The Cub who stayed up ’til midnight for JOTA

An Australian Cub Scout who stayed up until midnight was just one of a myriad of stories from this year’s Jamboree on the Air and the Internet.

Calling from Perth in Western Australia via an internet link, we heard that this unnamed Cub would be travelling to the UK in January to visit Gilwell and Brownsea Island. Other calls came in from places as far away as Indonesia and the USA. “It was one of the busiest Jamboree ever says organiser”, Brendan Owen.

He added, “I had three Beavers who had a good chat with an Italian JOTA station during Saturday morning. After he told a 6 year old that he was the youngest person he had spoken to on the radio, we put his younger 4 year old brother on the air to make it an even better record!”

The Jamboree-on-the-Air happened at Ross Park Scout hut in Applecroft Road , Luton. There was also a chance to take part in Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) giving Scouts the opportunity to chat with Scouts from around the world using text messages. Over the weekend the `radio shack` was visited by around 60 Scouts aged between 6 and 18 who all had a great time.

Luton scouts have been involved with JOTA since 1968 and have introduced many Scouts to amateur radio some of whom spent the day helping out. Luton is unusual in that all the operators are not only licensed amateurs but also active Scout members.

The Scouts all had the opportunity to chat over the radio and on the internet with various Scout stations from in the UK, across Europe and around the world. The list of countries included: Holland, Italy, Ukraine, Syria, Gibraltar and America as well as UK stations in the Isle of Man and at Gilwell Park.