Jamboree On The Air

Saturday's Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air was a success. Philip, KA4KOE and Jim, KD4MJH did a wonderful job of getting everything together and Philip reports that there was a record attendance for the years that he has been involved in the JOTA. Thankfully it was well supported by local hams, some of whom were on site and assisting the Scouts with making contacts and others that remained home and made contacts with the Scouts. The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum was an excellent site to hold the event and I understand that the Scouts have been invited back for next year.

Philip, KA4KOE shows one of the Scouts how to log a contact

Kevin, KM5RT and Todd, KD6RYQ give the Scouts a quick Amateur Radio tutorial

I was working midnights so I arrived at the JOTA late in the afternoon. There were still some Scouts making contacts and through the 146.970 repeater and HF as well as a good group of hams helping the scouts out. A group of Scouts from Jacksonville who were camping at Fort McAllister visited the museum as part of their trip and participated in the JOTA after finding the setup during their tour. Everyone had a good time and I hope that it encouraged some of the Scouts to take up the radio hobby.

Below is a photo of Todd, KD6RYQ's "go box." Set up for ARES operations, Todd's "go box" made for an excellent temporary multiband station for an event like the JOTA. It offered dual band VHF/UHF and multiband HF voice and data capabilities in an easily portable package.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net