[Tyso_Bl]

Lets face it, we're stuffed, we should admit that we do what we do because we enjoy it, youngsters today will do what they enjoy today then move on. It doesn't make much sense to try and justify what we do as preserving some sort of heritage or history, no one cares or see's the importance exept us.

Why do we have to try and get younger people in to the hobby? Anyone of any age would be welcome wouldn't they? We would have more chance of recruitment with those persons who are of an age where they are likley to have the time, place, and resources to go beyond the inital fashion statement of having a dansette or something.

Many of us are from the last generation that did things for ourselves because we had to, that doesn't happen now, the few of us that do are looked on as oddballs.
There is a whole generation now that has never known the world before the WWW, they grew up with it as naturally as we grew up with wireless, they're going to miss it when the revolution comes.
I've done what I can to pass on my knowledge and skills to those who came after me, I've taught more than one entusiastic youngster ennogh about electronics and radio so that thay could buuild their own FM transmitters to broadcast the music they loved and wanted to shere, and they did. I'm proud of that, they may have gone on to develop ancillary interests related to electronics and wireless. I don't know , I do remember one young man being so shocked and completley taken aback when I used a set of high impedance headfones to verify the output of a low band VHF receiver, he went on to build a couple of crystal sets after that. didn't beleive that a radio could work without betteries till he built one himself.

For someone to be interested they have to haqve some motivation, just restoring vintage radios is not a good enough end in itself, how many of us were interested in the things our parents were? or tried to "push " on us?

Amateur radio as a hobby is in a similar position, there isn't enough relevance in todays world, I came into amateur radio because I wanted to play music over the radio, it was the only way I could learn how to bould transmitters, but it had the side effect of sidetraccking me in to all sorts of assosiated skilss such as metal and woodworking, auido and hifi, tower block climbing, locksmithing, RDFinding, it all spread out from there.

In short, if we're to get anyone interested, they have discover a motivation, without that the hobby is sunk.

Hope I've not said too much,

t