Saturday October 21st 2023 CARC will assist as many Scouts possible in fulfilling the radio operation requirements for their merit badge.
This is our primary goal.
CARC will also be running a few JOTA contest stations in parallel with the merit badge effort.
Ladies and Gentlemen let me start by saying that this will be a fun event.
This will be an event in which everyone can participate, as we need operators at home and on site.
This will be a rewarding event, because you will be planting the seeds of our hobby in rich soil.
KQ4IMT (Matt) Has secured the Belk Camp for JOTA weekend.
This is a National event in a huge location. The club needs many operators to do this right.
The camping area is at capacity, which means that there will be up to 1000 Scouts/parents in the 600 acre park.
If you are unfamiliar with JOTA information can be found here… JOTA
Information about Belk Camp can be found here… Belk Camp
The Radio merit badge is one of the hardest for a scout to earn.
Here is a link to the requirements…
https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/radio/
KQ4IMT has secured the Berry shelter indicated by the red arrow on the clickable map below.
It is our goal to run five radio station types for the scouts to use as third party traffic.
HT 147.450 Simplex Calling as Operator’s Call
HT 444.450 Repeater Calling as Operator’s Call
HT D-Star to JOTA repeater Calling as W4CQ
HF Portable 20m JOTA Calling as W4CQ
HF Base station 40m JOTA Calling as W4CQ
Station Type 1.
We need six (or more) of these operators to work in pairs, either walking around the camp, or set up about the camp, running a 2m simplex net.
The idea is to allow scouts to use our HT’s as third party traffic in a directed net, logging five contacts to fulfil their badge requirement.
Operators will be equipped with a clipboard full of BSA QSO log sheets that will be sent with the Scout upon completion.
I believe this system will give the scouts the best experience while serving a large number of them efficiently.
Station Type 2.
Scouts who take to the HT well will be encouraged to join the 444.450 for logging additional QSOs with the outside world.
We will need many operators at home (from sunup to sundown) to provide friendly contacts to Scouts calling as third party traffic.
Scouts who fare well on the 444.450 repeater should be encouraged to make a contest contact on D-Star or HF.
Station Type 3.
JOTA contest will be running on D-Star REF033A .
We will need three Operators (from sunup to sundown) in the camp to run D-Star radios calling into the JOTA contest.
Station Type 4.
We need three operators to run a HF Portable station on 20M from sunup to sundown.
If you can bring equipment, great; tell us what it is.
This will be a W4CQ contest station competing in JOTA.
Contest experience is wanted but not needed.
We will be calling as W4CQ so if you are a technician and you want to get HF operating experience, this is your chance.
This station will be set up somewhere in the treeline and away from the Berry shelter.
Station Type 5.
A HF Base station will be set up at the Berry Shelter, running 40m.
We need three operators to run this station from sunup to sundown.
If you can bring equipment, great; tell us what it is.
This will be a W4CQ contest station competing in JOTA.
Contest experience is wanted but not needed.
We will be calling as W4CQ so if you are a technician and you want to get HF operating experience, this is your chance.
A Youth Protection Training Course is required to enter the camp, but you can also help via radio from home with no training.
Clicking the link above will get you on your way to making a free, scouting.org account and taking a free, video training course. The process takes about an hour and a half.
Please reach out to KQ4IMT (Matt) if you are interested in helping at the camp. KQ4IMT
Please reach out to KK1LL (Brad) if you wish to help from home. KK1LL
