[FARC] Scout Merit Badge Help

[Bob Moroney]

Thanks David, good suggestions.  Keep 'em coming.

73, Bob K9CMR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
david at retroscape.com wrote:
> Bob,
>
> May I suggest that one or some of the items in the fill-in-the-blanks form
> require usage of the phonetic alphabet? That would show the scouts its
> value. An example that popped into my mind would be having to give this
> address: 123E S Street. The "E" could, depending upon conditions and radio,
> be heard as an additional 3, a B, D, E or several other letters. And the
> "S" could be heard as an "F" for the same reason. 
>
> Would you want to use some pre-populated Radio Gram sheets on which you
> could highlight the specific items to be exchanged? That would give them
> some familiarity with a "real" form.
>
> 73,
>
> --David, K3PO
>
> On Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:42:45 -0400, Bob Moroney <windbrkr at erols.com> wrote:
>   
>> David,
>>
>> Thanks for offering to help!  If you and one or both of your sons can 
>> pitch in, we should have it covered.
>>
>> I'm not planning to cover any of the finer points of traffic handling at 
>> the level used in ARES/RACES/NTS activities, so previous experience 
>> and/or expertise might be helpful, but not certainly not required. 
>>
>> The COMMEX activity is more meant to give the Scouts a taste of what 
>> it's like to actually "communicate" (vs. chat) by two-way radio as part 
>> of a directed net.   Ideally, each Scout would have an opportunity to 
>> get on the air and pass and/or copy one or more brief messages. 
>>
>> I'm still working  through the details of the activity in my own mind.  
>> I think the main challenge will be to keep it simple and do-able in a 
>> one-hour session, but still make it meaty enough that the Scouts come 
>> out of the activity feeling that they've met a challenge and 
>> accomplished something toward earning their Radio merit badge.
>>
>> Right now, I'm leaning toward a fill-in-the-blanks format, where the 
>> outlying teams will pass prepared messages, with net control having the 
>> same prepared messages, but with key items left blank and needing to be 
>> filled in accurately.  Then the team sending the message would also have 
>> to fill in some blank items on their end, such as receipt time, serial 
>> number, net control operator name, etc. 
>>
>> If you (or anyone else reading this) have any other suggestions to reach 
>> the simple + do-able goal, and make the activity meaningful, they'll be 
>> more than welcome.  We've still got a week or so to tweak things.
>>
>> Thanks again & 73,
>> Bob K9CMR
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> David Kindred wrote:
>>     
>>> Hey, Bob,
>>>
>>> I should be able to help. Andrew and Kit (KB3STE and KB3STF) should be
>>> able
>>> to help out as well. None of us knows how to pass traffic. Will you be
>>> able
>>> to tutor us ahead of time?
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> --David, K3PO
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: farc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:farc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Bob Moroney
>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:35 PM
>>> To: FARC Mail List
>>> Subject: [FARC] Scout Merit Badge Help
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jim N3HTA, Jack N3JP, Mark KB3SRY and I will be conducting a Boy Scout 
>>> Radio Merit Badge program at the upcoming week-long Scout camp being 
>>> held at Camp Airy (near Thurmont) from Tuesday, 8/18 through Saturday, 
>>> 8/22.  (These dates are a week earlier than the dates I originally 
>>> mentioned at last month's FARC meeting.)
>>>
>>> I think the four of us can handle the program for the first four days 
>>> (two groups of up to 15 Scouts each, in two consecutive sessions each 
>>> afternoon), but we could use more help for the final sessions on
>>> Saturday.
>>>
>>> Instead of having the Scouts do the usual thing of getting on the air 
>>> and QSOing with Hams on HF and/or the local repeaters/echolink, I plan 
>>> to try a SET-like COMMEX, where teams of Scouts disperse to the corners 
>>> of the camp grounds, and attempt to pass traffic back to another team 
>>> Scouts acting as Net Control.  (This sort of exercise was suggested by 
>>> Alan KA3DYL, and sounds like a great alternative to the "usual" 
>>> get-on-the-air activities Scouts get to do.)
>>>
>>> I plan to give the Scouts FRS HTs to use for the COMMEX, but it would be
>>>       
>
>   
>>> good to have a licensed Ham accompany each Scout team to monitor their 
>>> activity, assist as needed, and make an alternate (2 meter) channel of 
>>> communications available.
>>>
>>> If you can help, please let me know by email or a phone call 
>>> (301-831-5060).   The estimated time commitment would be between Noon 
>>> and 4 PM on Saturday, 8/22/09.  Equipment needed would be a 2M HT and 
>>> whatever portable power source and antenna you normally work with.   (I 
>>> can also probably scare up a couple of extra 2M/440 HTs, if needed.)
>>>
>>> Thanks & 73,
>>> Bob K9CMR ______________________________________________________________
>>>   
>>>