CONCEPT
Always be on the look out for opportunities to put Ham Radio in front of people.
- The folks who get introduced to the hobby and get excited will go out for their Technician (General/Extra) License. For the others, you are planting the seed of an idea that might later germinate into... an CT ARES member.

Boy Scout Camp
This past week, I was at "Camp Sequassen" (just over the Torrington border into New Hartford) with my son. While there, when I was not teaching the Shotgun Merit Badge, I was operating a portable Amateur Radio station.

My purpose for Amateur Radio this year at the camp was two-fold:
a) to work with the Camp Director and gain his support for Amateur Radio on site.
b) to "expose" Scouts and Adult Scout Leaders to something "new" and "exciting".

VHF/UHF
This set-up included our favorite 16' extendable mast and 6' dual band antenna sitting on a speaker tripod, and running 50' of LMR-400 "Flex" coax to a VHF/UHF radio (50w/10w/5w).
- Able to communicate on the Wallingford ".36" repeater, down to 5 watts!
- But, while I was able to bring up the West Haven ".610" and ".505" repeaters, I was unable to communicate over those repeaters.

HF
Used a 100 watt HF transceiver with a vertical dipole (10m - 20m) and a 40m inverted "Vee".
- Was able to "WOW" passers by with having them listen to stations around the USA and stations in Kuwait, Chile, Italy, and an island off the coast of Uruguay.

Brochures
- Handed out "22 things you can do with ham Radio" and the "Hello" general info brochure.


Results:
Given that my location was a bit off the beaten path for the majority of the Scouts, I'd say it was a "good first step".

Next Year
Will need signage with arrows next year, and announced set hours of operation.

Outcomes
- One Scout Leader wants a demonstration to his troop in Hartford.
- Another is looking to get a few of his troop's scouts to go for the Tech license.
- Plus a few other neat conversations.
- Discovered that one of the Merit Badge Staff Counselors has a Tech license
- And worst of all... my car was victimized and plastered with an oval "CW" sticker.