Youtube and ham radio

[WA7PBE]

So me being the quite young and youthful man I am use social media probably a bit more than some ham users. What I have come to realize is that if you search ham radio on youtube you get a few videos on the first page, some are kind of dissing ham radio, some are nutjob preppers who are telling people to go out and get a cheap radio and pretty much use it without a licence (which is as we all know illegal), some outdated videos that look like they where made in the 80's or that someone with adhd would turn off in 5 seconds, and we have the good guys who have tutorials (like n7tfp, some great videos by him for new hams) and useful information.

I'm not putting the blame on anyone but it seems almost like bad rep and definitely not attractive to introduce young people into ham radio. If I had the time and money I would try to combat this problem with a series of videos myself, but uncle sam has different plans for me (yes I'm a servicemember). I can tell you that the radio shows out there on youtube would kill interest, no young person wants to listen to a bunch of old timers yammer about technical information and jargon that a new ham probably wouldn't be able to understand. And the instructional series out there....well most all of them are by "preppers" and have a lot of bad information and misleading guidance like buying cheap radios that will probably scare more people from the hobby then get them into it considering they hype uhf and vhf to be way more popular then it actually is. One good thing to come lately is the TX factor which is a british based show and instead of a bunch of old men talking about nothing they go out to all these interesting places that show the history and origin of ham radio and show all the cool things that go on in the hobby. But there throws a barrier, I can guarantee with a certain amount of confidence that almost no one outside of the ham commuinty has heard of it, and with today's social media the rate of which they post videos would catch no young persons attention, they will go right back to call of duty.

I just hope that soon somebody can catch the attention of a younger crowd with videos about the hobby that even an older generation can enjoy. Its a very odd hobby for a person as young as my self being that right now i'm a minority, and even with more people being licenced then ever before still it seems like social media is only catering to a certian group which in turn is somewhat descering if we want to attract the attention of younger people.

[KJ3N]

I'll take paragraphs for $500, Alex.

How the hell am I supposed to read that? :roll:

[WA7PBE]

sorry i have a little bit of a learning disability hopefully that helped :)

[KJ3N]

sorry i have a little bit of a learning disability hopefully that helped :)

It's more palatable now.

As an aside, it's been 36 years (HS) since my last English course, so...... Get Off My Lawn!

[WA7PBE]

It's more palatable now.

As an aside, it's been 36 years (HS) since my last English course, so...... Get Off My Lawn!

thanks for the correction, Im really being sincere because writing has always been a struggle for me.

[KJ3N]

So me being the quite young and youthful man I am use social media probably a bit more than some ham users. What I have come to realize is that if you search ham radio on youtube you get a few videos on the first page, some are kind of dissing ham radio, some are nutjob preppers who are telling people to go out and get a cheap radio and pretty much use it without a licence (which is as we all know illegal), some outdated videos that look like they where made in the 80's or that someone with adhd would turn off in 5 seconds, and we have the good guys who have tutorials (like n7tfp, some great videos by him for new hams) and useful information.

Have you looked at K7AGE's YouTube channel? http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgG5iIOZpqFBBkAgg5iN1w

I can tell you that the radio shows out there on youtube would kill interest, no young person wants to listen to a bunch of old timers yammer about technical information and jargon that a new ham probably wouldn't be able to understand.

Despite what you might have been told, it is a technical hobby. I'm not saying you have to be an EE, but you should try to understand some of the basics. If you don't, you're going to find it difficult to have much success at the HF "game". VHF/UHF is very much plug and play, but HF is quite different.

And the instructional series out there....well most all of them are by "preppers" and have a lot of bad information and misleading guidance like buying cheap radios that will probably scare more people from the hobby then get them into it considering they hype uhf and vhf to be way more popular then it actually is.

UHF & VHF FM are popular with the prepper crowd and the EmComm crowd. Outside of those areas, HF tends to reign supreme.

One good thing to come lately is the TX factor which is a british based show and instead of a bunch of old men talking about nothing they go out to all these interesting places that show the history and origin of ham radio and show all the cool things that go on in the hobby. But there throws a barrier, I can guarantee with a certain amount of confidence that almost no one outside of the ham commuinty has heard of it, and with today's social media the rate of which they post videos would catch no young persons attention, they will go right back to call of duty.

Given that TX Factor has only posted 2 videos (the first one only a month ago), I'd say almost no one in the ham community knows about it. Until you mentioned them, I had no idea they existed. It will take some time for the word to filter out.

I just hope that soon somebody can catch the attention of a younger crowd with videos about the hobby that even an older generation can enjoy. Its a very odd hobby for a person as young as my self being that right now i'm a minority, and even with more people being licenced then ever before still it seems like social media is only catering to a certian group which in turn is somewhat descering if we want to attract the attention of younger people.

In the 50s, 60s, and to some extent the 70s, ham radio was very much a hobby for young people. There were lots of HS kids who got the bug and went on to careers in electronics because of ham radio.

[WA7PBE]

Have you looked at K7AGE's YouTube channel? http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzgG5iIOZpqFBBkAgg5iN1w

I have and great information and great channel, but like the tx factor it wasn't until a few days ago i have even heard of his channel but im glad I have!

Despite what you might have been told, it is a technical hobby. I'm not saying you have to be an EE, but you should try to understand some of the basics. If you don't, you're going to find it difficult to have much success at the HF "game". VHF/UHF is very much plug and play, but HF is quite different.

I do but most of the videos im referencing are long strung out series intsead of short and easy tutorials that a beginner can easily understand that will then in turn translate into interest in the longer series.

[K7SGJ]

And of course, there is Burt.

Bwahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[VE7DCW]

And of course, there is Burt.

Bwahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh No! ...........Eddie.... not Burt! :shock:


:rofl:

[NA4BH]

My favorite ham video