Scouting and ham radio

Scouting and amateur radio have been paired for generations: a Radio merit badge, a worldwide on-air jamboree every October, and a steady stream of Scouts who go on to earn their own call signs. This page pulls the pieces together for Scouts, parents, leaders and the hams who help them.

Independent guide. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Scouting America, Girl Scouts of the USA, WOSM, WAGGGS, K2BSA, ARRL or the JOTA-JOTI organizers. Badge requirements change; the official pages linked here are the authority.

Scouting v1.0 · written 2026-10-08 · dates and requirements checked as of Oct 2026

The organizations, briefly

Radio merit badge (Scouting America) — in summary

The requirements were revised in 2025. Read them on the official Radio merit badge page (the pamphlet is a free download there); this is only a map of what they cover:

1. Safety — grounding (circuits, antennas, lightning), electrical burns, lithium-ion battery fires.
2. Fundamentals — a spectrum chart from 300 kHz to 3,000 MHz with real services placed on it; broadcast vs two-way vs hobby radio.
3. How radio waves travel — local vs worldwide paths, using WWV/WWVH to judge conditions, DX vs local.
4. Information by radio — CW, AM, FM, SSB and frequency hopping; analog vs digital; range and data rate trade-offs.
5. Hardware and services — block vs schematic diagrams, a station block diagram, everyday radio devices, NOAA Weather Radio, RFID.
6. Regulation — FCC vs ITU, call signs, the phonetic alphabet.
7. Cell phones — how cellular differs, airplane mode, GPS/time, limits in emergencies, wireless charging.
8. One option — A: Amateur radio · B: Radio broadcasting · C: Shortwave and medium-wave listening · D: Amateur radio direction finding · E: FRS and GMRS.
9. Careers — research a radio career, or explore radio as a hobby or volunteer path.

Tips for counselors and hams: option A is where a ham station shines — it includes a real or simulated on-air contact that the Scout logs, and a licensed Scout can show QSL cards instead. Option E works with FRS radios when no ham is available. A Scout who finishes option A has already met several Technician exam topics.

Girl Scouts — what actually exists

• ARRL Radio & Wireless Technology patch — ARRL's program for Girl Scouts from Brownie through Ambassador, with age-level activities. It is offered by ARRL, not by GSUSA (ARRL).
• Thinking Day on the Air — ARRL's scouting page notes this Guiding/Girl Scout on-air event around World Thinking Day (ARRL Amateur Radio and Scouting).
• JOTA-JOTI is a WOSM event; Girl Scout troops commonly join a local station — ask your council about its policy.
• GSUSA badges can be browsed in the Girl Scouts badge explorer; STEM and technology badges can pair well with a radio visit, but none is a radio badge.

JOTA-JOTI 2026 — Oct 16–18

Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and its internet twin Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) are held the third full weekend of October. In 2026 that is Friday Oct 16 – Sunday Oct 18 (jotajoti.info; Scouting America JOTA). There are no official hours — operate whenever you like that weekend. Scouts of any program and age can take part.

Same weekend: Support Your Parks (fall) runs 0000Z Oct 17 – 2359Z Oct 18, 2026 (Friday evening through Sunday evening in US time zones). A JOTA station set up in a park can be both — see Support Your Parks and the parks section below.

For Scouts and leaders

• Ask your council what is already planned, or find a ham club near you (ARRL find a club).
• Expect to say your first name, town, Scout rank, age and hobbies. Contacts may be local, across the country or overseas.
• JOTI (internet chat) runs alongside for Scouts who are not near a station.

For hams and clubs — hosting a station

1. Contact the local council or a unit (pack, troop, crew, ship) a few weeks ahead. Agree on place, times and the adult leaders who will be present.
2. Read the event's materials: the JOTA-JOTI manual for radio operators and station tools are linked from jotajoti.info/jota; Scouting America posts US guidance on its JOTA page; K2BSA hosts US reports and slides (K2BSA JOTA).
3. Plan the station for talking, not scoring: an HF phone station plus a 2 m/70 cm handheld for local contacts; a big readable sign of the call sign; a simple log sheet each Scout can keep.
4. Brief yourself on Scouting (ranks, local units) so you can chat with visiting Scouts on the other end.
5. Follow the group's safeguarding rules (below) and the event's Be Safe guidance.
6. Calling: "CQ Jamboree" or "CQ JOTA" on phone; listen for other JOTA stations; keep contacts short when others are waiting.

How unlicensed Scouts talk on the air (US rules)

Under §97.115:

• An unlicensed Scout may speak (or send) as a third party only while the licensed control operator is present at the control point and continuously monitoring and supervising. The control operator stays responsible for everything transmitted.
• The station identifies with the control operator's (or club's) call sign (§97.119).
• International contacts: an unlicensed Scout may talk to stations only in countries with a US third-party agreement (plus the US itself) — check the ARRL third-party agreements list. For other countries, the licensed operator makes the contact and relays.
• The control operator's license class sets the frequencies the station may use.
• No business traffic, no music, no obscene language; normal Part 97 rules apply to everyone at the mic.

Volunteering: merit badge counselor or JOTA host

Practical habits for any ham working with youth: stay where other adults can see you, keep photos and contact details within the group's policy, and leave personal social-media contact to the parents and leaders.

From badge to license

The Radio merit badge (option A) or a JOTA weekend is the perfect moment to point a Scout to a real license:

1. Study the Technician pool — Ticket to Talk is free forever for Technician, General and Extra, and works offline after the first load.
2. Know the cost — under 18 testing with ARRL VEC: $5 session fee, and ARRL's youth grant reimburses the $35 FCC fee; Laurel VEC and GLAARG charge minors no session fee (What a license costs).
3. Book a session and create the FRN in CORES — walkthrough in Get licensed.
4. Make the first contact — First repeater contact.

Parents' questions (privacy of the license record, supervision, RF safety) are answered in Parents & youth.

Scouts in parks (POTA-style outings)

Operating portable from a park is a natural troop or crew outing: hiking, setup, radio and a log to show for it.

• Control operator required for unlicensed Scouts (above). Licensed Scouts operate under their own privileges.
• Program rules: if you log the outing for a parks program, follow that program's own rules for activators and logging — see Programs and First activation.
• Safety: pick a site away from power lines; keep coax and guy lines out of walkways and flag them; no antennas up in thunderstorms; follow the park's rules and the youth group's outing rules (permission slips, adult ratios).
• Easy wins: a 2 m handheld for local contacts, then an HF wire for distance. Let each Scout make one complete contact and log it.
• JOTA + parks the same weekend: Oct 17–18, 2026 is also Support Your Parks.

Checklist — hosting a Scout radio session

• Council or unit contact confirmed; adult leaders named
• Youth protection rules read; no one-on-one situations
• Control operator present for every unlicensed Scout at the mic
• Third-party agreement list printed for DX
• Call sign sign, log sheets, pens, simple QSL or certificate
• Radio merit badge requirements printed from the official page (for counselors only — counselors sign off, not hosts)

Related

• What is ham radio? · Parents & youth · What a license costs
• Support Your Parks · Programs · Ethics, safety & etiquette

Sources (checked Oct 2026)

• Scouting America: newsroom (name change), Radio merit badge, JOTA, merit badge counselor, Safeguarding Youth, Guide to Safe Scouting.
• jotajoti.info (JOTA-JOTI dates, operator manual, Be Safe) · scout.org · K2BSA.
• ARRL: Amateur Radio and Scouting, JOTA, Girl Scouts patch, third-party agreements.
• 47 CFR §97.115, §97.119.

Radio terms for Scouts and leaders: Glossary.

v1.0, 2026-10-08.