Managing a social life as a young ham can prove challenging from time to time. You might be considered “the nerd” at school but are also far too young to be friends with the majority of amateur radio operators, despite fitting in—maybe even more than with your peers.
Making friends with other young hams solves a significant portion of the problem but poses new challenges, especially since most amateur-radio-based friendships span a significant geographical distance.
I earned my amateur radio license in 2019. Soon afterward the world began to shut down for COVID, which meant that nearly every in-person event was on hiatus for the first few years of my amateur radio “career.” As I made friends within the amateur radio community, we had to get creative about staying in touch and building friendships since it was not possible to meet in person due to travel restrictions and the cancelation of most hamfests and conventions.
To overcome this struggle, we opted to take online Morse code classes together (something that is certainly still benefiting all of us today), send letters and postcards back and forth, and check into nets. I can remember frequently checking into the YACHT (Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team) net while we were all stuck at home during the pandemic. We used the time after the formal net had concluded to share the things that interested us, including CW, Raspberry Pi, DXing, and even playing games of online chess. That being said, there really is no limit to the ways in which young hams can build and maintain friendships with each other. It just requires a little bit of creativity and thinking outside the box.
Getting on the air is, of course, a good start. Participating in an operating event or contest together can be quite fun, whether it’s a few-hour sprint or a 48-hour weekend event. If you live relatively close (or have remote capabilities that let you both use the same station), then a multi-op contest may be a good option. If the two (or however many) of you do not live close to one another, then doing the contest and keeping an eye on the scoreboard or staying in touch during the event may work as well.
Another good option for those who live close is attending local events like club meetings or amateur radio volunteer opportunities such as 5K races and other sporting events. This is a great way to help your community while spending time with your amateur radio friends. Even better, you typically only need a Technician license to help with communication at these events.
For long-distance friendships, meeting friends at hamfests and other in-person events can let you stay in touch. Catching up with my ham friends at these gatherings is one of the highlights of my year. This is true for many young hams.
There are numerous events that could be a meeting point across the U.S., including Dayton Hamvention®, HamCation, YOTA Camp, SEA-PAC, HamExpo, and others. Traveling to various conferences as a young ham under 18 can be challenging, though, especially if your parents are not involved or interested in the hobby. So even if it’s not possible right now, you can put it on your must-do list for later.
If you can’t travel to conferences and meet up with friends in person, there are still options for strengthening your friendships virtually and on the air. Checking into the same net together provides a routine time to catch up with friends. This helped me connect with many young hams who I would never have had the chance to meet.
It’s also important to remember that when making friends via amateur radio as a young person, your safety should be a top priority. This is true in general, particularly when you’ve never met the people you’re interacting with. This applies whether you live nearby, are meeting in person at hamfests, or your friendship is solely over the internet and ionosphere. The vast majority of the time, the people you meet through amateur radio are good people, but being cautious is always a good idea, just as you would be in non-amateur-radio communities.
Trying to maintain long-distance friendships as a young ham can be challenging. It can almost make you feel like you’re juggling two worlds of friendships—ones in your everyday life and ones from amateur radio. However, with some creativity and dedication, the friendships you form through amateur radio can be just as strong as those you’ve made with your other non-ham peers.
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