For those of you didn’t know it this weekend is the 50th year of JOTA, where groups of scouts and local radio amateur groups get together and try to contact other people around the country (and sometimes other parts of the world) to pass on a greetings message. Each group has their own unique call sign for this particular event.
It is also 100 years of scouting this year, so it might be th biggest year yet for this event.
I have to apologise as this has nothing to do with SOTA, but it is yet another way of druming up interest in amateur radio amongst young people.
Just heading off to the border hills with the intention of working as many JOTA stations as time will allow (see posting on the ALERTS). Brings back memories as a young scouter with my local troop running JOTA stations in the early 70’s. Great times.
Just back into the shack after a good day JOTAing with GB50FVS - managed to work scouts in Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada and a host of European and UK Scout Stations. Who said the bands were dead!!!
The station managed to work Allan MM1BJP/P and Robin GM7PKT/P which was brilliant because the scouts were amazed that we operated from the tops of mountains and interested enough to realise that if they got into the hobby they could operate when out hiking and camping. Another feather in the cap for SOTA. Tomorrow showing them and adventure radio/SOTA set-up.
I had a most enjoyable morning running 9 cubs and 8 beavers through their “pass a message using amateur radio” bit of their Communicator badge (not as specified as the scout version). This was at Barneswood camp near Leek (and near SP-013 where I went later), and Liam is at this camp, and indeed was one of the cubs that passed a message for his badge.
Many thanks to Richard G3CWI, Helen GW7AAU and Dave M0OBW (running a JOTA station at another scout camp) for talking to the boys and girls (yes, there are girls in cubs nowadays).
Thanks to those who have replied. Its good to know the message got out.
Tom - I know there a girls in scouting now as my daughter is a cub. You should know that from meeting my husband Ian (G7EGQ) and my eldest Jordan (M3TMX), that we are all involved someway or another. Jordan is a scout and Ian was a scout leader but due to a change in work commitents he had to give it up, but is now a registered member of the scout fellowship, which mean he can still help out in other ways - i.e. JOTA. Any old scouters/leaders can join. There are many groups that have had to fold because of lack of support!!!
Keep threatening to take some of the lads from my brothers troop in Peebles up some of the local Border hills to show them SOTA in action. But not sure of the lads patience while I ‘whaffle’ away on the radio and they freeze. Even worse on CW I suspect - hi!
In reply to M3MND:
The 53rd Jamboree on the Air is under way this weekend 16/17 October 2010. Activators may get requests from chasers to receive a greetings message from young member of the Scout movement. I hope this is possible under the prevailing conditions.
I’m running an impromptu JOTA station from home tomorrow [Saturday] so my sons and any visiting members of 1st Fordhouses scout group can have a go.
Naturally the boat anchor radio that is my HF base rig decided today was the day it wanted to stop transmitting RF! With no time for repairs and no spare valves to hand, my local club has kindly lent me a TS-570 for the weekend. No plate and load but a bewildering array of buttons instead. It should be fun.
Our Explorer unit is planning a /P operating day on the Wrekin G/WB-010 in March all being well.
In reply to M6ADB:
As DARC Contest Stations are unlikely to respect the contest free portions of 40 metres where their club has agreed JOTA should take place, I’ll try to call up GB2RUN on 80 metres. I’m still going to call CQ Jamboree around 7.090MHz and call any SOTA Activators.
I’m watching the PI4RAZ.nl JOTA cluster on DX Link. Scout stations are very hard to find when you have young people waiting to have a turn so any possible clues are welcome!
I guess they weren’t figuring on JOTA using CW, perhaps? 40 metres does seem to be a tough band to find a spare space in, especially when the DX conditions help the far eastern broadcast stations…
Yesterday 20 metres was also seriously busy, or so it seemed to me. I spent quite a while hunting for (and not finding) a quiet frequency. I’m almost sure I heard the tail-end of a “CQ SOTA” call on (or close to) 14.285, but I waited for a repeat (and a callsign) and heard a much louder “CQ Jamboree” in a different voice instead. Then the wind blew my antenna pole over, and there was silence.
Funny, how I don’t remember ever doing JOTA while I was in scouts (7 or 8 years?)–only afterwards with other groups! (club VE2CQ does it regularly)
Additionally, I made my first /AM contact–very interesting…
73 de Jason.
HL4/W2VLA
PS. Fall colors are now kicking in here above 800m…nice looking but too easy to lose the trails under the leaf cover on the less popular (travelled) mountains…
In reply to HL4/W2VLA:
I did go and spend an hour or so Saturday afternoon at GB4SBS, largely on 40m CW and before the contest started. Didn’t QSO any other JOTA stations, only round Europe normal chats, the GB call was popular.
What was disappointing is that there were only a couple of scouts there at that time, and they were the son and daughter of the chap operating the SSB station. The girl, who has just got her M6 call, did have a couple of QSOs on 2m FM, but otherwise their interest was taken up with the JOTi setup, apparently an internet chat system, and they showed no interest at all in the other stations. I guess amateur radio as we know it doesn’t appeal to youngsters these days.
I actually did this operation as a mini-SOTA, in that I carried my actual SOTA station to the scout hut, around half a mile, to get used to the backpack. But couldn’t of course claim any activator points for ‘Lily Hill, Bracknell’ at 90m…
The girl, who has just got her M6 call, did
have a couple of QSOs on 2m FM
We had quite a good attendance at GB2RUN, and I worked (personally as M6ADB) GB2RUN, GB4SBS and GB2SBD in Sandhurst.
Our HF stations worked the globe quite well, with several JOTA stations in the log
However, I got the feeling that for most of the weekend the three 2/FM stations kept each other company, rather that logging many third-party QSOs(apart from club members calling in)
I actually did this operation as a mini-SOTA, in that I carried my
actual SOTA station to the scout hut, around half a mile, to get used
to the backpack. But couldn’t of course claim any activator points for
‘Lily Hill, Bracknell’ at 90m…
Maybe if I worked you from Magog Down (74m asl) We could do a POTA (Pimple…) summit to summit.
