By Dave Jensen, W7DGJ

Anyone who has taken a station out on the road for a POTA/SOTA activation -- or worked a field day with their local club -- knows that it is fun to have the general public ask questions and express interest in radio. I've always loved the idea of being hands-on with the public but the club in my area is set in its ways and prioritizes other kinds of events. As a result, I've recently begun promoting ham radio on my own, and made friends and new hams while doing it. I've learned a few things along the way. In this brief article, I will share my experiences with you in hopes that you'll consider doing the same thing in your area. 

My first attempt was only "OK" . . . it was a Starbucks meeting, announced on Facebook and NextDoor. Of course, getting a few local hams was easy. But I also wanted to attract people who have had an interest but never connected with the hobby. The local hams each brought a show-and-tell item to pass around and talk about (an HT, a shiny new paddle, a Morse decoder, a QRP radio etc.). The newcomers had an open period of time to ask questions about what we do. While it was a fun morning with coffee and radios (two of my favorite things) it only brought together a dozen or so in total.

I felt that while my Starbucks event was successful, the next attempt should have a larger audience, and in particular I wanted to connect with people who knew nothing about amateur radio. My earlier event had only attracted those who were already thinking about ham radio.

Plus, I wanted to have a working demo station at my next event.

The YMCA "Bright and Merry Festival"

I was working out at the YMCA when I saw a posted announcement for their "Bright and Merry" Festival, a "makers" event where booths would be selling handmade items for the holidays along with hot cider and good local food. When I approached the organizer and asked how a ham radio demo station would fit in, she enthusiastically agreed to give me a table and a 10' booth to spread out. I would be right next to a power outlet, which was great. All I had to do was make an end-of-the-year donation of any amount to their charitable cause. A few minutes into the conversation and I was committed.

Originally, I had planned to bring only a QRP rig and a dipole. But since I had the power outlet and some space, I made a larger effort and put a few key pieces of my home station on the table to demonstrate. I had the IC-7300, a Mercury tuner, my Discovery Labs TX-500 and an Alpha Antenna Hextenna with a mount that I fabricated out of a used traffic warning sign. The setup went together easily -- the antenna was perfect as it uses two whips in a dipole configuration and can quite easily be adjusted to resonate anywhere I wanted. I found that 20 meters was particularly busy that Saturday and adjusted the Hextenna to suit. I brought along a stack of QSL cards, a document I came up with to introduce Amateur Radio (Request if you'd like a copy), a big box full of old CQ and QST magazines, and business cards for my QRZ column. (More on the classic HexTenna in my next article where I feature it and the Mercury LITE battery powered linear amp in a POTA activation.)

The fair proved to be very successful. As families strolled past the holiday booths and food vendors, they went by a busy ham station with 20M conversations active in the background. I had lots of questions from Moms and Dads along with young boys and girls who had a fascination with the "secret language" of the Morse conversations. Everyone wanted to hear what their name sounded like in CW. Many adults said that they were familiar with ham radio and were surprised it was "still around," and some were happy that the code requirement was gone. i must have had at least 20 people seriously express interest and I hope to hear from some of them along their journey. Those interested parties got a back issue of CQ or QST and my QSL card with contact information.

Key take aways for me included:

- I will always have a morse code element on display as it appears to be a key point in attracting youngsters.

- I had a sheet printed up "What is Ham Radio?" with lots of Q&A's from newcomers.

- Give aways . . . My QSL card was popular with drawing of a Javelina on it. The really interested older people were happy to grab a back isssue of a hobby magazine. 

- The "Maker fair" was well promoted by the YMCA, so promotion for me included only adding to that with a Facebook and NextDoor announcement. Most traffic came by the booth just because they were walking through looking at holiday products.

We're On a Roll

The ARRL recently reported that the FCC numbers showed 2024 license applications at a 23% increase over 2023. That's really substantial growth, and a lot of that (my guess) must be related to how many members of the public are now being exposed to Amateur Radio through POTA stations in the nation's park systems. But as my experience proves, it doesn't take a park to get your radio out and useful in the recruitment of new hams!

73 for now, and hope you are enjoying the new year!

Dave W7DGJ

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