ARRLWeb: Amateur Radio at the International Pathfinder Camporee

By Jim Hoffer, KW8T
March 5, 2005

Similar to Scouts, Pathfinders is a co-ed organization of young people ages 10 through 15, and is sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Over 32,000 attended the International Pathfinder Camporee at the EAA field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, August 10-14, 2004. This large event is held every five years, and this was the second time the Adventist Amateur Radio Association had been at EAA.

Several months before, the organizers contacted us regarding the possibility of offering Amateur Radio classes at the Camporee. Many other classes and activities would be provided as well--it was important to keep the kids busy!

Of course, it is impossible to teach Amateur Radio in a very short time and give the Technician class test, so we came up with a 50 minute course we entitled "Introduction to Amateur Radio." Thus, many more people could be exposed to the ham radio "bug." Our curriculum covered a few basic electronic principles, a little on rules and regulations, Morse code and a demonstration of our working stations. We were located in the back corner of Hangar B, where it was quite easy to string up a G5RV antenna just outside the building.

Our classes started at 9 AM and continued until 5 PM. Sometimes we hardly had a break for lunch! We were rewarded with having given our class to around 300 folks, including the kids and their leaders. By the end of the class period, my wife had a lovely certificate ready to hand to each one, plus a packet of materials including an order blank for ARRL's Now You're Talking. In addition, we logged in about 130 licensed hams who came by our booth, and conducted a brief net at 5 PM on one of the local repeaters.

Our team consisted of Jim Hummel, KC5BSJ; David Anderson, KA3OZK; Vera Hoffer; Jim Hoffer, KW8T, and Erwin Bishop, WB7ATT.


The group that devised a 50 minute "Intro to Amateur Radio" and presented it to about 300 young people.	Each member of the class received this handsome certificate--along with information about ordering Now You're Talking!

Jim Hoffer, KW8T, of Smithsburg, Maryland, was first licensed in 1964, and has been a continuous member of the ARRL since then. A clergyman with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, his service to the church includes six years in Uruguay (CX5AH) and Brazil (PY5ZAF). In addition, Jim and his wife, Vera, have conducted short-term mission trips to the Philippines and Yugoslavia. For the last 14 years he has served as president of the Adventist Amateur Radio Association. His Amateur Radio achievements include membership in the DXCC Honor Roll as well as 5BDXCC, 5BWAS and USA-CA. You can reach the author at kw8t@myactv.net.