What should be in a one hour class about Radios in Boy Scouts

Question

I have been tasked with teaching a one hour class to adults who lead Boy Scout troops about "Radios in Scouting". What should I teach them?

Possible subjects include:

Teaching the Radio Merit Badge
Operating a Jamboree on the Air
Use of radios on campouts/trips or to run events

Any other ideas or refinements?

As it stands, this is a very open-ended and opinion-based question, which we generally try to avoid on StackExchange as it's not really a good fit for a Q&A format. Consider narrowing your question, perhaps by mentioning what your goals are - for instance, do you want to help scoutmasters promote radio to scouts? Do you want to make the scoutmasters better hams themselves? Et cetera. — Amber, Nov 07 '13 at 06:27
1) Quick overview of amateur radio history - why people were interested in it, what major innovations came from it, how widespread it is throughout the world 2) What people do with it today, and why they are still interested. What amateur radio experience/knowledge can do for one's career. How amateur radio is used today during disasters and emergencies. In what ways is Amateur Radio better than cell phones and internet access, and in what ways is it worse. What it takes to become involved in amateur radio. — Adam Davis, Nov 07 '13 at 19:07
Actually The BSA has requirements for receiving the badge, you should look those up and teach accordingly. Badges are not or at least were not obtainable from single classes usually anyway. It was a weekend long learning thing usually. — Rowan Hawkins, Feb 01 '17 at 00:05
Actually, as stated, it was not a merit badge class, it was a one hour introduction 'to adults who lead Boy Scout troops about "Radios in Scouting".' I taught the session three years ago. It generated interest in JOTA and Scouters promoting the merit badge to Scouts (which resulted in some Scouts earning the merit badge). Never really got momentum on the using radios as part of camping part, but I still try. — RobSartin, Feb 02 '17 at 16:08
The single most impressive hour I ever saw was one hour at about 2pm during a solar max and we got to see how the leader talked to people all over the world. — SDsolar, Aug 30 '17 at 01:23

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 07 '13 at 14:56

0

General Ohm's law theory, amplification, modulation and de-modulation, types of frequency control, AM/FM, the basic phoenetic alphabet and radio etiquette.

answered Nov 07 '13 at 14:56

DevlshOne

41
1

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 07 '13 at 17:29

A one-hour class has almost enough time to explain a radio, station accessory or antenna that you bring in for a demonstration. I might suggest to bring in a FUNcube Dongle Pro + from http://funcubedongle.com with your laptop and free SDR software and a short length of thin wire to serve as a "wet noodle" antenna. Or bring in anything else from your ham shack or mobile station. Or walk them through the ARRL Web site and all the golden nuggets under there. Have fun!!

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 12 '13 at 19:41

If a demo to "tease" them is not appropriate for this audience then show them the list of requirements for the merit badge and make comments, line by line, what it takes to complete each item in high-level terms. Bring with you a syllabus of the ARRL Technician Class FCC license class and go over the content in general terms. You will fill an hour easily!

Again, have fun. Let your passion on the subject shine!

What should be in a one hour class about Radios in Boy Scouts

3 Answers3