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Teenagers’ schedules are entirely exhausting just to look at. Managing a healthy balance between school assignments and projects, family responsibilities, sports practices, and first-time jobs can be quite challenging. Add to that mix being a ham and trying to find time to get on the air and stay active!

Although one of my favorite parts of the hobby is the never-ending list of possible things to learn, it can be overwhelming to figure out which areas to focus on and what skills to start building. Often, teenage hams adopt the mindset that they must choose between ham radio and everything else, but you can indeed do both!

The goal is not to wait until you have free time in your schedule to get on the air— you have to be proactive and intentionally set aside time for ham radio activities. It does not have to be several hours every day. Just scheduling 15 minutes to check into a local net or get on the air and make a few QSOs before dinner is a great way to stay connected and active.

The most important step is learning to prioritize your schedule effectively. Family commitments and school assignments should be scheduled first. Ham radio should fit around your responsibilities, not take priority over them. If you want to operate in an upcoming contest, make sure you adjust your schedule to finish any school projects before the weekend.

Decide what you want to focus on and set small, achievable goals to accomplish during your scheduled ham radio time. If you are learning CW, maybe your goal is to make a certain amount of CW contacts during your operating time. Another goal could be to work one new DXCC entity this week, or to practice your soldering skills by building a simple kit.

Don’t wait until the last minute to plan how to spend the time. Research local ham radio clubs in your area and schedule time to attend their meetings. Use your transit time to your advantage. Rather than listening to music while driving to and from school, switch to ham radio podcasts, such as Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio and Ham Radio Crash Course.

One of the most important steps in staying connected and active, especially during a busy season of life, is to build a network of ham radio friends. Connecting with other young operators is easier today than ever before, thanks to the various youth programs available. Find a mentor through your local ham radio club and participate in as many club events as you can.

You can’t say yes to every single event or opportunity that comes up. That’s okay! You don’t have to work every single contest or chase every single DXpedition. Choose which activities you want to do and say no to the rest. Ham radio is meant to enrich your life, and learning to be selective about which ham radio activities you participate in will help you avoid burnout.

The good news is that ham radio isn’t going anywhere. There will always be another contest, another DXpedition, another award to chase, but the opportunities you have now to spend time with family and participate in school activities are more difficult to replace. Ham radio is a lifelong hobby, and the goal is to still be able to enjoy it years from now rather than try to accomplish everything right away. Setting clear priorities, building small habits, and having a good plan makes it possible for busy teenagers to stay active without sacrificing other i

The post Making Time for Ham Radio as a Busy Teen appeared first on OnAllBands.

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One of our favorite parts of Dayton Hamvention® is touching base with the innovators whose inspirations add to our enjoyment of the world’s greatest hobby. OnAllBands was excited to spend time with some of these folks this May in Xenia, including Rob Bowser, KO4HUI, founder of Spooltenna.

KO4HUI graciously took a few moments to share with us his history in the hobby and details of the Cary, North Carolina, company’s spool-style antennas that have become favorites among portable operating enthusiasts. 

We understand that you’re originally from DX Engineering’s neck of the woods.

“DX Engineering was in my old backyard. I’m originally from Northeast Ohio. I landed in Akron to go to college. I did undergrad and grad school at the University of Akron in electrical engineering. So that’s kind of my home turf over there.

“I went to business school at Case Western in Cleveland and lived in Copley, Ohio, up until about 2012 when we moved to North Carolina. But Akron and the surrounding area hold a very close place in my heart. My wife and I still have family there.”

Could you tell us a little bit about your background in amateur radio?

“I got into ham radio right out of college. At my first job out of school, there were a bunch of guys there who were hams. They were very knowledgeable and helpful— like instant Elmers, not only in my career, but they started telling me about this thing called ham radio.

“I like to build and just tinker. I got on the air with my Technician class back in ’94. Back then I just used two meters. This is the classic ham radio story: Family came along, license expired, and then there was my career.

“During the pandemic—by that point my kids were going to college—I thought I should probably get back into it. I went back and retested for Technician and General in the same sitting and got the license back.

“I started doing a little bit of Parks on the Air®, and, man, it was so cool just being out in the park. But I was fighting the wire every time. I’d say to my wife, ‘I got 90 minutes, okay? I’m going to be back in an hour and a half. I’m going to run to the park.’ Then I’m spending 40 minutes untangling and tangling the wire, and it’s like, the clock’s ticking here, man.

“I wanted to get on the air, so I designed a spool to hold the wire. Then I got thinking, why don’t I put the UNUN, the matching transformer, inside the barrel of the spool? Have it all in one. Then I can spool it out quickly.

“The whole secret behind the design, if there’s one word—it’s radius. It’s the radius of that spool that you’re wrapping that wire around. If you’re going to wrap a wire across a flat surface, it’s a very small radius. And that puts a lot of kinks in that wire. And when you lay the wire on top of each other with kinks, that’s where the tangling starts.

“So, it’s all about keeping that wire around a larger radius. And that’s kind of the origin story of the Spooltenna.”

Can you talk about POTA and what that’s done for ham radio?

“I was really inspired by the folks on YouTube, Thomas Witherspoon and The Southern Ham. Just to watch those guys go out, set up a portable station, and have that much fun and not have to have a big tower at the house and fight the HOA. That’s what really intrigued me to get into this. I love being outdoors. I love being in the park, and if I can combine two hobbies into one, that’s a natural fit.

