Jamboree on the Air appeared to come off very nicely. Prior to the event we had 202 stations registered and estimated attendance was just under 16,000 Scouts. I was able to plug in my microphone and make a couple of contacts. It was really exciting to hear Scouts come back and tell me how enthusiastic they were about the first exposure to amateur radio — I had a great big smile at those moments.
I also got down to the National Scouting Museum to see what a great job both the Museum and the Irving Amateur Radio Club did for the event. They had a number of stations in operation including satellite and fox hunting. Here’s a great photo of a Scout trying his hand at radio direction finding. It looked like a lot of fun.
The after action reports are coming in. Many stations had a great deal of fun, even with just a few contacts. A station in Oklahoma was able to garner some fantastic media attention. You can see the article and a video here This included a contact with the International Space Station using a Yagi antenna made out of barbed wire!
I’ve also been working with our graphic designers to generate some alternatives to the current Radio Scouting emblem, that looks as though it was originally designed in the 1930’s. I’ve posted the four finalists here in an online poll. Please vote for your favorite.
I’ve also been working on the 2013 Jamboree and the K2BSA amateur radio operation. This has included discussing radio donations with sponsors, learning about the restrictions at the new Jamboree location, and recruiting staff members for the operation. I’ll update you in some detail in my next post.
73
