[kids] KR9L Kids Day

[jim funk]

Hmmm.   "The best laid plans..." etc.

A few hours before Kids Day, I *thought* I had four boys lined up to come to 
my place; then I discovered three of them were on a scout camping trip and 
might not be back, and the fourth was in Washington, D.C.....  My own two 
resident junior ops were playing ball in weekend tournaments in St. Louis 
and Jefferson City, MO.

When I drove past the local park on Friday afternoon, I noticed several kids 
playing in the shelter house.  [*Cue Light Bulb*]  Why not take the station 
to the kids instead of the other way around?  So...at about 1730Z, I set up 
a Field Day vertical alongside the shelter and fired up the 930.  A bit 
before 1800Z, three kids showed up!  None of them had ever seen ham radio 
before, and they were all pretty mike shy.  I'd made up scripts for them to 
read, with blanks to fill in their names, ages and favorite colors.  An 
additional challenge was the one kindergartener in the group who couldn't 
read the script but who was a good "repeater".

What bedlam!  If Sweepstakes or CQWW are the Daytona 500, this was "Bumper 
Cars" at Disney World!  It wasn't unusual to hear four or five conversations 
being held simultaneously on a frequency, but everybody seemed to hang in 
there and not complain.  Understandably, with low power and a clunky 
antenna, we got beat out in the pileups rather consistently; but the kids 
didn't know enough  to be bothered by that.  Each of the three finally 
completed at least one QSO, with proud parents in the background, and 
retired to other pursuits.

One other operator showed up about an hour later.  He was a bit more "radio 
savvy", with some experience on 11 meters.  I did, however, have to explain 
that "we don't use 10-codes on the ham bands".  No problem.  His QSO with a 
scout jamboree group in Massachusetts lasted half an hour and he departed, 
duly impressed.  

An outdoor Kids Day in January won't fly here in Illinois, but I'll sure do 
it again that way next June!  Didn't even have to clean the shack 
(heh...heh...).

73, Jim N9JF/control op KR9L...Kids Radio Nine Liberty...the Liberty Radio 
Explorers

ops:  Johnny age 6  blue
      Ashley age 9  blue
      Shelby age 8  blue
      Joe    age 13 blue
      Jim    half-century blue

KR9L log:


BY JOHNNY:      N5NU    JASON   16      TX      GREEN   
BY ASHLEY:      K8NY    BENJAMIN 10 1/2 WV      BLUE
                K8NY    JUSTIN   9      WV      GREEN
BY SHELBY:      N5NU    JASON   16      TX      GREEN
BY JOE:         N1WW    JOSH    15      MA      RED
                N1WW    A.J.    13      MA      BLUE/GREEN
BY JIM:         AB5XI   ZACH    6       TX      GREEN
                W1HIC   ZANE    10      MD      BLUE
                KE4HZS  CHRIS   8       GA      NONE
                WB7ESE  PETER   10      IL      GREEN
                WB7ESE  MELANIE 17      IL      BLUE (*KB9USN)
                KC0DVX  CORK    55      MO      PURPLE
                WB7ESE  LAURA   15      IL      PURPLE (*KB9USM)
                WB7ESE  AMY     13      IL      AQUA GREEN (*KB9USL)
                W8LBZ   ERIN    10      OH      PURPLE
"Those who seek holiness find both holiness and happiness.  Those who seek 
happiness find neither." Randy Alcorn _Deadline_


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