Jamboree On The Air 2003 is October 18-19

The Boy Scouts of America K2BSA call sign was on the air from Camp Wisdom in Dallas, Texas, where Andy (at the mike) of Cub Scout Pack 591 talked to other Scouts on 15 meters while Dave Cummings, WA5TET, supervised.

Life Scout Andrew Messer, KG4UXS (right), participated in JOTA with his dad, John, K3ATM. Andrew is a member of Troop 364 in Raleigh, North Carolina; his dad is an assistant scoutmaster. Both are ARRL members. A Technician op, Andrew made contacts with other scouts using his own license on 2 meters. His JOTA participation included an Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) QSO with Australia. His dad acted as control op on the HF bands.

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 21, 2003--The annual Jamboree On The Air (JOTA), which combines Amateur Radio and scouting, takes place this year on October 18-19. JOTA offers amateurs an opportunity to offer Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts (Cub Scouts, Brownies and Girl Guides are welcome) a chance to participate in this worldwide scouting tradition--now in its 46th year--and share experiences over the air with other scouts. Maxim Memorial Station W1AW will be on the air for at least part of this year's JOTA.

"W1AW will be active in JOTA on Saturday, October 18, during the afternoon and early evening," said ARRL Educational Programs Coordinator Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS. "ARRL 'Big Project' Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, will be operating and has already scheduled two groups of scouts to come by during that time."

Reports to ARRL following JOTA 2002 showed that more than 10,000 Scouts from around the US took part. Wolfgang urges participants to complete a JOTA survey, available on the ARRL Web site's JOTA Survey for USA Participants page.

Begun in 1958 through the efforts of Les Mitchell, G3BHK, the event has spread around the world and includes participation by approximately 500,000 Scouts and Guides in more than 100 countries.

Because JOTA is an international event, participating stations must abide by FCC third-party traffic rules. As ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist John Hennessee, N1KB, explains, anytime an unlicensed--or under-licensed--individual (the "third party" here) participates in a contact with a foreign station, the US must have a third-party traffic agreement in place with that country or the contact may not take place.

A list of countries with which the US shares third-party agreements is available on the ARRL Web site. Some countries make exceptions for events like JOTA, but the US does not, Hennessee notes. Additionally, during third-party contacts, both the call sign of the foreign station and that of the US station must be exchanged at the end of the contact.

Participants may want to register their JOTA events on the Youth Skeds Database site. This helps scouting groups to locate JOTA events in their vicinity.

JOTA begins Saturday, October 18, at 0001 local time and ends Sunday, October 19, at 2359 local time. Details also appear on page 46 of the September issue of QST. For additional information, contact Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS.

While JOTA activity can and does occur anywhere on the bands, these suggested frequencies are offered as a starting point for locating JOTA participants: Suggested JOTA Frequencies Band SSB (Voice) CW (Morse code) 80 meters 3.740*/3.940 MHz 3.590 MHz 40 meters 7.270 MHz 7.030 MHz 20 meters 14.290 MHz 14.070 MHz** 17 meters 18.140 MHz 18.080 MHz 15 meters 21.360 MHz 21.140 MHz 12 meters 24.960 MHz 24.910 MHz 10 meters 28.390 MHz 28.190 MHz * 3.740 MHz is not in the US phone allocation but is available to some countries outside the US. **14.070 MHz is generally used for PSK31. Consider operating CW below this frequency to avoid QRMing.

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