From Seth NY6Z
Dates:
Some of our Scouts will be camping out all weekend beginning Friday, October 17, but the main JOTA activities will take place on Saturday, October 18. Scouts will be most active between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
Attendance:
We are expecting about 25 Scouts and 10 adults from across Ventura County to participate on Saturday. In addition, we have invited several city leaders to attend, including the mayor, members of the city council, and representatives from the police and fire departments.
Stations and Modes:
We will have three radio stations set up for the Scouts to operate and observe:
• HF SSB station
• HF digital (FT8)
• VHF/UHF FM station
We received permission from Paul Strauss (WD6EBY) to use his repeater on 449.660 (-) (88.5) throughout Saturday. We will also be active on simplex at 147.540 MHz and 446.000 MHz depending on conditions. (Note from Dave: Seth says they will have good coverage into many other repeaters so it you want to coordinate a time and repeater to use, you can text him at (415) 508-3235 and he’d be happy to set up a specific time and frequency to try. Note that the regular 440 repeater on South Mtn will be down for maintenance)
For HF, we will use the Scouting calling frequencies recommended by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and Scouting America:
Band Calling Frequency Suggested Segment (US)
80 m 3.940, 3.690 MHz 3.920–3.940 / 3.670–3.690
40 m 7.190, 7.090 MHz 7.180–7.200 / 7.270–7.290
20 m 14.290 MHz 14.270–14.290 / 14.320–14.340
17 m 18.140 MHz 18.140–18.150
15 m 21.360 MHz 21.360–21.400
10 m 28.390 MHz 28.350–28.400
The troop will be operating under my callsign NY6Z from Toland Park in Santa Paula (Grid DM04). Each Scout will design their own QSL card for the contacts they make, and we will be happy to exchange cards with anyone who contacts us.
If any of your members are available to get on the air, especially via the South Mountain repeater or on simplex between 10 AM and 4 PM, it would make the experience much more exciting for the Scouts. Even short QSOs or greetings from different parts of the county really help bring the event to life.
The Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (CVARC) has also offered to help and will be listening for Scouts as well.
If VCARC has any flyers, handouts, or information about your meetings or licensing classes, I would be happy to share them with the Scouts. We almost always have a few who become very interested in amateur radio after the event, and I would love to be able to point them to local clubs that can help them get started.
Your club’s willingness to support youth outreach through events like this truly helps inspire the next generation of operators. Thank you again for your enthusiasm and support. Please feel free to share this information with VCARC, and let me know if anyone would like to coordinate a specific time or band.
73,
Seth Long (NY6Z)
Scoutmaster, Troop 304 / 1304
Santa Paula, CA
