Dilemma

[WX2CIB]

I introduced my son to amateur radio and he was all gung-ho about getting his ticket. He studied like crazy and had tested out, unfortunately he failed. We have been busy with work and him with Scout camp. I recently approached him and asked "Do you still want to get your amateur license?" and his reply "No". I then asked "How come?" he said "I don't know".

I'm looking for advice as to what I can do to spark his interest AGAIN.

 

[W8RMH]

Get him talking on it.

 

[n4yek]

Offer to buy him his HT of choice, that would have done it for me.

 

[gunmasternd]

I introduced my son to amateur radio and he was all gung-ho about getting his ticket. He studied like crazy and had tested out, unfortunately he failed. We have been busy with work and him with Scout camp. I recently approached him and asked "Do you still want to get your amateur license?" and his reply "No". I then asked "How come?" he said "I don't know".

I'm looking for advice as to what I can do to spark his interest AGAIN.

maybe back off a bit? hes still a kid no one likes failure. kinda like going too prom and failing to get a DL to take your date in your dads pimp car

nowadays its hard to get people interested in this hobby. cellphones/ the internet is a big killer!

Now i would love a callsign like my dad but women kinda interest me more plus im at the age i like to have kids.

 

[WX2CIB]

I've told him when he passes, that I'll buy him a Beofeng HT of his color choice.

 

[zz0468]

Do you do any activities like field day, or VHF mountaintopping? If so, take him along. Show him the fun side of ham radio, so he sees that there's something to be gained by taking the test.

 

[WX2CIB]

Do you do any activities like field day, or VHF mountaintopping? If so, take him along. Show him the fun side of ham radio, so he sees that there's something to be gained by taking the test.

I did participate in Field Day this year with my club. My son was there and made 2 contacts. I haven't done VHF mountaintopping. He has also made contacts at the clubhouse back in March and enjoyed it.

The BSA just came out with a Morse Code interpreter strip. He wants to get it. I told him you have to have your license first.

 

[zz0468]

The BSA just came out with a Morse Code interpreter strip. He wants to get it. I told him you have to have your license first.

So he knows Morse code? This kid needs to be on the low end of 20 meters working DX.

 

[WX2CIB]

So he knows Morse code? This kid needs to be on the low end of 20 meters working DX.

He doesn't know code. He wants to learn it so that he can get the BSA interpreter strip.

 

[zz0468]

He doesn't know code. He wants to learn it so that he can get the BSA interpreter strip.

Well, he needs to know the code to get the strip. He doesn't need to, to get a ham license. I would keep the two separate. If he wants to earn the interpreter strip before he gets a license, then I'd let him.

I'd find some separate incentive to nudge him along. And JUST a nudge. Some kids start to resist if the nudge feels too much like a push.

 

[AC2OY]

KD sorry to hear that but I'm sure he will get enthused again!! Heck I'll be 48 next month and I study every day for hours and I only passed the ehamtest online once out of like twenty? Will I quit NO!! I'll be your other son...lol but if I pass"Dad can I have....?!" Good luck to you and your son!!! I hope he gets the bug again!!!

 

[datainmotion]

Wirelessly posted (Clacking rocks together: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.4; en-us; DROID X2 Build/4.5.1A-DTN-150-30) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

I'm with zz - let him get his Morse stripe and have him listen to some HF stations using code while he studies. Maybe being able to interpret some or all of the code will get him interested, plus he's doing it then, of his own accord. Just a thought.

 

[gewecke]

I introduced my son to amateur radio and he was all gung-ho about getting his ticket. He studied like crazy and had tested out, unfortunately he failed. We have been busy with work and him with Scout camp. I recently approached him and asked "Do you still want to get your amateur license?" and his reply "No". I then asked "How come?" he said "I don't know".

I'm looking for advice as to what I can do to spark his interest AGAIN.

Want to get him interested again? Then you need to introduce him to another ham HIS OWN AGE. :wink:
no one has more peer pressure than someone his age!

73,
n9zas

 

[WX2CIB]

Thanks everyone. I did manage to spark his interest again. I had him read ARRL's flyer 22 Things you can do with Amateur Radio. He has started reading the ARRL Tech book and understands it better than the KB6NU studyguide. September is our goal ONLY if he's ready. He's got plenty of time to study.

 

[KZ9G]

The test session may be totally different from the testing that he is used to. If you can make sure the ve's keep the area quiet and free from distractions similar to what he has in school. Also take enough for him to take the test twice. I have seen more than once that the first test jitters will destroy them on their first try. They take it again in the same session and they pass just fine. Also I was at a test session (I was not a VE for this one)and a parent came in before the kid and paid the fee and asked that we give the kid the test as usual but tell him that this was just a warm up test that did not count. The kid passed the first try. From what the parent said is that the kid has tried to take the test about 8 times before but just forgets everything under the stress. No stress and the kid did fine.

 

[WX2CIB]

KZ9G,
I will talk it over with my clubs VE's and see what we can work out. Thanks for that tidbit. I appreciate it.

 

[rapidcharger]

Tell him he'll get lots of chicks.

That always seems to work.

 

[sloop]

If he likes to read get him some of the adventure books centered around amateur radio...Go to the ARRL web site and look under store..non arrl...there are several listed that should interest him.