The Top of the Panhandle Amateur Radio Club received grants from the ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program in 2022, and they’ve caused a lot of excitement in the upper Texas Panhandle and Guymon, Oklahoma. The grants are being used for a program that focuses on partnering with the Boy Scouts of America troops in the area to help them fulfill several merit badge requirements and to help them pass their amateur radio license exams. There are activities planned for hidden transmitter hunts, communicating on the air, and learning skills for emergency management response.
Five Scouts and Scout Leaders have already gotten licensed and received their call signs: Justin Jett, KJ5DFY; Queston Crum, KJ5DWN; Gannon Crum, KJ5DPT; Eli Carthel, KJ5DTD, and Lisa Carthel, KJ5DRR. There are four families in the program.
Six out of 12 candidates passed their amateur radio license exams in Spearman Texas on December 29, 2023. Five are newly licensed Technicians, and one upgraded to their General-class license. The five Technicians are James Shockley, Queston Crum, Joseph Macias, Jaysen Macias, and Audrey House. They’ve been studying the exam information for months and will receive their call signs soon. The mentors were: Jay Bradley, AG5OG; Bobette Doerrie, N5IS; Jerome Doerrie, K5IS; Brian Holloway, KC5TPU, and Tom House.
By Bobette Doerrie, N5IS