Local Boy Scouts Take To The Airwaves To Communicate With Other Scout Groups

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- A group of Boy Scouts and leaders from the region are taking part in a jamboree this weekend at a scout camp in western Montgomery County, but there's a twist to the jamboree part.

It's really a Jamboree on the Air - the air being amateur or ham radio, and the K3BSA operation run by the SPARK Lodge at Camp Delmont in Marlborough Township, outside of Green Lane in Montgomery County.

Rick Blank, whose ham radio call sign is WB3BSA, is a local coordinator for the event, which has a worldwide reach.

He says Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Venturers and Girl Scouts of all ages here and elsewhere will take to the airwaves with ham radio mentors to make contact with one another.

"They have the opportunity to talk to other Scouts in other areas of the world, to exchange information on what goes on in their country and they'll talk about their different hobbies, how old they are, what their rank in scouting is," Blank explains.

Blank says the Scouts will also use computers and high-tech links to connect with one another during the weekend event.

For more info, click here.

Reported by Mark Abrams, KYW Newsradio