“I think I did half a dozen POTA operations before I started designing Spooltenna. I’d call myself 90% builder, 10% operator. I just love to build.”

Could you talk about the two models that you have and what makes them different?

“The original Parks model, it’s designed to drive up to a park and hike to a picnic table or to a rest stop. It’s really designed for ease of use, to get on the air quickly, with no tangles and easy rewinding.

“What we had in mind all along was: What if you’re going to do Summits on the Air or you’re going to backpack? I do a little bit of AT, Appalachian Trail, hiking as another one of my hobbies. And whenever I bring gear for AT hiking, every ounce matters. Because you start adding up your sleeping bag, your pack, and all that.

So, I got looking at the original parts, 12 and a half ounces, almost five inches in diameter. That’s going to take a fair amount of space in your pack. It’s not bulky necessarily, but it’s not as small as it could be. And if you peek inside the finger holes, there’s a lot of dead space in there.

“If you’ve got larger hands, the Parks Spooltenna is easy to handle. You can handle it with gloves on. But I thought: What if I optimized it for size? I give up a little bit on usability. If you’ve got bigger hands or gloves, it’ll be a little harder to handle, but there’s no dead space in the design. So, the Ultra model has got the same exact transformer, and I’m getting some volume and economy of scale with the parts.

“I put in 26-gauge wire (the Parks model uses 20-gauge). It’s Poly-STEALTH—the same as other antennas on the market. A very proven wire. And it turned out to be half the size and half the weight of the original. My design goal was a hockey puck, and it came out the same size as a hockey puck. It’s really compact; it slips in your pocket.”

“One other small design change on the ULTRA model: We put an extra little protection around the signal pin of the connector. It’s a little simple piece of electrically isolated copper wire. It’s not connected to anything. The whole idea here is that, hey, people are going to put that in their pocket. They have their keys in their pocket. They’ve got their pocket watch. They’ve got their knife. It protects that pin a little bit more.”

What can we expect from Spooltenna moving forward?

“We did a stealth bundle for Black Friday. It was a blacked-out unit in a black camo bag. We had overwhelmingly positive feedback from that. So, you can imagine there will likely be a black model coming out as a permanent offering. I don’t have timing on that. I would like for it to be this year, but we’re a really small family company, so we’re going to get it out as soon as possible.

“We’re doing some innovative things. It’s just the beginning.”

Also check out this DX Engineering video featuring Rob, KO4HUI, talking about the compact Spooltenna ULTRA model at Dayton Hamvention® 2026:

The post A Few Words with Spooltenna Founder, Rob Bowser, KO4HUI, on Untangling the Magic of Portable Operating appeared first on OnAllBands.

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I vividly remember my CW instructor telling my class the story of his first contact—describing how nervous he was and the mistakes he made. What I didn’t realize as he was telling this story, or actually until I started teaching the same classes, was the value in him telling us about his struggles with that first contact.

After starting to teach these CW classes, I realized that asking for help can be incredibly challenging for a lot of young hams. As the class instructor, I had the opportunity to teach them how to ask for help, even when they were intimidated.

When my CW instructor told about the anxiety and unsureness of his first CW QSO, he was met by numerous students who asked if he or someone else from the class would help them make their first on-air contact. Nearly every ham, no matter young or older, has had one of these moments where they wanted to ask for help with something but didn’t. It makes sense. Asking for help can feel intimidating, especially when you feel inexperienced in comparison to the other enjoyers of the hobby.

One of the most valuable parts of being an amateur radio operator is having access to an extensive network of people who value learning and supporting young people in their hobby. I’ve met countless amateur radio operators who have taught me more than I imagined possible, but most of this has happened because I asked for help. If you are nervous about asking for help or feel like you would be posing “dumb questions,” the feelings are understandable. Most of us have felt the same at one point or another, but it becomes easier the more you do it.

It’s important to note that amateur radio is an environment that rewards curiosity and a desire to learn just as much as having previous knowledge. There are countless aspects of the hobby. While some people choose to master one or two of them, nobody masters all of them. This means that all hams, regardless of age or experience level, are still asking somebody for help. Nobody expects you to know everything, especially as a young ham just getting started. Asking questions won’t make you seem unprepared; it will show you’re interested and invested enough in the material to fill in your knowledge gaps.

If the thought of finding someone to ask your questions feels overwhelming, you can start by asking in a group, perhaps a local club or a youth organization. It’s very likely that someone there will know the answer. If not, they’ll point you in the direction of someone who can help. You may even find yourself an Elmer who can answer more of your subject-specific questions later on in the process. If your local club doesn’t have an email list or a group chat, then you can also always ask on a local net.

One of the most important parts of learning to ask for help in the amateur radio community is to make sure you give back as well. All hams have something to offer, regardless of age, interests, or experience level. Answering the questions of new hams is one of the easiest ways to give back—and also one of the most impactful. Simply respond to their questions in email lists or in conversation at club meetings. You can also help them get on the air by assisting with station setup or by being on the other end of their first few contacts. These kinds of interactions are what make amateur radio such an amazing hobby.

Remember that asking for help isn’t going to reflect upon you poorly as a young ham—quite the opposite. It will help you learn and grow more than quietly nodding along and pretending you already know what’s going on. It will help you to feel like you belong in the group. Build up the courage to ask for help, and you’ll soon find yourself on the other side of the questions, helping those just getting started.

The post Ham Radio Youth Insights: How to Ask for Help in the Amateur Radio Community appeared first on OnAllBands.

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