The WD9BSA Bert Johnson Memorial Scout Radio Station has recently become the beneficiary of multiple complete radio stations and several additional pieces of related amateur radio gear. This gear will go a long way towards improving our fixed Camp Belzer radio station and also provide enough pieces to assemble at least one portable field station. This is something we can take out on location to various Scout events within the council. The new gear will really aid us in our mission of making amateur radio available to all Scouts and also creating general awareness of amateur radio and how it fits into Scouting principles.
We are very thankful to the family of Joe Lobraico K9OOA, now an SK. As he was a brother ham we share in their loss and greatly appreciate their consideration of our station in providing to us this gear. I understand he was a friend and mentor to our own members Tom and Dave when they were Boy Scouts some years ago. They grew up with Joe’s sons Mike and Joey, and his daughter, Mary (also a ham). Joe was a Boy Scout leader of Troop 173 along with our station’s namesake, Bert Johnson. He and his wife Betty K9OOB hosted the free Broad Ripple Tailgater Hamfest at his own home in Broad Ripple, IN. His YL must be more understanding than mine! From all the kind words I’ve heard, his reputation certainly preceded him as a true ambassador of ham radio.
Since we’ve built the WD9BSA station entirely through donations, it’s always exciting when we receive some new equipment. I’m not going to include every individual piece included on the list, but some of them are highlighted below. This way we can check out some of the manuals online (there was also a big bag of manuals included with the gear) and get familiar with the items before installing in the station. Many of these manuals have already been uploaded to our Facebook Page. Joe owned some very nice equipment and we’ll sure be proud to carry on his devotion to the hobby with this gear!
HF Radios
Yaesu FT-100
Yaesu FT-847
Kenwood TS-440S
HT Radios
Icom ICZ1A
Icom IC-W32A
Icom BC-119N
Power Supplies
Astron RS-70M power supply
Astron SS-30M power supply
Radio Shack 25 amp power supply
Misc
Yaesu FC-30 auto-tuner
Yaesu YS-60 SWR & Power Meter
West Mountain Rig-Blaster
WD9BSA Bert C Johnson Memorial Amateur Station 
[…] to do some work on the station downstairs. We have the new 500′ roll of coax and many newly-donated items from the family of Joe Lobraico K9OOA, SK. If weather is permitting we may be able to do so […]