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K2BSA at the Hamvention 2017

Jim Wilson
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It was a new place and a new arrangement for the Hamvention® in 2017. K2BSA Amateur Radio Association was there with a booth promoting all things Radio Scouting. The traffic was incredible on both Friday and Saturday. We handed out all our Radio Scouting buttons and quite a few brochures as well.

WA5DM, net control for the monthly Radio Scouting net on Echolink, KD2GUW, and K5ND.

You can see the photos of our booth nearby. It was staffed by: Dave Long, ND4SU, who also stores our display between Hamventions; John Deegan, K9XT; Brian Chen, KD2GUW; Bob Bereit, K3RMB; Gary Wilson, K2GW; Mike Crownover, AD5A; Mike Yammine, KB3CMS; Jim Rossow, KF6GRI; John Eggum, K4EGG; Jim Wilson, K5ND; and Dale Lamm, NX8J. Thanks to all who pitched in to spread the word about Radio Scouting.

We were fortunate to have a booth allocated to us. In the last several Hamventions the ARRL had generously provide space but with new facilities they worked hard to fit in all their own displays. Icom America provided financial support for our booth as well as one of the IC-7300 Scout Council Loan stations for display. Thank you, Icom America. You can find our poster and banner at Hamvention Poster.

I will also note that on Thursday, Jim Wilson, K5ND, attended the CW Ops Dinner to accept their Award for Advancing the Art of Communicating with Morse Code on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America. The nomination referred primarily to the Morse Code Interpreter Strip.

Thanks to everyone who supported our booth and stopped by to compare notes on how best to extend the reach of amateur radio within Scouting.

BSA Recognized with CW Ops Award

Jim Wilson
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The Boy Scouts of America has been recognized by the CW Operators’ Club with their Award for Advancing the Art of Communicating with Morse Code. The nomination for the award stated:

Boy Scouts of America created a new award for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers as well as Adult Leaders called the Morse Code Interpreter Strip. Created in 2012, as proposed by the BSA National Radio Scouting Committee, the Morse Code Interpreter Strip encourages youth and adults to learn Morse Code and elevate their skill level to at least 5 words per minute. Once earned, they can sew on a uniform patch. This is a superb motivator for Scouts and adults.  BSA sales records show that nearly 4,000 patches have been sold since it’s introduction. This does not necessarily correlate with the number earned as leaders and Scouts often have more that one uniform shirt that would require the patch. It is, nonetheless, a good indication of its use and popularity within Scouting. This action by the Boy Scouts of America has advanced the art of CW by introducing it to their youth and adult members, recognizing their achievement in learning and using CW, and thereby fostering the growth of CW knowledge and increasing the number of qualified operators.

Dayton, Ohio. CWops Dinner. Jim, K5ND, accepting CWops award to the Boy Scouts of America in recognition of its outstanding programs over the years that advance the art of communicating with Morse Code.

Jim Wilson, K5ND, chairman of the BSA National Radio Scouting Committee accepted the award at the CW Ops Dinner during Hamvention® in May 2017.

Previous winners of the award include: Rob Brownstein, K6RB, for creating the CW Academy; Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ, for his book Zen and the Art of Radiotelegraphy; and Chuck Adams, K7QO, for writing and publishing a CW training course.

Congratulations to the Boy Scouts of America for this recognition of their ongoing support of amateur radio and in particular the Morse Code Interpreter Strip.

K2BSA/6 at Moorpark California Camporee

Jim Wilson
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Benjamin Kuo, KK6FUT has provided this report on his recent K2BSA/6 activation. It was an incredible event as well as a superb example you can emulate at your camporee.

Ham Radio at the Boy Scout Camporee – April 21-22, 2017 – Moorpark, California

The Event:

  • ~600 participants from the Conejo Valley
  • ~450 scouts, 150 adults participating in event, 52 patrols from 12 different troops
  • ~55 contacts on 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 2m, and 70cm + IRLP
  • Modes: SSB, CW, PSK31

Summary:

This year’s event went very, very well again, with another combination of challenging Boy Scouts to learn a little bit about Morse Code, and a number of contacts across many different bands, including a special contact with JS6TQS in Okinawa, Japan (on IRLP after the bands  did not work out for us on a scheduled contact). Again, the Morse Code contest attracted a lot of scouts, but surprisingly, we had a lot more scouts who wanted to get on the air, and even a couple of intrepid scouts who sat through an attempt on JT65 and were interested in the computer aspects of the hobby! The prize (provided by Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club) was very well received and *many* scouts stopped by specifically to learn about winning those radios. Setting up in the wind (again) was a good practice for operating under adverse conditions, and the station was far more robust in terms of dealing with weather this year. Crank up military mast and Hexbeam also made for some great contacts on Friday evening.  Although contacts were light on Saturday due to the CME, we still had opportunity to speak to contacts across 18 states and 3 countries.

Comments:

  • “Wow, think what our patrol could do with those walkie talkies!”
  • “I really want to learn Morse Code!”
  • “That’s cool!”
  • “What’s that big umbrella thing?”
  • “You really can understand Morse Code?!?!”

Farthest contacts:

Other Scout Groups:

  • AG6JF (Jay Harland) – Corriganville Park, Rancho Simi District BSA
  • K5BSA / WA5DM (Chris Overbey) –Circle Ten Council BSA, Dallas, Texas

Participating Hams On Location:

  • KK6FUT (Ben Kuo) – BSA
  • W0UFC (Tom Stough)
  • AG6AG (Stu Sheldon)
  • W6RH (Rob Hanson)
  • WA6RIE (Arie Itzhak) – setup, tower
  • KF6JQO (Bill Wilcox) – setup, antenna, battery box

Participating Hams Offsite For QSOs:

  • K6POI (Tim Wheeler)
  • AB6ET (Norm Campbell)
  • W6JWZ (Ben Herrera)

Hams Encountered On Site 

  • KM6CKD (Jim Whalen) – new, Technician
  • KM6ECQ (Cole Edson) – Scout, youth, Technician (new)
  • KM6GUE (Jim Aguirre)

 

 

RSGB Amateur Radio Video

Jim Wilson
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The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) has published a video providing a nice overview of amateur radio. It does a good job of covering the wide array of activities within the hobby and does so from a personal perspective.

It calls to mind a recent discussion on the USA Radio Scouting Net (second Thursday of every month at 9 PM Central, Echolink *JOTA-365*). The question was — how do you counter a Scout comment that they can do all this with their smart phone or with Minecraft, etc. The response was that we don’t have to sell amateur radio. We can share it. It’s one more activity among so many available to today’s youth.

Of course, we find it fascinating and are delighted to share it. But we don’t have to sell it.

It’s all about planting seeds. Some will grow. Some will not. Some will grow later in life or when the Scout has grown up and is reviewing your application to put up a tower…

Here’s the RSGB video.

 

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