This month we offer information on a range of youth-oriented activities!

Tech Camp 2001!

If you are going to be entering seventh, eighth or ninth grade this fall, then this activity might be of interest to you. Tech Camp is a course that's intended to enhance students' knowledge of wireless technology through teaching with games and other fun activities--most of which are found in Amateur Radio. This course will be taught at the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin County Community College in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas.

Tech Camp will be split into two different categories to accommodate as many youth as possible. Tech Camp I is for beginners with or without a Technician class Amateur Radio license. The next session is June 18-29. Tech Camp II is a more advanced camp that requires a General class Amateur Radio license or above. It will take place from June 18-June 29. The cost to enroll is $250 per person (which is well worth it; read on to learn why.).

So what's going to occur at Tech Camp 2001? Lots! Students will be exposed to and learn about vertical, dipole and Yagi antennas, how to find a transmitter using radio direction finding techniques, what modulation is (AM, FM, PSK and AFSK), and what satellite communications, amateur television and wireless robotics control are all about. If you participate, you will also walk away knowing teamwork skills, how to solve problems and how to manage your time when dealing with problems

And that's not all! Students who enroll in Tech Camp I and who have their Technician licenses will receive their very own Kenwood TH-D7A(G) dualband handheld with a built in packet TNC. Tech Camp II students with a General class license will receive a Ten-Tec HF QRP kit. Tech Camp II students with an Extra class license (or those who earn their upgrades at camp) will have their choice of either a Ten-Tec QRP Kit or the new Elecraft K1 dualband HF transceiver. How can you beat that for the price? A week long of fun, games and learning, and a new radio to bring home with you.

If you are interested in enrolling, please keep in mind that there is only room for 20 students in each class. So consider signing up soon. For more information, visit Tech Camp 2001's Web site.

Hit the Bands for Kids Day--June 16!

Another great Kid's Day operating event is just around the corner! The purpose of this occasion is simply to encourage young people (licensed or not) to enjoy Amateur Radio. Whether you have a friend down the street, or know of someone across town who is interested in Amateur Radio, or are older and have a child and home, be sure to invite him or her to your station for a fun day on the air.

Kid's Day takes place Saturday, June 16, 1800-2400 UTC. Be sure to call "CQ Kid's Day," and when you make a contact, the suggested exchange is to include your name, age, location and favorite color.

Suggested calling frequencies are 28,350 to 28,400 kHz, 21,380 to 21,400, 14,270 to 14,300 kHz and 2-meter repeater frequencies with permission of your area repeater sponsor. Be sure to keep in mind the third-party traffic restrictions when making DX QSOs.

If you participate in Kid's Day, you are eligible to receive a colorful certificate by sending a 9x12 self-addressed, stamped envelope to Boring Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1357, Boring, OR 97009. You may submit your log of contacts and any comments to kids@contesting.com and can check out the logs and comments sent by other participants on the Web.

Complete rules and more information, are available. Spread the word, and be sure to get a young one on the air for this special activity!

Field Day Awaits--Bring a Youth Along!

This month an Amateur Radio club in Kentucky will be setting a station up in a public park while a group of friends in New Mexico will be stringing dipoles through 100-foot Ponderosa pines after setting up camp--all just to be on the air for 24 hours. All across the United States and Canada, individual hams and groups will be assembling stations as well. Why would anyone be doing this? Because they will be getting ready for one of the most highly anticipated Amateur Radio operating events, Field Day!

To some, Field Day is an all-out contest. To others, Field Day is meant to be a relaxing weekend of good ol' Amateur Radio. No matter how you view it, Field Day actually tests our ability to set up a station--ideally that is not dependent on commercial power--and work other amateurs as if it were an emergency. So why do I mention this? Because Field Day is one of many perfect weekends to enjoy amateur Radio as a youth--or to show a young people what Amateur Radio is all about.

This year Field Day takes place from June 23-24 (it's always the fourth weekend in June). If you are planing to participate, invite some younger hams to go along. Seize the moment and take advantage of a weekend where many hams from your area will be together having fun and the HF bands packed with action.

You can spend part of the weekend on the air demonstrating the ropes of operating. Then you can pass the microphone and invite him or her to make a contact or two. Those contacts will surely make an impression and could inspire a youngster to get his or her license.

Keep in mind that for this to happen, amateurs like you--young or old--have to pitch in. This event is less than a month off, so use the time to invite a fellow young person to come along. It will be worth it, both to the young one and to the Amateur Radio service, which needs all the young blood it can get in its ranks.

After Field Day, I encourage you to e-mail me details and pictures about your group's efforts to show our hobby off to the next generation. I will consider featuring it in next month's Youth@HamRadio.Fun column. Good luck, and see you on the air!

That's All, Folks!

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I certainly am. Lately I've jumped into the world of operating on the 10 GHz microwave band and am having a blast, along with making lots of HF contacts on my spare time. Be sure to take advantage of all that Amateur Radio has to offer before school restarts this fall, whether it is upgrading your license class or filling the log book with contacts.

If you have any topics you would like to see featured in the Youth@HamRadio.Fun column, please e-mail your suggestions. Next month, we'll feature what might be one of Amateur Radio's largest exposures to the youth in a single location--offering demonstrations of HF, VHF, transmitter hunting, QRP, APRS, amateur television, satellite operations, VE testing and more! This will take place at Amateur Radio station K2BSA from the 2001 National Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, on July 20-August 1. More than 40,000 Scouts and Scouters from across the country will meet for over a week of having fun, learning new skills and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

See you next month!

Editor's note: Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. A 21-year-old senior in electrical engineering at the University of New Mexico, Brian was the 1999 ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award winner as well as the 1997 winner of the YHOTY Award. He was first licensed in 1992 at age 12, holds a General license and now is studying for his Amateur Extra ticket. "I love Amateur Radio, and wish I could have gotten into the hobby sooner," he says. Brian enjoys many of the activities afforded by Amateur Radio, including CW, QRP CW, transmitter hunting, satellite operation, some digital modes, and, of course, just speaking into the microphone. Brian authored the "Youth Forum" column for Worldradio magazine for three years. He's a brother of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, as well as very active in the Boy Scouts of America as an assistant scoutmaster and a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Brian welcomes visitors to his Web site.