Many years ago, this station was really just a dream. A lot of effort has gone into securing not just an assortment of radio gear, but a permanent location in which to install it. We have a fine location here at Camp Belzer; equipment safely stored in a lockable console and many club members to staff it. We’ve also had incredible donations of time and equipment by individuals, organizations, and companies. For this we are richly blessed. This station is available to Scouts of all ages for earning achievements, merit badges, and participating in activities on the air. Sometimes, learning can be a lot of fun!
We also hope that many Scouts and parents may wish to get their license after visiting the station and learning about radio communication and emergency preparedness. However, they may not be ready to jump into the expenditure of a full station at their personal residence. We hope that by offering regular monthly open hours we can provide newly licensed Scouts and their families with a complete, fully-capable station.
We can’t be afraid to dream big when we look to the future of the station. We’ve hosted numerous Tiger Cubs for their Achievement 4G: Go See It!. We have classes arranged for Radio merit badge and operating activities scheduled such as Field Day and Jamboree on the Air. We’d be happy to accept any donations of amateur radio equipment to the WD9BSA station. We’d like to augment our current station as much as possible as well as assemble go-boxes we can take out for portable operation at activities in the various districts.
For this reason, we put forth a wish list of items we’d like to have for the station. Our only caveat is that we retain the right to use any donated equipment at a remote location other than WD9BSA or, in the case of duplicate items, sell or auction items to raise funds for the station or future Venturing Crew.
THE LIST
- Professional display board we can take to hamfests or other activities to showcase our station
- Movable partitions/dividers we can position around our operating position to block noise and echo in the basement
- 60 ft free standing tower
- Coax cable/connectors
- Power supplies for station and go box
- Digimode interface
- Straight keys
- Go box cases
- Portable antennas
- Portable radios for go boxes
- Soldering station
- SWR/power meter
- Antenna analyzer