The key is the KEY!

Walking into a room filled with the sound of Morse Code as the girl scouts warmed up for the contest can make any ham feel like he or she is walking on air. One cannot help but feel that Ham Radio will have a bright future with the way these girls scouts are taking to Morse Code, the native tongue of Ham Radio. It is an ecstatic feeling. If you want to experience it first hand, consider asking your club members to sponsor such kind of activity for the girl scouts in your area, specially those from councils you have worked with during INFEX.

 I have found that for many scouts, speaking into a microphone of a radio is no challenge as they are used to cellphones and what not, but Morse Code? That is something new to them, at first mysterious, at the same time way cool and challenging. It requires that something EXTRA. It may be the best way to attract young people to Ham Radio. I believe a code based ham program for girl scouts is the way to go. Morse code practice oscillators are inexpensive. Being a competition, the young people and school admins get excited about it. After the activity the club can invite all who participated to attend a club ham orientation, and can even offer 40m QRP CW transceiver kits for free to the top placers (if not all Class C passers) in the ham license exam. When they get their licenses, you may include them in the student or associate section (if you have one) of your ham club! As I have mentioned to a fellow ham, the key (morse code key) is the KEY!