44th Jamboree On The Air (JOTA)

20th October 2001



All Singapore boys and girls can participate in the very interesting Amateur Radio of Event of the Year - JOTA.

 

 

 

 

Station: 9V1SJ
QTH: Beatty Secondary School
Home of the Beaver Scout Group
Organiser: Singapore Scout Association
Support: Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting Society (SARTS)

 

 

 

The JOTA station is located just outside the Beaver Group's scout den

As in the past, volunteer radio operators from SARTS again helped in setting up and manning the JOTA station this year. The event was hosted by Beatty Secondary School's Beaver Scout Group and due in part to the school's central location and easy access to the public transport system, the participation level this year was overwhelming. However, due to our limited resources, the station was operated only on Saturday, 20 October 2001. Still, we were able to accomodate to the more than four hundred scouts and guides who visited us. Putting it another way, that was four hundred young people being exposed to amateur radio otherwise also known as radio scouting.

 

 

THE 44th JOTA IN SINGAPORE

Station Setup

The scouter, adult leaders and scouts from Beatty's Beaver Scout spent Friday afternoon and evening getting ready for the event and helping to set up the station. Planning for the event had actually begun in June. SARTS had earlier sought permission from the Infocom Development Authority to operate the JOTA station as a special-event for the weekend, using the callsign 9V1SJ. This special callsign has been reserved for the Scout's Jamboree (hence the subfix 'SJ') for the last forty three years and hopefully we can continue to use it for the future.

One of the key elements of an amateur radio station is the antenna. The boys put up the 14AVQ, a multiband vertical antenna all on their own, having learnt from the previous year's experience. The antenna was lashed onto the top member of a 3-2-1, ten metre high flagstaff. This was done on late Friday afternoon. Volunteers from SARTS helped to connect up the HF (High Frequency) equipment neccessary for worldwide communication. By six in the evening, everything was wired up and station testing went smoothly.

Many of the boys camped overnight on Friday evening to look after the equipment and to make some final preparation for the following day. On Saturday itself, they were divided into work groups, each taking care of the various aspects of keeping the day's events in their paces.

 

The Story in Pictures

A new format of running the event was adopted this year. Instead of sending each contingent straight to the JOTA station, the participants came in groups at hourly intervals and each was put through an 'activity station' where they were taught voice procedure and other nuances of communicating over the air. Two simplex 2-meter (that's the frequency of transmission) stations were set up for the scouts and guides to get a feel of what it felt like to speak over the air. After some practice, they were sent along to the JOTA station for the real thing. This preparation did help some to overcome being tongue-tight when speaking over the microphone for the first time.

The photographs below tell the rest of the story, with a tinge of humour too. Please enjoy!
Our story commences with a pair of cute and beautiful Brownies, with spectacles, wavy long hair and all. No wonder the young man behind them had to strain his neck for a better look. We hope to see the both of you again next year!
Then, we have others who are young, pretty and looking smart with uniform. Again, look at the two young men behind her, deep in their own private conversation! We understand of course, their turns would be next.
Of course, we have equally young and handsome ones too. STAR SEARCH (that's a local TV station talent-search programme) should come to JOTA! We're glad he came to the right place to start. That's the way to go young man!
Here is a pack that is totally at home with the radio. Some have already lost their caps, others, their scarves. Radio scouting is sure absorbing!

VOLUNTEERS FROM SARTS

The following members of SARTS volunteered in running the day's activities. Quite a few loan their equipment that made up the comminucation network on site while some spent the entire day with us. We have also had members visiting throughout the day, chipping their bit wherever help was needed. Thanks to all you wonderful people!
  • 1 CHEW 9V1YP
  • 2 DAVID 9V1RH
  • 3 FRED 9V1ZK
  • 4 IAN 9V1WD
  • 5 JAYA 9V1VS
  • 6 JOTHI 9V1JN
  • 7 KIT 9V1SX
  • 9 SELVA 9V1UV

And the story continues...

 
David 9V1RH was giving a group of scouts the run down on the finer points in conducting a QSO (contact) over the air before putting them on a dry run with a 2-meter simplex radio link. The younger scouts and guides on the other side of the microphone simply love speaking to an "Ang-Mor", a voice with an European accent. We have been requested to add other varieties for the next year. That should not be much of a problem for SARTS.
Ian 9V1WD and David 9V1RH putting up a joint effort in coaching the younger ones, not always an easy task. But with more than a hundred years between them, they would certainly be up to the task. Hi Hi! (that's how an amateur radio operator laughs when transmitting with the Morse code)
They all wore caps, so Jaya 9V1VS wore one too. All the 'Cappies' here form the other end of the 2-meter simplex radio link. The megaphone on the table was in case the radio failed!
With an experienced hand and a smile, Selva 9V1UV urged a young scout on. It can be a very unnerving experience to speak into a microphone for the first time. Yet we did have some very potential amateur radio operators on that day.
Kit 9V1SX had his hands full alright. We meant his left hand with the microphone and the right holding a pen to log a QSO (call). The cubs around him were waiting their turns for a chance to bark into the microphone.
This young fellow is a natural! A potential amateur radio operator indeed, that is if he is not distracted by other things first. Chew 9V1YP, kept a watchful eye as he spoke.

