) writes:

What I want to do is provide each kid with a popcorn CW transceiver for
the colorburst frequency (3579 khz), a key, a short random wire, and a
battery. That way they could practice amongst themselves with
myself as occasional net control.

The last thing in the world you want to do is give them the ability to
send and receive. Because then you'll get a bunch of senders and nobody
who can receive.

I made the same mistake when I was ten and got a morse code set. Two
units connected by wires, and you could switch between a morse sounder,
a light bulb or a buzzer. It was great for sending away, but the problem
was there was nobody to receive. And sending didn't mean a
thing in learning to receive.

I think it's correct to believe that youngsters would be interested
in morse code, a "secret language" at an age when "secret language"
means something.

But I don't see this helping.

You need to send to them, something they don't need licenses for or
a worry about whether the transmitter needs a license or not. But
then, they do need receivers. Only later will they have the ability
to communicate with morse code.

They don't need license-free transmitters to get a feel for ham
radio. They can talk (and if they know morse code, send) as third
parties over your station. You can build up simple receivers for
them, or better yet get them interested in building their own simple
receivers, and then listen to a ham band or your code practice
transmissions.

Building the receivers is a way to get them enthused about the hobby,
if done right. Again, getting the thing to work is a sense of
accomplishment, and it doesn't matter how simple the receiver might
be.

Charles Kitchin has had some simple regen receivers in QST in recent
years, using easy to get parts. I looked at one and everything could
come out of a good junk box. He had one that used a color subcarrier
crystal, again an easy to get part and which made it easy to tune. At
least one of the articles is at the ARRL website for all to access. Do
a websearch on his name, and you'll find that various clubs have done
it as a group project.

But also, when amateur radio is taught in schools, it always looks
good, because so many pass the test. I'm not so sure so many stick
with the hobby. Some of what's appealing about the hobby is that it's
not for everyone. I passed the test when I was 12, and it was something
to boast about at school, if school hadn't ended just before I got
the test results. I'm not convinced it would have had the same appeal
if it had been a regular school thing.

So often amateur radio benefits those school kids as a catalyst for
other things. And thus it's important that in this case getting the
ham license isn't the end goal. Getting them interested in learning,
getting them interested in building, even getting them interested
in communicating should be the goal. If they get something out of
building a simple radio receiver, then that's more important than
passing a test but getting nothing.

So letting them be third parties on your radio, and talking to distant
places, or even other reserves, is beneficial, whether or not it
leads them to getting a license. Getting them interested in building,
be it a radio receiver or some other gadget that can be made with
junk parts, is beneficial in itself. (And maybe a reservation isn't
the home of much electronic trash, but it's generally so easy to
get that they could learn from the act of taking things apart.)
Build up various means of sending morse code, and use that as
demonstration of things, rather than seeing morse code as the goal.
You can send morse by radio, and light, but you can also modulate
a light so you get a tone with morse code out of the speaker at
the receiving end. During WWII there was various activity using
the earth to send and receiver (since ham licenses were in suspension),
and that's another neat thing. You need to show them that there
are neat things, before they can pursue those things.

These things are the lure to get them interested in amateur radio.
They help to make going after the license appealing. But if it's
done right, they will benefit long before they make a decision about
getting a ham license.


Michael VE2BVW