Scouts have a blast with Ham Radio at Scout Jam

Oct 10th, 2016 | By | Category: Alerts

Over 140 scouts in grades 1-12 participated in amateur radio activities at Camp Mitigwa on October 8, 2016 as part of Scout Jam, a camporee-style event celebrating 100 years of scouting in central Iowa. Activities included a Morse Code learning station with practice Morse code oscillators, a VHF station which was active on several local 2 meter repeaters, and an HF station on 20 meters. DMRAA members Mike (ACØBD) and Brad (KC9DMQ) helped run the event. Greg (NØXJA) also spent the day helping scouts experience the joy of ham radio. Scouts contacted over 80 stations in 28 states throughout the day. The call sign used for the event was K2BSA/0. K2BSA is a nonprofit organization which supports radio scouting activities of the Boy Scouts of America. Some of the most exciting contacts featured conversations between hams who had earned their Eagle rank, the highest rank in scouting, and young scouts; the excitement of the youngsters was evident both in hearing about how these hams had earned their Eagle and also in talking to someone thousands of miles away! Other highlights included a contact with W6RO, the station on board the museum R.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, multiple contacts wit
h other youngsters around the country, and a contact with another K2BSA station.

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