Boy Scouts Celebrate Anniversary with ARISS Contact

Boy Scouts Celebrate Anniversary with ARISS Contact

On Saturday, July 31, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held with the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC answered 13 questions posed to him by the Scouts as approximately 800 others listened in.

Andrew Koenig, KE5GDB, who is Amateur Radio Newsline's 2009 Young Ham of the Year, initiated the biggest contact of the jamboree. Six Scouts representing Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all got a chance to ask astronaut Wheelock a question, some relating to Scouting and the space program.
Prior to the contact, K2BSA Amateur Radio Association set up its radio station which thousands of Scouts toured. Some Scouts earned their Radio Merit Badges and amateur radio licenses as well. This year, the Jamboree celebrates 100 years of Scouting in the U.S., with attendees from all 50 states and other countries around the world. Forty-three thousand Scouts attended the National Jamboree.

K2BSA also operated on the satellites from the 2010 National Scout Jamboree amateur radio station. QSL cards for the 100th anniversary are available. Send your card, and SASE, to the QRZ.com K2BSA address.