Amateur Radio Skills Development

Photo of KellyAmateur radio is all about learning and experimenting. One of the key aims of an amateur radio club should be to to inspire new amateurs to try new things, ask questions and delve deeper into the hobby.

On this page, you’ll find a few suggestions relating to amateur radio training, skills development, and mentoring the next generation of radio amateurs. We’re slowly adding to the site, and if you have any contributions, we’d be very interested in hearing from you, to help build a useful resource.

Encouraging Skills Development:

Here are just some of the ways that amateur radio clubs are encouraging their members to improve and develop:

  • Events dedicated to newcomers, or with a theme (such as Data Modes, SDRs, Digital Voice, etc)
  • Link-ups with related tech hobbies and groups (such as the Raspberry Pi / Maker community)
  • Radio-related training events and activities (DF hunts, contests, field events)
  • Progression and Retention schemes, such as Brickworks and Amateur Radio Discovery
  • Evenings dedicated to skills development (Three such events run successfully in Essex & Suffolk)
  • Online blogs, guides and documents to inspire others to try something new
  • Show-and-tell sessions, or short member presentations, again to inspire people to try something new

Case Study – Skills Nights

The concept of a “Skills Night” was born from an Essex Ham concept to encourage skills development for newcomers to the hobby. Here is a short case study:

The Skills Night launched in central Essex in 2014, and at its peak, between 70 and 90 amateurs from the region would attend for a unique mix of show-and-tell, demos, hands-on sessions, and club tables. Evenings were free to attend, funded by tea & coffee donations, and supported by multiple local clubs and groups. Find out more:

See also:

  • Suffolk RED – For an example of a Suffolk-based development event
  • TARGet Night – A member’s only event with a small admission fee, aimed at developing member’s skills

We’ll be adding more content on Skills Development shortly.

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