Eagle Scout project - Deploying Nodes for Emergency Mgt Agency

Anyone here who has participated in a Eagle Scout project with AREDN ?  If so, I'd like to collaborate and understand how adults and scouts were led in the project.   Our regional scout council is attuned to projects requiring wood, saws, nails, and hammers.  But this project has a different look and feel.  I think there's an opportunity here for STEAM-oriented scouts to create some much needed "communication resiliency" for their communities. 

My 15 yr old son 'Mac' (K6MAC) has proposed integrating/testing/deploying a 5GHz point-to-point node and a 2GHz omni node atop a 40 ft tower/platform at local fire station.  The emergency management agency (EMA) director is keen to use the PtP link as a backup path to the state's server for his WebEOC laptop clients.  The adjacent omni node should help kickstart AREDN growth around it. 

Safety concerns will preclude scout youth working on the semi-open  40 ft platform level, so Rhode Island ARES members and/or firefighters will handle the mounting of  the two nodes on an existing antenna mast.  Scouts on the ground will install a DC power supply, make the PoE connections, and use a compass to help point the 5GHz dish to a sister dish to be installed atop a Providence building that's line-of-sight across the bay.   

Later, scouts will be deployed to local two school/shelter venues and collect signal strength data using a portable mast-mounted NanoStation at 20 ft. They'll analyze the collected data and make recommendations to the EMA director about the type of portable system that could be deployed when a shelter has to be activated.  

Part of the plan also includes documenting the project with photos and authoring a use case to encourage other scouts. I'll provide updates via the Regional/Rhode Island section of this forum.  We hope to conclude this project by September, the mid-point of the East Coast hurricane season. 

Mike K1NPT