![\"AmateurRadioAHobbyForThe21stCentury\"](\"http:\/\/ke7tvz.com\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/AmateurRadioAHobbyForThe21stCentury-300x154.png\")
<\/a>een on YouTube focusing on youth and their involvement in radio.\u00a0 So I planned to include that.\u00a0 Next, add a pinch of what\u00a0 amateur radio really is, contrast it to cell phones and internet then toss in a natural disaster and see which form of communications are still standing.\u00a0 But wait!\u00a0 How do I write a lesson plan for all of that in the short period of time that I had to prepare?\u00a0 The answer came to me and it was very simple!\u00a0 The answer was to “share what I love” and let my heart do the rest.<\/p>\nWe met at our church at 7 PM.\u00a0 An impromptu game of “keep away” ensued.\u00a0 It was the boys vs the adults with an awesome super-ball in a basketball court.\u00a0 The ball was fast and was colored such that it blended in with the court floor and seemed to almost disappear as it was coming at you.\u00a0 We had quite a bit of fun.\u00a0 Shortly after that we gathered in a classroom, took part in some Scouting formalities and then the time was handed over to me.<\/p>\n
The discussion started with how cell phones work, a little bit about the path that a cell phone’s signal takes when going from one participant of a conversation to the other participant on a cell phone in a conversation and everyone chuckled when I described that path for two people talking or texting each other from the same room.\u00a0 Then I added a disaster scenario that could disrupt communications for a small town or region and introduced Amateur Radio. I described how Amateur Radio brought communications for emergency services back\u00a0 to New York City immediately following 9\/11 and the role that Amateur Radio Operators played following Hurricane Katrina.\u00a0 The boys were very interested and had a lot of good questions.\u00a0 Following this I played the first few minutes of the video I mentioned above.\u00a0 After the introduction of the video showing many different ways Amateur Radio can be used for fun I paused it and went into a little bit more depth about the kinds of things that can be done after getting an Amateur Radio license.\u00a0 We talked about fox hunts, working satellites, regular voice communications as well as digital modes.\u00a0 While talking about digital modes I touched briefly on the role amateur radio played in saving many of the crew members lives from the H.M.S. Bounty off the coast of North Carolina in October of 2012. \u00a0 There was a steady stream of enthusiastic questions.\u00a0 Our Scout Master and other Leaders were interested in learning more and very encouraging of the boys to do the same.\u00a0 The Scout Master tossed the option of the boys studying and preparing to take the FCC licensing exam to earn their Amateur Radio Operator licenses.\u00a0 Just about all of them were in agreement about setting that as a goal for this coming fall when the weather turns bad outside.<\/p>\n
Following our classroom “chalk talk” we headed out to my truck and I fired up my radio.\u00a0 It was not long before we came across KC7MCH,\u00a0 Richard L McCallum down in Southern Arizona not to far from the Mexico border.\u00a0 KC7MCH was booming in on\u00a0 14.300 MHz.\u00a0 I was able to contact him and explained that I was on the air with Troop 148.\u00a0 He was excited to hear from us All in all, I felt like the evening was a true success.\u00a0 We finished a few minutes before 21:00 local time.\u00a0 Our Scout Master and other Leaders were interested in learning more and very encouraging of the boys to do the same.\u00a0 We had great time together and made an awesome contact.\u00a0 The only thing I wish I had done was to take a few pictures of the boys while they were operating.<\/p>\n My next step is to plan the lessons for teaching the boys the things they need to not only pass the FCC exams but to be responsible and effective operators.<\/p>\n 73 to All! Late entry from June 14, 2016 My son is a member of Troop 148 of the Grand Teton Council here in Southeast Idaho.\u00a0 His troop has an activity\u00a0 every Tuesday evening and frequent overnight camp-outs as well.\u00a0 On this past Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from our Scout Master asking if I would … <\/p>\n![\"KC7MF_QSLPhoto\"](\"http:\/\/ke7tvz.com\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/KC7MF_QSLPhoto-300x192.png\")
<\/a>and took the time to talk to each of the boys and answer their questions.\u00a0 Pictured to the left is his QSL Card.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was clearly evident that Richard felt the same level of importance in sharing our common hobby with these boys.\u00a0 It was interesting that KC7MCH shared several things with the boys during his QSO with them that I shared with them during the “chalk talk” in the classroom.\u00a0 This was not planned in any way, I’ve never spoken to KC7MCH ever in my life but the conversation could not have gone better had we choreographed every word.\u00a0 Thank You KC7MCH!<\/p>\n
\nKE7TVZ Signing Off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"