On Wednesday 4th February 2026, a team from IVARC supported members of 11th Winchester Scout group working towards their Communicator badge. Ken G4DKH and Bob G3ZHV set up and operated an HF station at the Scout’s HQ, using Bob’s 40m dipole and the club's TS570 transceiver. Although conditions were far from ideal, with poor band conditions and a high level of ambient noise (!) we did manage to get 5&9 reports from a few European stations. Fortunately Colin G4GBP came prepared with a range of alternative communications-themed activities, morse practice buzzers and even a small telephone exchange! Chris G7LWV also participated remotely from Romsey via the local DMR repeater.
All the activities proved very popular with the Scouts – it was fascinating to watch the levels of concentration they showed in the morse practice, and it was really enlightening to see how alien the concept of a landline phone (especially the rotary dial phone!) was to 11-14 year olds!
Thanks especially to Colin G4GBP for bringing the telephone exchange, morse buzzers and the crib sheets; to Bob G3ZHV for providing the dipole antenna & balun, and for setting up & dismantling the mast & antenna; and to Chris G7LWV in for bravely fielding contacts with more than 15 Scouts on 70cms via GB3CW, the Winchester DMR repeater.
The scout leaders, Leigh and Matt, both expressed their gratitude to the Club and were impressed by the level of engagement we achieved with the scouts in all of the activities we ran throughout the evening.
Another very successful IVARC special event - a good evening, time well spent with the youngsters enjoying every part of it and learning into the bargain!.
All the activities proved very popular with the Scouts – it was fascinating to watch the levels of concentration they showed in the morse practice, and it was really enlightening to see how alien the concept of a landline phone (especially the rotary dial phone!) was to 11-14 year olds!
Thanks especially to Colin G4GBP for bringing the telephone exchange, morse buzzers and the crib sheets; to Bob G3ZHV for providing the dipole antenna & balun, and for setting up & dismantling the mast & antenna; and to Chris G7LWV in for bravely fielding contacts with more than 15 Scouts on 70cms via GB3CW, the Winchester DMR repeater.
The scout leaders, Leigh and Matt, both expressed their gratitude to the Club and were impressed by the level of engagement we achieved with the scouts in all of the activities we ran throughout the evening.
Another very successful IVARC special event - a good evening, time well spent with the youngsters enjoying every part of it and learning into the bargain!.
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