Jamboree on the Air - 2005

To The Perth Courier:

On October 14-16 the Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) for Scouts around the world took place with members of the Perth and surrounding area participating at their camp site, Whispering Pines, on the South East end of Otty Lake with members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) providing the communications.

Great interest was obtained when the members listened to and spoke to the Astronauts on the Space Station with Barry Crampton at the controls of his sophisticated antenna system and specialized radios. The Space Station and other satellites that Mr Crampton was able to communicate to or through are not stationary and move across the sky very fast, allowing between 3 to 5 minutes of talk time.

These are roll-over images and will change when you place your cursor on them.

In addition to the Space Station excitement was generated when the youth talked to other members in England via what is known as Internet Relay Linking Protocol (IRLP), for this a 2 meter radio system (Very High Frequency) is used and special codes are entered which connect the system to another radio system, via the internet, in the location that the code is for.

Other contacts of interest were to Pennsylvania, and other points in the United States as well as a group in Trenton Ontario and a group at the Science and Technology facilities in Ottawa.

To facilitate this event the Mobile Command Centre Trailer for the ARES Group was used along with a mobile home and generator provided by Larry Palmer. An industrial strength battery and Solar cells were also utilized. Hi Frequency Antennas were positioned high between trees, and the specialized hi gain antennas for the satellites was located in the centre of an open area.

This is an annual event held world wide. Scouting in this area has incorporated it as an event in their fall camp at Whispering Pines Scout Camp for the past several years. . ARES members participating were: Earl Holmes VE3HEG, Art Childerhose VE3CGD, Barry Crampton VE3BSB, Larry Palmer VE3LFP, Allen Niittymaa VA3KAI and Norm Hagan VE3VY. This year the camp was under the direction of Roger Nuttal assisted by Chris Tyler and Ken Richardson.

Over 30 youth from the Area participated along with their leaders and there were another 36 Scouts from the Stittsville area in camp accompanied by their leaders. For more information on the ARES group visit our website at www.http://www.rideaulakes.net/stlawrenceares.

Larry Palmer 613-267-5410