Monday, June 12, 2006

DDXG Radio Event (Young Eagles)

I am a proud member of the Dominion DX Group in Richmond, VA. This weekend, we organized a special event station at the New Kent County Airport near Richmond.

The EAA put on a Young Eagles event at the airport. They had over 80 kids come to the airport to get a free flight and an introduction to aviation. The weather was perfect for such an event.

The DDXG also had a special event station setup for the event. I had the privelege of talking to kids about radio. I began by sharing some purposes of amateur radio including the emergency aspect of radio. I then showed them APRS so they could "see" the benefits of radio.

We also had an HF station setup in which the kids could see us talking to other radio operators in the US and Canada. Many of them seemed fairly interested in what we were doing.

I think that events like this are very good for kids today. It is a great way to expose them to something other than video games and TV. Too many kids do not have active minds today and it is a shame. Radio and aviation are both very challenging to the mind, but there are countless stories of children succeeding at both!

I enjoy sharing my hobbies with other people, especially kids! I wish that I had been introduced to radio and aviation at an earlier age than I was. Both have been fun for me and have definetly played a role in my life!

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