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Camp Young Radio

Camp Young Radio

Event Details

  • Name of the event: Camp Young Radio
  • Participants: 15 participants (ages 10-14), 5 organizers, technical staff, and lecturers
  • Experience Level: No experience, no license
  • Duration: Friday evening - Sunday afternoon

Location and Facilities

  • Space Needed:
    • A country where operating without a license is authorized with supervision
    • Established radio station
    • A classroom for lectures
    • Kitchen for meal preparation

Food

  • Meals:
    • Friday evening: Dinner
    • Saturday: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
    • Sunday: Breakfast and packed lunch
    • Meals will be prepared by the organizers and participants, ensuring variety and balanced nutrition

Finances

  • Funding:
    • Funded by local community groups, participants' families, and a local amateur radio club
    • Expenses cover food, possible rent for the venue, and equipment maintenance
    • Budget kept minimal with community and volunteer support

Materials and Equipment

  • Equipment:
    • Radios: HF radios and PMRs (Personal Mobile Radios) for each participant
    • Wire antennas for outdoor setups
    • Car batteries or access to electricity for powering radio equipment

Organizer Preparations

  • In Advance:
    • Prepare lectures and fun, engaging activities
    • Organize radios and local ham operators for QSO (radio contact) simulations
    • Plan games and icebreakers to ensure participants feel comfortable and connected
    • Coordinate with local hams to be on-air for live QSO interactions

Participant Checklist

  • What to Bring:
    • Notebooks and water bottles
    • Outdoor clothing (suitable for hiking or outdoor activities)

Event Structure

Friday Evening

  • Arrival and Ice-Breaker Games:
    • Introduce yourself using the phonetic alphabet
    • Other fun group games to build camaraderie
    • Overview of the weekend’s schedule
  • Night: Settle in, prepare for an exciting weekend ahead, and lights out

Saturday

  • Morning:
    • Breakfast
    • QSO Lecture: Introduction to radios, QSO basics (what to say, how to listen), and radio etiquette
    • Off-the-Air QSOs: Practice making contact with other participants using PMRs
  • Afternoon:
    • Lunch
    • PMR Hide and Seek: Teams use PMRs to find hidden transmitters or each other, learning about signal strength and direction
    • Free Time: Explore the camp, enjoy outdoor activities, or chat with organizers about radios
  • Evening:
    • First Live QSO: Participants make their first supervised QSOs using the station radio, connecting with local ham operators on air
    • Dinner

Sunday

  • Morning:
    • Breakfast
    • Special Activity (SOTA/POTA/IOTA): Introduction to SOTA (Summits On The Air), POTA (Parks On The Air), or IOTA (Islands On The Air). Participants go outdoors, break into smaller groups, and build simple stations with antennas and PMRs or HF radios
    • Practice making QSOs from their own stations in the field
  • Afternoon:
    • Lunch to Go: Packed lunch as participants finish up their activities
    • Departure: Travel back home or to the event’s end location, closing the camp with a quick debrief

Closing

  • Brief recap of the weekend’s activities and a final group photo
  • Encourage participants to explore further into the amateur radio hobby, with information about local clubs or online resources
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