The Intrepid-DX Group has announced the winners of its first annual Youth “Dream Rig” Essay Contest. “We received over 60 essays from young amateurs from all over the world,” said Intrepid-DX Group President Paul Ewing, N6PSE. “The essays were unique in thought and very well-articulated. Extra points were given for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Most of the essays gave unique perspectives on how to reach out and connect with the youth of today. We will be sharing those ideas in subsequent postings.”

The first-place winner and recipient of an Icom IC-7300 transceiver is Faith Hannah Lea, KD3Z. She will also receive a vertical flagpole antenna from Greyline Performance Antennas, a deluxe headset from Heil Sound, a Powerwerx switching power supply donated by Steve Jones, N6SJ, and a QRP Morse Nano Morse Key-25-811P from GigaParts.

In second place was Charlie Meadows, N4VTI, who received a Yaesu FT-65 handheld transceiver donated by Ewing. In addition, he’ll get a $50 DX Engineering gift card from David Jorgensen, WD5COV.

Patrick Gawthrop, W9GGG, was the third-place winner and recipient of a BaoFeng BF-F8HP handheld transceiver donated by Ewing. He will also receive a $50 DX Engineering gift card from Jorgensen.

“Having read over 60 essays this week, we can tell you that our youth are full of great ideas and they are brimming with enthusiasm to keep our hobby alive well into the future,” Ewing said, adding that the Intrepid-DX Group will publish several of the essays on its Facebook page.

“Thank you to all of the youth participants for helping us make our first annual Youth Essay Contest a success,” Ewing said. “Let’s do this again next year!”

The Intrepid-DX Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to promoting amateur radio and providing STEM education in developing countries.