[Elecraft] Best Radio for a Scout Camp

[Jeff Burns]

This is a fairly non-Elecraft question - Unless, of course, you suggest I
get Elecraft products. 

A complete ham station has been donated to the local Boy Scout Council, and
I am working to set up a radio station at our camp. The equipment includes
transceivers, tower, antennas, cable, and accessories. The equipment is
70's, 80's era stuff, and most of it works. I am trying to decide if I
should set up the equipment we have or sell and trade for something
different. 

What is the ideal radio for a Boy Scout camp?

The old equipment has some advantages. It is big enough to be difficult for
someone to walk off with, and is fairly straightforward to use.
Unfortunately, the old equipment is also somewhat temperamental. Someone
that used one of these rigs all the time would quickly become accustomed to
tuning up and turning knobs to just the right position to make it work. With
many different operators using the shack without any training I am concerned
that this will not work out well. 

A modern rig may be easier to use and maintain, but I can see pitfalls with
them as well.  With all the menus on modern radios it would be easy to set
something wrong so the radio would not work. If I put a K2 at the camp I
would hate to have to drive an hour to the camp to reset the side tone
source in the menu. 

I would appreciate suggestions on specific equipment I should consider, and
more general subjections on how to set up a ham station at a scout camp.  

Thanks,

Jeff Burns
AD9T

This is a partial list of the equipment we have now:
Kenwood 2m All-mode Transceiver TS - 700A
Kenwood 2m Transceiver TR- 7400A
Kenwood Communications Receiver R-1000
Kenwood HF Transceiver TS - 520S
Array of two 2m beam antennas
2m beam antenna
Ringo 2m antenna
Three Element Beam 10, 15, 20m Antenna
HAM-IV Rotator