I have survived the 2019 World Scout Jamboree. Hurrah! Some 45,000 Scouts from 152 nations arrived in West Virginia and 9,000 staff members and their partners put on a spectacular event.
The NA1WJ amateur radio operation was hugely successful. With staff members from Australia, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Japan, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, USA, and Zimbabwe, it wasn’t necessarily easy to mesh cultures and approaches to Scouting and amateur radio. But we all came together to demonstrate amateur radio to 3,000+ Scouts from around the world and completed 4,000+ two-way contacts that covered 86 countries.
If you’re interested, you can find the numbers, some great photos, and more in the NA1WJ 2019 Jamboree Final Report. I also recommend World Jamboree – Ask an Astronaut a Question for a video on the ISS contact as well as World Jamboree Balloon Launch for videos and maps on our two balloons that crossed the Atlantic.
Living in a Tent
From July 16 to August 2, I lived in a tent, hiked about a quarter mile to the shower house, a half-mile to the dining hall, and two miles to the NA1WJ station. Fortunately, I was able to catch a bus to the station on most mornings and evenings. But it’s a grueling experience — bolstered a great deal by my tent mates: Bill Stearns, NE4RD; Mike Crownover, AD5A; and Rick Smith, N6GSE. They always provided great stories and lots of laughs.
Station Setup
The first test on arrival is to find all the stuff promised by the Jamboree as well as the stuff from our K2BSA operation that is stored at the Summit. By and large it was all there in a container near our station tent. The next challenge was getting the new antennas assembled and ready for mounting on the 42 foot telephone poles. The assembly went well thanks to Hector Garcia, XE2K/AD6D, who Mike Crownover brought in to assemble the JK Antennas yagis. The bucket truck showed up, always a worry for me, and installation went very well.
Next was getting each operating position up and running. This, too, went well with all the great equipment provided by Icom America and MFJ.
Demonstrating Amateur Radio
As the photo above shows, I actually conducted a number of demonstrations for Scouts and leaders. That was a new experience for me. It went reasonably well and I’m hopeful I didn’t scare anyone away from amateur radio.
Highlights — ISS Contact & Balloon Launches
The big highlight of our operation was the ISS contact. With our proposal provided over a year ago it was nice to finally see it all come together. We had a fabulous stage and video screen, Mike Sprenger, W4UOO, managed to guide all the various audio and video links to the right place, and the Scouts managed their lines just fine.
The balloon launches were fascinating — party balloons drifting upwards slowly and only once did one get snagged in our antennas. Then tracking them day by day with two of them crossing the Atlantic. Pretty darn interesting and I hope we’ve captured a few Scouts with this adventure.
12-Step Program Progress
This was my last Jamboree, although my wife tells me that I always say that. Fortunately, we’ve lined up an excellent leadership team to take it on in 2021 — and I can help from home with planning and paperwork.
So far my 12-step program to reduce my volunteer commitments is making good progress. I’ve found leaders to take on the Radio Merit Badge Subject Matter Expert role and the USA Jamboree on the Air Task Force Leadership. My role with the World JOTA-JOTI Team has concluded. The election for new K2BSA ARA executive committee will happen late this year. And, from that will come the leadership for the 2021 National Scout Jamboree.
So things are shaping up to bring in new leadership, new ideas, and new energy to Radio Scouting. I urge you to provide a helping hand when possible.
This is really great stuff, Jim! Brings back a lot of memories of my Jamboree days. At the 1981 National Jamboree, I spent all of my spare time at the K2BSA/4 tent, helped build an HW-8, came back with Radio merit badge and passed my Novice later that month.
My only World Jamboree was in Alberta in 1983. I spent a lot of time at VE6WSJ, and even operated some from my site with an HW-8. That Jamboree was a spectacular experience–the trip included stops at the Air Force Academy, Yosemite, and Mount Rushmore.
In 1985 I went back to Virginia on national staff (Trading Post C), and in 1989, national staff at K2BSA. My dad and I were both on national staff both of those years, which made them extra special for me. My son went to the 2013 National Jamboree and had a great experience there as well. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone!
It was a great ride and I have a lot of wonderful memories from those days. But I have to say–the tents in your photos are palaces compared to what we had in those days! Heavy canvas beasts that really baked you in the Virginia heat and humidity. You do acclimate, but it takes a while. I wouldn’t trade any of that for the world, so to speak–radio scouting is a special thing indeed.
–73, Rus, K2UA (formerly K2UA/R, 6 meters through 10 GHz, still active on 160 meters through 47 GHz)
FN12, WNY
Hi Rus,
Glad that this article brings back so many memories. For still more memories, check out the K2BSA history pages, here’s the entry for 1989 https://k2bsa.net/k2bsa-at-1989-jamboree/ Use the pull down menu for the other years or go to the summary page at https://k2bsa.net/jamboree-2/
The facilities at the Summit Bechtel Scout Reserve in West Virginia are spectacular — from mountain biking and skateboarding to rock climbing and shooting sports, it’s all world class. For our amateur radio operation they installed telephone poles pretty much like A.P. Hill but it’s also situated on one of the most picturesque locations in the Reserve with lots of foot traffic coming right by our tent. For 2013 we had a raised, leveled, plywood floor in our 40×40 station tent. That was the best. Always lots of memories.
All the best to you.
73, Jim, K5ND