Over sixty cub and boy scouts and their parents came out to get on the air during Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) at the Ankeny Outdoor Education Center on Saturday, October 15, 2016. This was the 59th year of scouts making international ham radio contact with other scouts during JOTA. This year 8,358 stations registered with the World Organization of the Scout Movement; 791 from the United States. Our parents and scouts came from as close as 3 blocks away to as far as Colfax, Mingo and Newton.

Operations at our local JOTA event included SSB on 20 meters and 40 meters, PSK-31 on 20 meters and a VHF station tuned to D-Star reflector 033A, the designated D-Star reflector for JOTA this year. Despite unfavorable band conditions, the crack team of operators and scouts made contacts in 15 states and 2 Canadian provinces. Many scouts left with smiles after experiencing the magic of making contact with another radio station thousands of miles away. One cub scout in particular was heard exclaiming, “I talked to someone in Canada!” as he left. Notable call signs in our log include K1BSA, a scout reservation near Bangor, Maine, and K2BSA/3, a JOTA Camporee station in Erdman, PA. Our local event also included a morse code work station and an international phonetic alphabet activity to familiarize the scouts with the system.

Special thanks to the DMRAA for making the JOTA event possible for the scouts of central Iowa!

We would also like to thank Mike, ACØBD; Brad, KC9DMQ, Paul, KB7VML; Mike, AEØMW; Nolan, KDØLJO; Luke, NØCALL; Jason, NØCALL; Tom, NØVPR and Dale, KBØPQX.