Each year, thousands of Boy Scouts worldwide take part in the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) using ham radio and the Internet. It is an event that gives Scouts the opportunity to converse with other Scouts across the country and across the globe to exchange their scouting experiences. For decades, ham radio and Scouting have been closely aligned and achieving the Radio Merit Badge and qualifying for a ham radio license are often synonymous.
In Northern Nevada, Scouts from Troops 15 and 245 participated in JOTA at the Comstock Memorial Station in Virginia City on Saturday, Oct. 16. The day began with a tutorial on the fundamentals of radio communication by station owner Tom Taormina. The interactive lessons concluded with antenna theory, radio wave propagation and physical operation of a ham radio station.
Once each Scout became familiar with operating procedure, the ham control operators made contact with other JOTA stations and the Scouts then took turns conversing with other Scouts across the U.S.A. and in Great Britain, Canada, South Africa and Namibia. The Scouts in Namibia were operating at a remote campsite, eating dinner around a campfire.
Besides traditional ham radio contacts, the Internet was also used. One computer was set up on an on-site ham community called EchoLink, which connects ham radio on-the-air stations in a global community in cyberspace. Also, the JOTA had an Internet Chat Room in operation. Cyberspace contacts were made in Alaska, Oman and around the U.S.
Of course, no Scout outing would be complete without them working on their unofficial merit badge in pizza consuming.
At the end of the visit, the Scouts had made enough on-the-air contacts to each qualify for the operating requirements of the Radio Merit Badge. Several were obviously bitten by the ham radio bug and are planning to work toward becoming licensed ham radio operators.
The Comstock Memorial Station is a club station of hams that enjoy building antennas and operating high-frequency voice and Morse code. Two of the main purposes of the club are to recruit and train new hams and as backup communications for Storey County's Emergency Operations program.
By the end of the day, the Scouts were very comfortable with ham radio and intrigued with their exposure to the world of radio.