43rd Scouting Jamboree On The Air

Dawn M. Peterson-Smith writes



"I am sure many of you know the Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts and affiliated
organizations participate in JOTA, or Jamboree on the Air. The next one
is October 21 & 22, 2000. For those who don't know, this is when interested scouts use
Amateur Radio to contact other scouts around the world. Individuals and clubs set up
stations and facilitate the kid's experience. Some scouts have done this before, others
have never participated..."</p>






Our club, the Great Falls
(Montana) Area Amateur Radio Club,
will have a station on the air - W7ECA - and we hope to have MANY scouts
involved. If you are going to participate and hear us calling, please respond! This could
spark an interest for the next generation of hams!</p>



My question to all who have participated in past years is: what
other displays or demonstrations can we set up (on somewhat short notice and minimal
effort for those we would ask - not moving half a ton of gear, etc.) to disseminate more
and/or related info while waiting to get on the air or after having been at the
microphone? We should have quite a few hams on hand to contribute expertise. One club
member in particular does a lot of satellite work and I think it would be fascinating for
the kids to see his antennas &amp; setup. He also does our weekly Fox Hunts and I can see
this, too, as a GREAT draw for the kids!</p>



If you have stories of your past JOTA experiences, ideas on booths,
demonstrations, etc, for the kids, PLEASE send them to me. My husband, Cameron Smith,
N7NBB, is one of the driving forces trying to get as much together as possible to make
this a great success. My e-mail address is kd7fmt@arrl.net
(I upgraded to Extra in September, but am waiting until my newest call goes through
before changing my ARRL e-mail address). You can also send suggestions to him at n7nbb@hamsnet.net - he's the webmaster of our club
site: http://www.hamsnet.net/gfaarc/ If you
don’t know about JOTA but would like to learn more, please Click Here.</p>



We plan to follow the JOTA event with a class (Technician) for
ANYONE who is interested (scouts &amp; general public.) We have PSA's running on local
media to let everyone know where and when the class and V.E. testing will happen.</p>



Please be listening for us! The Scouts will definetly be listening
for you! Help make a young person’s day – activate your home station a talk to
JOTA groups. Remember some of these potential hams may be somewhat shy or have mike
fright. Ask them questions that will draw them into the magic.</p>



73 - AC7JJ (formerly KD7FMT) - Dawn M. Peterson-Smith</p>
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