18/10/2026
JOTA 2026, We were again asked to put on a station and run this for several local Scouts, Cubs & Beaver groups from Furness at St Perrans Scout HQ in Barrow.
Martyn M0TEB & Mike M0MJX setup a HF station and a DMR station to give a wide chance of getting more contacts.
The HF station was very successful with contacts made throughout the UK and Western Europe with simple trapped dipole and the clubs IC7300 performing superbly with a good low noise floor.
The DMR station made exceptional contacts around the world with Malta and Indonesia standing out but the highlight was some Canadian children chatting with ours and discussing simple differences like the weather temperature in Fahrenheit to our Centigrade.
Children were able to pass greetings messages on both stations to other Scout groups and we took messages from many others wanting to do the same with some very very long QSOs.
There was a constant flow of children all day with plenty of additional activities going on including some PMR446 walkie talkies, a laptop with Hack Green SDR and a Morse code key and buzzer across the hall.
Everyone agreed it was a fantastic day and a good networking event for local scout leaders who don't always get the chance to meet together.
Successful - Yes, Exhausting - Definitely.
