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By Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT
Contributing Editor
April 2, 2001
This month, we take a look at LYRA--the League of Young Radio Amateurs--as well as meet a young California fox hunter (or T hunter).
Many local Amateur Radio clubs across the country and around the world serve young Amateur Radio operators. They may be standalone clubs, niche groups that are part of a larger club, or even Venture Crews, which are coed groups associated with the Boy Scouts of America. I'd like to tell you about a club that has its sights set on being the largest and most influential youth organization in the country--the League of Young Radio Amateurs, or LYRA.
The League of Young Radio Amateurs was founded in 1998 by Christopher Arthur, NV4B (ex-KT4XA), of Russellville, Alabama. Some of you may recall that Christopher was the year 2000 recipient of the Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year award. He's also LYRA's current vice president.
LYRA's mission is to unite the youth of Amateur Radio and promote the advancement, interest and involvement of youth in our hobby. It is a club that is truly run by and for young ham radio operators. Membership in LYRA is free! The only requirements are that you be an Amateur Radio operator and that you be under the age of 22.
International membership also is available. There are currently 134 members of the club across the United States and membership is growing, as more and more people are learning about it. LYRA is similar to the ARRL, in that it is organized into 11 divisions and 57 sections across the US and its territories. Its members have certain privileges, including the ability to vote for section managers and other club leadership.
For the time being--and for the sake of convenience--LYRA is based on the Internet, with monthly newsletters, articles and information available via its Web site. The LYRA leadership hopes one day to hold conferences around the country and have local events organized by the various sections.
 LYRA founder Christopher Arthur, NV4B. |
Voice and CW HF nets in the General and Novice/Technician subbands also are in the works to pass traffic and messages and to discuss topics of interest to young amateurs.
I recently spoke with LYRA's president, Andrew Styles, W4CCE. Andrew is a 19-year old Technician studying history and government pre-law at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. He is very enthusiastic and has great goals to help maintain the blossoming success of LYRA. These include helping the club during its transition to operating under its new constitution--which members recently drafted and ratified--creating committees to organize LYRA's operations, increasing the club's active membership across the United States and its territories, and helping the section managers create committees at the section level.
Andrew hopes that more youth will become involved in Amateur Radio, as there is at least one facet of the hobby that will claim the interest of any young person. His most important piece of advice to any young person looking to get a license or hoping to upgrade is to never give up--especially if you live in an area that may not make an effort to help young people into our hobby. He, along with the rest of LYRA's leadership, is certainly walking the walk by focusing their efforts on the League of Young Radio Amateurs!
I encourage you to visit LYRA's Web site and join! The club certainly has high aspirations and is doing its best to promote our hobby to the future of Amateur Radio--youth. If you would like to correspond with Andrew or Christopher directly, send an e-mail to w4cce@youngradioamateurs.com or nv4b@youngradioamateurs.com respectively. They would certainly like to hear from you and welcome your ideas that could benefit LYRA and our hobby's youth.
Meet Jay Thompson, W6JAY
 Jay Thompson, W6JAY. |
Like all young amateurs, I enjoy meeting other youth who share the same love I do for ham radio. Whether they worked hard for their licenses to simply talk to people a world away or to be involved in their community, each plays a unique and interesting role in our hobby. I would like to tell you about 15-year old Jay Thompson, W6JAY, who lives in Santa Ana, California, and happens to be a member of LYRA. Jay became interested in Amateur Radio through his father, Richard, WA6NOL, by participating in luncheons and other activities hosted by the Super System, an area ham radio group. The ability to talk to other people using a radio interested him, and Jay soon found himself participating in the Amateur Radio classes taught by Gordon West, WB6NOA. He got licensed in 1999.
Jay currently holds a General class license and hopes to upgrade to Extra by this summer. He enjoys spending his time with the Hospital Disaster Support Communications Team. That's an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group that supplies backup communications to all of the hospitals in Orange County--a function that has certainly been useful lately with the power woes California is experiencing.
One facet of Amateur Radio that Jay especially enjoys is hidden-transmitter hunting, sometimes called fox hunting or T hunting. Jay was exposed to T Hunting before he was licensed, since his father participated in 70-cm T hunts hosted by the Super System group. Ever since then, he has found that T Hunting has become one of his niches in the hobby.
In addition to participating in local transmitter hunts, Jay has found himself competing in the international direction finding scene. Jay competed in the first IARU Region 2 Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) Championships in Portland Oregon, where his experience and love for T Hunting earned him two gold medals, one silver and a bronze in several VHF and HF Junior Men's individual and team categories! Most recently Jay traveled to Nanjing, China, last October to compete in the 10th IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) ARDF World Championships, where he placed 31st in the 2-meter Junior category and 33rd in the 80-meter Junior category.
 A fox hunter from Mongolia competes at the 10th IARU ARDF World Championships last year in Nanjing, China. |
Jay considers the world championship event as his most memorable, because of the people he met and the excellent competition he was able to experience! And that's not all: Jay and his father have registered to compete in the 2001 United States ARDF Championships, to be held July 31-August 4 in the mountains outside my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico!
Jay is looking forward to the event along with many other T hunters from across the US and other countries around the world. I wish him well.
If you would like to contact Jay, you may e-mail him a w6jay@qsl.net or visit his home page, where he has many photos of his T-Hunting experiences.
For more information on the 2001 USA ARDF Championships, visit the event Web site. Whether you are experienced in T Hunting or not, consider participating in this unique and memorable Amateur Radio event. A special youth category has been created for participants 19 and under.
For more information on T hunting in general, visit the fine Web site of ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV.
FAR Scholarship Deadline Looms
The Foundation for Amateur Radio scholarship application deadline is April 30. FAR this year is administering 67 Amateur Radio-related scholarships, sponsored by more than 28 Amateur Radio clubs and individuals. These scholarships are available to all licensed amateurs who are pursuing a full-time course of studies beyond high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical school.
Scholarships range from $500 to $2500, with preference given in some cases to residents of specified geographical areas or in pursuit of certain study programs. For more information and an application form, send a letter or QSL card request postmarked before April 30, 2001, to FAR Scholarships, PO Box 831, Riverdale, MD 20738.
You may also find information by visiting the FAR Web site. The Web page includes a list of all of the clubs and individuals who are sponsoring scholarships.
That's All, Folks!
I would like to thank those who have corresponded with me for their fine compliments and great comments! Please keep the e-mails coming! And as always, I'm open to topic suggestions. Tell me about your local Amateur Radio club/group! Do you know of a young ham I should feature, as I did with Jay above? I'll be happy to consider anything and everything, so don't hesitate to e-mail me with your thoughts!
Until next time, 73!
Editor's note: Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. A 21-year-old senior in electrical engineering at the University of New Mexico, Brian was the 1999 ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award winner as well as the 1997 winner of the YHOTY Award. He was first licensed in 1992 at age 12, holds a General license and now is studying for his Amateur Extra ticket. "I love Amateur Radio, and wish I could have gotten into the hobby sooner," he says. Brian enjoys many of the activities afforded by Amateur Radio, including CW, QRP CW, transmitter hunting, satellite operation, some digital modes, and, of course, just speaking into the microphone. Brian authored the "Youth Forum" column for Worldradio magazine for three years. He's a brother of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, as well as very active in the Boy Scouts of America as an assistant scoutmaster and a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Brian welcomes visitors to his Web site.
