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A New Twist for Field Day (June 21, 1999) -- For Paul Wesling, KM6LH, Field Day means heading off into the California Sierra Nevada Mountains for two to three days, setting up tents, antennas, a generator and radios, and cooking up a storm. But he doesn't go alone. He invites his Boy Scouts to come along to try for thousands of QSOs with their distinctive K6BSA call sign. "What else?!" says Wesling, who's a Scoutmaster. "We operate as Troop 566, and the call sign gets us lots of attention."

Full Story below.

Paul, KM6LH (right), using a Kenwood TS-440SAT HF rig, to a 40-meter rotatable dipole about 40 feet up on an army-surplus tower. It's nighttime in the tent, and the three Scouts are from Paul's council in the Santa Clara Valley.    ---------->

Every other July, Troop 566 also hosts a ham activity at the International Rendezvous, the Troop's council camp in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains near Yosemite. Scouts visiting from all over the world flock to the Amateur Radio tent to get on the air with Troop 566 as control op.

An international group crowds around the radio as Paul Wesling, KM6LH, demonstrates Amateur Radio during the Boy Scout "Rendezvous '98" last summer. "The fellow in the red jacket was a leader of the Nigerian Scout unit, and he loved to talk on the radio!" Wesling says. Pins in a US map and world map outside the tent indicated places the Scouts had contacted. Custom Rendezvous QSL cards were available to pass out as souvenirs.
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The antenna system at the Rendezvous '98 encampment. The tower held a tribander at about 35 feet. A 40-meter dipole was above that, and an 80-meter dipole hung from the top. The rotator was the tried-and-true "Armstrong method."    --------->

An unidentified Scout at the 20-meter station, provided by Al Rusnak, KE6JAC. Although Al got many QSOs on CW, the Crew found that Scouts need hams to use SSB so they can understand the conversation. "The best hams for contacts? Those with lots of time to talk to kids, with good questions about camping and advancement and stories of 'when I was a Scout,' " Wesling says.
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A summer tradition for Wesling and Rick Tavan, N6XI, is sponsoring a ham licensing class for Troop 566. "We get three or four 'new ones' with each class," Wesling reports. All other Scouts in the area are welcome, and the only cost is for the purchase of the ARRL's Now You're Talking book. Classes highlight a review of the material, and an explanation of things not understood during self-study.

Wesling says he's been incorporating Amateur Radio into his activities for older Scouts as well. "I'm also an advisor for Post 566 of Saratoga -- now known as Venturing Crew 566, as the old Explorers are now called by the Boy Scouts of America," he said. "The primary focus of Crew 566 is high adventure, and secondarily we bring radio into our events." Wesling says his Crew 566 members used radio to help in the rescue of 12 hikers hit by lightning on Mt Whitney. Another time a couple of years ago, the Scouts used radio to call in a helicopter to rescue an adult having a heart attack.

"We use ham radio a lot, and get a few new operators each year," he says. More information and photos are on the Troop/Crew 566 Web site, www.crosswinds.net/~troop566/k6bsa/. For a look at additional Rendezvous '98 photos, visit www.qsl.net/k6bsa/past/rend98.html.

ARRL Educational Services Manager Rosalie White, WA1STO, thinks Wesling may be onto something to spice up Field Day. "If your club has held the same kind of Field Day for the past few years, and you'd like to do something different, why not contact your area Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop or council?" she suggests. A telephone number should be available in your telephone directory's White Pages -- under Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

"Now's the time to ask," White adds. "The Scouts might come in handy if you need help with putting up tents, building a fire or cooking up some good grub, or if you need someone experienced with First Aid!"

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