The Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club is organizing an effort to support an upcoming Boy Scout Camporee Radio Merit Badge course which will be held on September 30th at the Clearfield Airport. They are expecting about 100 scouts from across Central Pennsylvania to attend the camporee.
On Saturday September 30th Boy Scout leaders will be offering merit badge courses, one of which will be the Radio Merit Badge. Not all camporee participants will take the radio merit badge course, but there will be a significant number. Scouting officials are requesting eight to ten volunteers to staff the radio merit badge course on site. There is an established curriculum which needs to be followed to meet the requirements of the merit badge. Volunteers should bring with them UHF/VHF equipment to operate on local repeaters and/or simplex.
One requirement is that each participating scout engage in a “10 minute real or simulated amateur radio contact using voice, Morse code, or digital modes.” To meet this requirement another four to five amateur radio volunteers are needed to be on standby to provide someone for the scouts to talk to. These volunteers would be stationed either at their QTH or mobile within range of repeaters covering the Clearfield Airport or within simplex range and be equipped with UHF/VHF capabilities.
Please note that the Boy Scouts now have rather strict rules regarding their volunteers at events like this. All volunteers on site need to have their clearances done in advance OR be escorted by a Boy Scout Leader who has their clearances. Please do not simply show up to see if additional help is needed. Pre-registration is required to either provide the needed clearance documentation or make arrangements for a Boy Scout Leader to escort you. Volunteers providing someone to talk to from remote locations do not need to worry about clearances.
If you are interested in volunteering to support this Boy Scout Radio Merit Badge course please reply to Rich KB3QRK rich.brnik@gmail.com and Harvey N3RTK hhaag@verizon.net. Again, the need is for 8 to 10 volunteers at the Clearfield Airport and an additional 4 to 5 volunteers at remote locations. Your participation and help would be appreciated.
