AR Newsline 2002 Young Ham of the Year

Josh Abramowicz, KB3GWY, Amateur Radio Newsline™ Young Ham Of The Year for 2002

(Los Angeles, CA) -- Josh Abramowicz, Amateur Radio call letters KB3GWY, of Reading, Pennsylvania, has been named the 2002 "Amateur Radio Newsline™ Young Ham of the Year" for 2002.  Josh is being honored for promoting Amateur Radio to young people through scouting programs   Amateur Radio and scouting have always had a close relationship, with many of today's most successful scientists, engineers and professionals beginning their careers as both Scouts and radio amateurs.  This year, that relationship once again shines as the Amateur Radio Newsline™ names the 17 year old Eagle Scout as its "Young Ham of the Year, (YHOTY) award recipient.

According to ham radio operator and Award Administrator Bill Pasternak (WA6ITF), Josh Abramowicz was chosen for this award by the Judging Committee based on his work in promoting Amateur Radio to other youngsters through the Boy Scouts of America.   Abramowicz holds a General Class license and will be entering his senior year at Central Catholic High School in Reading, Pennsylvania this fall. Josh says he became interested in ham radio because of his parents -- he's part of a "ham family" -- and the Boy Scouts.  Josh's father, Mark, is NT3V and a News Reporter/Anchorman at KYW Radio in Philadelphia.  His mother, Suzanna, holds the call sign NZ3G and is a retired teacher.  Both hold Extra class licenses.  He has three siblings:   Amy who is 15 and studying for her Amateur Radio license, and two younger brothers - Jonathan, age 4, and Jordan, age 2.

Through his family, Josh had been exposed to Amateur Radio for many years but it was not until he received an offer to serve on the K2BSA special event station staff at the Boy Scouts' National Jamboree at Fort A.P.Hill, VA., that the ham radio spark was fully ignited.  To serve, Josh needed to be a licensed radio amateur.  He quickly earned his Technician class license and began studying Morse code and theory for his General exam.  His General class license arrived only days before his departure for the Jamboree, but once he arrived he wasted no time in putting it to good use. As a member of the K2BSA staff, Josh helped demonstrate ham radio to many of the 35,000 Scouts attending the event, and to train some 400 Scouts who earned Radio Merit Badges at the gathering.

Josh made an outstanding impression on leaders at the Jamboree.  As a result of his demonstrated ability to connect with other scouts in attendance he was selected to assist K2BSA in a scheduled contact with the International Space Station.  Josh calls this one of the highlights of his experience at the Jamboree.

Back home, Josh was invited by Frankford Radio Club member Steve Dobbs, NE3F, to be part of a multi-single contest operation in the 2001 CQ World Wide DX Contest.  After seeing Josh's comfort level with the radio, antennas and logging program he turned Josh loose to operate by himself. Dobbs later invited Josh back to operate under his own call during the ARRL Sweepstakes.

But being on the air was not enough to satisfy Josh.  He knew that the BSA Hawk Mountain Council camp has recently completed construction of a new science center.   It already had a computer room, an astronomy lab and a room reserved for "Electricity and Communications" studies.  But the communications room was bare, so Josh decided to help fill it with Amateur Radio. 

He began by talking about establishing an Amateur Radio station in the Science Center and met with several adult advisors at the camp to discuss his proposal.  He also recruited Scouts he knew from the Order of the Arrow (a BSA honor campers' society). Josh worked to get them licensed and into having ham radio fun.  He was on his way to making this dream come true, but another step was needed:  Sponsorship of a Venture Crew.

According to Josh, a Venture Crew is a special Scouting program for older teens, open to girls as well as boys. Each crew has a specific goal or mission. Josh presented his idea for a radio Venture Crew to the Frankford Radio Club and obtained its support as the sponsoring organization.  He then convinced the Hawk Mountain Council leadership to use space in a new science center at its headquarters for a permanent Amateur Radio station. This station will soon be available to campers the year round.  Meanwhile, Josh continues to spread the word of Amateur Radio to all who will listen. As recently as the weekend of May 3-5, Josh continued his Venture Crew recruiting drive at the Appalachian District BSA Camporee in Kempton Pennsylvania.  There he put Scouts on the air including contact with a Scout camp in Nottinghham England.  Another ham contact to Idaho yielded a 50 minute on the air presentation to the Scouts listening in.  What makes this an amazing story is the timeline:  Josh is a relatively new ham who received his first license and original KB3GOG call sign in early 2001!