this book to concentrate on the most basic stuff. That’s why there’s a chapter on soldering and one on how to use a multimeter. In fact, DMR might be outside the scope of this book. This is all still percolating in my mind here.
I do like the idea of getting newer operators to teach some of the classes. I always admit it when I don’t know something, and am more than happy for someone, no matter how long they’ve been licensed, to teach me something.
Todd KD0TLS says
I’m just using the local example of DMR to illustrate an alternative means of education and mentoring.
Some aspects of this alternative are already taking place on the internet: videos, forums, blogs, etc.
At least some of the topics mentioned (satcom, SDR, digital modes, packet) are things that a significant number of “experienced” operators know little about or have largely forgotten.
I didn’t realise that you were talking about books. The post mentioned “mini-classes”.
Dan KB6NU says
Well, the original article calls them “mini classes.” Because I’m a book kind of guy, my thought was to collect the materials and publish them as a book.
Nick N6OMG says
I have one addition: a class on antennas for people with restrictions. Most antenna books assume you have wide latitude for putting something up. Have a class showing what you can do if you live in a rental or something. I resort to throwing wire up on the roof.