SCRC member demonstration for local scouting troop!

On Saturday, March 14, 2026 the Suffolk County Radio club was represented by two of its members, Joe Isbell, (KE2NK) and Richard Kimmerling, (N2WBJ) at Camp Hero in Montauk Point, New York.  They were invited by the Boy Scouts of America Troop 161.  They attempted to activate the park by getting 17 troop members on the air!  The HF bands were tough!

The day started with a 90 minute drive from our respective QTHs out to the park, arriving at the campsite at 10:00am.   The scouts were on a multi-hour hike which gave Joe and Rich plenty of time to set up for the demonstrations.   When the scouts returned from their hike around 1:00pm,  it was time for a quick lunch break before getting on the air.  After lunch the scouts broke up into three groups called “patrols”.  One patrol was assigned to Rich and another to Joe.   Patrols rotated between the two stations until all the scouts had a chance to hit the PTT and get on the air.

N2WBJ brought his POTA setup which included an Icom 7300 with a vertical antenna, powered by a battery.   We started on 40m,  but with the high noise level quickly retuned the antenna and jumped on 20m.  Scouts had a chance to try their hand at HF voice by calling CQ.  N2WBJ also demonstrated CW after handing out laminated charts showing the CW “alphabet” to all scout members.

Meanwhile In another part of the campsite, KE2NK passed around an Icom 52A Plus HT to demonstrate DSTAR and AllStar.   The set-up included the HT, OpenSpot3 hotspot, ClearNode hotspot and an Android phone acting as an internet hotspot.  Thankfully, the campsite is in an area with excellent cell coverage.  The OpenSpot3 was connected to DSTAR 30C and the ClearNode linked to the club’s repeater on 145.210 via AllStar.  Every single scout had a chance to speak with club members and ask questions.  At times, they collaborated together to develop questions for club members to answer on the air.

At the end of each demonstration the scout members asked excellent questions, including what is required to get a amateur radio license and how to get on the air.  A fun time was had by all!!!

A special thank you to PJ Guardino (N2PJG) who spent a considerable amount of time speaking with members of the troop on 145.210.  Thank you also goes to Tony Mosono (KA2FZB), Origen Symes (KD2MRN) and Chris Webster (KE2HEH) for their support!