On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:06:03 -0800, "USR1942(MC_CET)"
wrote:

Scouting and Radio trivia
http://www181.pair.com/otsw/Scouts/BSA02.jpg

MCCET
PMTNPO


On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:58:39 GMT, "Phil Schuman"
wrote:

Wonder if there are any other Hams that have managed to take their rigs on a
Boy Scout campout and got the Scouts interested in Ham Radio, or even Morse
Code ? We have two Hams in our Troop, and we have thought about doing the
JOTA in October, along with dragging a rig to our indoor/cabin camping
weekends, and something during good weather. Also, what would be a good rig
to drag out to these camping events....


In addition to my previous posting re my camp staff job teaching Morse
code, I would be remiss in this context if I did mention that the Boy
Scouts were directly responsible for my becoming a ham in the first
place. (And by extension my profession since I spent 35 years in the
field of radio-derived intelligence.)

By 1955 when I was 13, I had already learned the Morse Code somewhat
since that was a requirement in those days for a First Class rank
badge (you could optionally also use semiphore). I had not used it
very much though in the two years since I got my badge. I was at Scout
camp as a senior camper (e.g. I stayed at camps for five weeks, not
with my own unit except for the one week they were there.) That year
in August, our town had the last polio epidemic before the various
vaccines were available. Over 30 children in our town contracted the
disease and one of my junior high school friends was a fatality. Since
we at camp had no exposure to the disease, it was thought best to
extend the camp a couple of weeks (school opening was delayed) and
keep us at the camp. An older acquaintance of mine who I knew from
Junior High School had just gotten his Novice license was also there.
Since we were told not of over exert ourselves e.g. no swimming,
hiking, my friend asked me to help him with his Morse as he was trying
to get to the General Class level. So he refreshed my memory of the
code to the point that I could send and receive pretty close to the
five wpm. By the time school resumed in October, I knew code pretty
well, got the ARRL liscense manual and made acquaintance with my shop
teacher who I knew from his license plate was a ham. That teacher
coached me on the remaining requirements for a Novice ticket and set
up a station in his drafting classroom with some of his spare
equipment. He also coached me for the General test because in those
days an eighth grader did not have any algebra background to get
through the formulas on the General test.
The older scout (by two years) later became my best friend and mentor
through the next three years until he went away to West Point. He not
only got me into radio, but I did most of the extra curricular
activities he did in school.

Jon Teske W3JT