Getting Others Involved in Radio
For this week's Ham Challenge post - I'm actually going to look at this week's challenge! Week 8 says:
Encourage someone to take their ham radio license exam Everyone knows a colleague, friend or relative who may be interested in becoming a ham. Encourage them to give it another try, and offer your help!
I feel like I've pretty successfully checked this one off the list so far for 2025: I finally convinced a friend who was interested to sit down and take his test, I had a new member of the university radio club I run discover ham radio and take his tech and general, and I have been encouraging a professor of mine to study up and get his license because I think he'll love it!
Despite feeling like I've completed the challenge though - I wanted to write a bit about some ways I think hams should be doing "outreach" and encouraging others to get their license.
Firstly, I think that, for many, ham radio is already a part of their lifestyle they should share. I am constantly thinking about, researching, and doing radio to a point where I get asked questions about it simply because of that.
You should also be sharing what you're doing with others who might find it interesting. Just today, I shared around a live feed of a local repeater doing a weather net to friends who I thought would find it interesting. Invite a friend on your next POTA or SOTA run, bring them to Field Day, or just invite them into your shack one day and show them how you're running FT8/RTTY/working DX.
Lastly, be an active participant in your clubs. You'd be surprised how many people you can help get over the final hurdle to getting their license by being active and being an elmer to new guys who might have doubts about getting into the hobby. When it comes to members of my university ARC, I don't push it very hard, but we tend to convince people to go test after gaining their interest and getting them to chat at a meeting.
Go out and help someone get their ham license! Get a friend to do it, and/or become a Volunteer Examiner (or equivalent for your country) and help get someone through the process! In recent years in the US, the number of licensed hams has been going down - let's change that.