I am sad to report that summer camp has come to an end for the 2012 season, but am happy to report that amateur radio has been active at Camp Wilderness during the season.
Over 100 youth earned the Radio Merit Badge during the seven week season. Each week I solicited the help of the PICONET to get these youth on the air to have a short QSO with the net controller. The youth had a great time getting on the HF radio and conversing with a new friend on the other end. We did some PSK work during the summer and were able to make contacts into Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. The scouts thought it was awesome to text someone so far away (HI HI). Each week the badge sparked one or two individuals to comment about wanting to go further and earn their technician tickets….in fact, one parent came to me late in the week and told me his son had already picked out his radio he wants for Christmas this year and that it was apparently going to be an expensive Christmas!
In addition to the youth working on the badge, it was not unusual to have a few adults each week sit in on the badge….during the last week of camp, I managed to talk the mother of one of the scouts to get on the air during the PICONET. After finishing her QSO she said she could get the hang of this. Both she and her son are planning to pursue their technician licenses.
The repeater was up for the season. The hard lines have been shortened and everything appears to be working properly with the system. The system appears to be getting use by the local amateurs on a regular basis. The Hubbard County Emergency Manager was at camp this summer and was shown the system, he believes it will be a valuable resource for the county and was glad to see it there. Greg Gust from the Grand Forks Office of the National Weather Service also visited the camp and said he would like to see a Skywarn group formed in the area and the repeater would be a wonderful asset for their use.
Wayne Stephens, KD0AAA
Trustee Camp Wilderness Amateur Radio Club