 

EQUIPMENT, BAND & MODE

Antenna - Multiband Vertical 14AVQ
HF Transceiver - Kenwood TS850
VHF Transceiver - Assortment of desktop and portable units.
Operating Bands & Mode: 15m & 20m, SSB

 

CONTACTS

No. Countries QSO JOTA Station
1 Australia 1 Yes
2 Brunei 1 Yes
3 Hong Kong 1 Yes
4 Indonesia 1 Yes
5 Japan 8 Two
6 Macau 1 Yes
7 Madagascar 1 Yes
8 Philippines 1 Yes
9 Sri Lanka 1 Yes
10 Taiwan 2 Yes
11 USA 1 Yes
The band condition on 20 meter was poor throughout the day, leaving us with only the 15 meter band. However, in spite of the moderate band conditions, this year saw contacts with a good number of other JOTA stations. The morning started well with QSOs with several Japanese stations, including the Scout HQ station JA1YSS in Tokyo. Signal strength tended to favour them although we could continue with most contacts without much difficulty. Sometimes, the contacts were marred by QRN (noise from atmospheric statics).

As the morning wore on, we managed to reach JOTA stations from Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and even one from the United States. Many of our scouts and guides were able to have meaningful dialogues with their counterparts from these countries. Most of the exchanges were centered around personal interests like hobbies and sports. Some may have exchanged email addresses for further contacts. Generally, it can be observed that our young people enjoyed most speaking with the very congenial Australians.

The haul of the day must be a JOTA station from Madagascar, 5R8ET at about lunch time. The QSO was moderately good but was difficult for the scouts and guides present to copy. Towards the evening, the band conditions improved and we were able to speak with more stations from Hong Kong and Macau.

The table on the right gives a summary of the contacts for the day.

 

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

A total of twenty-four schools visited the JOTA station. The total number of participants, including a non-school group and the host school stood at 447. The table below gives a breakdown of all participants.

SCHOOLS CADETS SCOUTS VENTURES GUIDES TOTAL
BEATTY SECONDARY (HOST) - 28 - - 28
GONG SHAN PRIMARY 8 - - 22 30
BENDEEMER PRIMARY 7 - - 5 12
CHUA CHU KANG PRIMARY 19 - - - 19
BLANGAH RISE PRIMARY 13 - - - 13
UNITY PRIMARY 16 - - - 16
XINGHAN PRIMARY 9 - - 9 18
St. ANTHONY'S - - - 11 11
NORTHVIEW PRIMARY 14 - - - 14
NEW TOWN PRIMARY 4 - - - 4
XINGHUA PRIMARY 8 - - 15 23
GREENRIDGE PRIMARY 37 - - - 37
FUHUA PRIMARY 7 - - - 7
QUEENSTOWN SECONDARY - 29 - - 29
GREEN VIEW SECONDARY - 5 - - 5
PIERCE SECONDARY - 21 - - 21
CHAI CHEE SECONDARY - 10 - - 10
RED SWASTIKA 3 - - - 3
SERANGOON SECONDARY - 17 5 - 22
TOWNVILLE PRIMARY 19 - - - 19
RIVER VALLEY PRIMARY 16 - - - 16
SHADOW (O) GROUP - 20 - - 20
ZHONGHUA SECONDARY - 7 - - 7
MAYFLOWER SECONDARY - 16 - - 16
DUNMAN SECONDARY - 10 - - 10
ACS (BARKER) - 35 2 - 37

 

SOME AFTER-THOUGHTS

There were some hiccups with the timing at the activity stations. This was a result of some group sizes being larger than the anticipated number of thirty. Some of the younger ones enjoyed themselves so much on the radio that time just flew by and exceeded the allotted frame. As a result, a few groups had to wait for a long time before they could get to the JOTA station. We like to apologise to the groups concerned. On the whole, many of those who came enjoyed the event. More scouts and guides did get a chance to speak with their friends over the air than in the previous years.

We would certainly look seriously into the many suggestions given by the visiting scouters. These included the setting up of more radio stations and other activities related to scouting and amateur radio.

Thank you for your support and participation!

All in all, many who came have had the opportunity to make friends from other countries.

 

NEXT YEAR: JOTA 2002

Please visit this page again for announcements for next year's JOTA. We hope to organize more activities for everyone, and we mean everybody! You don't have to be a boy scout or girl guide to visit us at JOTA. Parents are invited to bring their children to learn about scouting, amateur radio and the practical aspects of radio electronics. We'll show you how to become a licensed amateur radio operator in Singapore and set up a radio station in your very own home!

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the following persons for making the 44th JOTA a great success.
  • The Principal of Beatty Secondary School, Mr. Goh Aik Choon for kindly allowing us the use of the school premises for the event.
  • The Infocom Development Authority (IDA) for permission to operate the JOTA station using the special callsign 9V1SJ.
  • Mr. Koh Kar Meng, Adult Leaders and the Beatty's Beaver Scout Group for all the preparation and hosting the event. A big THANK YOU! especially to all the boys in the group.
  • Mr. Abdul Razak, Programme Executive with the Singapore Scout Association for coordinating with the various schools and organisations.
  • All participating schools.
  • All volunteer radio operators from SARTS for taking time off from their commitments to help out at the radio stations.

 

This report has been prepared by Fred 9V1ZK, Oct 2001
Photo credit: Ian 9V1WD and Fred 9V1ZK
Copyright (c) 2001 by SARTS