My JOTA Script
Roger Coppock
Does anyone have any comments?
Roger Coppock (rcop...@adnc.com)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Hello, my name is Roger Coppock, but I am also known by the amateur, or "ham," radio
callsign N9EPY. (Point to name badge.) I have volunteered to help the scouts at Camp
Mataguay connect with Scouts from all over the world. (Introduce any other ham radio
volunteers.) To do this, we will use the hobby of amateur radio and attend the Jamboree
On The Air. We won't be pitching our tents on clouds and meeting other scouts in mid-air.
What we are going to do is contact other Scouts, Guides, and Pioneers over the radio. If
their country has a treaty with ours that lets me, I will even let you talk directly to them.
We are going to learn a little and have a lot of fun today, but we can only do that if you
remain quiet and listen well. "BE PREPARED," SCOUTS, THERE WILL BE A TEST AFTER WE ARE
DONE. Each Cub or Boy Scout that passes the test will receive an official printed JOTA
certificate, so every one of you young men has a good reason to listen well.
What you see before you is an Amateur Radio High Frequency Radio station. It consists of:
-- A power supply (Point.) This box isn't very complicated; it's just HEAVY. It
converts 110 Volt AC house current (Lift extension cord and point to wall socket), into 12
Volt DC current (Show cable connecting power supply to transceiver.), like your family's
car battery stores. (Point to power supply end of cable.) This end of the cable could
connect to a car battery. A cable just like it does in my car.
-- A transceiver. Next to the power supply is the heart of this ham radio station, the
transceiver. (Point.) A quick look at the display, all the control knobs, and buttons
and you might correctly guess that the transceiver is much more complex than the power
supply next to it. Inside a TRANS-CEIVER is a radio transmitter and receiver. 40 years
ago, there could have been two separate units on this table, both connected to a switch
which would switch one of them on at a time: one to transmit and another to receive.
Today, everything is in one box. The various knobs and buttons on the transceiver control
the radio frequency, modulation, amplification, and power, among other functions.
-- An Antenna. Some mobile vertical ham radio antennas, the very ones I carry on my car,
have been cleverly mounted on an extension ladder. This is an illustration of one of ham
radio's interesting aspects; we hams often improvise and invent. Ham radio enthusiasts
pioneered many of the radio, TV, telephone, and Internet innovations. While using an
aluminum extension ladder as a radio tower isn't going to sweep the world like the Razor™
scooter fad, it does give you a flavor of the kind of creativity you will find standard
among radio hams.
You are all familiar with radio. Every one of you has seen a broadcast radio receiver, a
TV, and maybe one of the new handheld radiotelephones. But amateur radio may be new, or
unfamiliar, to you. Amateur Radio is a hobby that is licensed by most governments of the
world. Governments license their Amateur Radio Services to train their citizens in radio
technology, have an emergency communications service, and spread international goodwill.
In the United States there are over 1 million radio amateurs[ **check this fact!** ]; this
is more than any other country in the world.
Amateur radio means something different to almost each ham you ask. I won't list all the
aspects of this interesting hobby, but let me name just three.
-- Probably the two most popular aspects of ham radio are the radio contests and paper
chases. In a ham radio contest radio hams try to contact as many other hams as they can
in a given period. These hams operate their radios for hours on end, sometimes contacting
more than 100 hams in an hour. When hams talk about paper chasing they collect "QSL"'s,
postcards like these from Japan, from all over the world. (Hold up your Japan
collection.) Each QSL postcard records one contact between two hams. These QSLs come for
the Japanese National Boy Scout Headquarters. (Point to them and pass the collection
around.) Radio amateurs can earn awards for obtaining QSL's from all 50 states and from
more than 100 countries of the world. (Show Alice's WAS award, and her 50 State QSL collection.)
-- There are more serious reasons for Ham Radio as well. Scientists tell us "The Big One"
is coming. They say that there is better than a 50% chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake
will hit California within the next 50 years. One day the earth is going to shake
violently for a couple of minutes. The ground will shake so hard that it will throw
things into the air, and valleys and mountains could even trade places with each other.
After the earth dances the rock-n-roll, people will be isolated from each other. Our
telephone system will not work at all. Cell phone towers and telephone cables were
destroyed when the World Trade Center towers fell, making both cell phones and other
telephones useless. Amateur radio is a better source of communications in emergencies,
partly because radio amateurs are well-trained and can repair their gear by themselves.
A lot of hams were former boy scouts, so they take The Boy Scout Motto, "Be Prepared" to
heart. They have established emergency communications networks that can send important
messages after "The Big One," and other emergencies. They participate in regular
emergency drills for practice.
The king of all ham radio contests and emergency drills is Field Day, which takes place in
the last weekend of June. On that weekend, hams pack their radios and go camping while
they pretend that some great disaster has happened and that they must replace this
nation's communications infrastructure. If there is any interest, I can contact the local
ham clubs and see if I can get a few selected scouts invited to the next Field Day.
-- Last but certainly not least, is education, the third aspect of ham radio, the aspect
that turns me on. Ham radio is a great tool for getting young people interested in math
and Science. That I why I am here today at the Jamboree On The Air. In addition to JOTA,
license classes, and science fair projects are other educational opportunities for young
people within ham radio.
Parents should know that ham radio license classes offer inexpensive science education.
They cost much less that private tutors or science summer camps. I do not currently teach
license classes. When your son receives his certificate for attending today's JOTA, I
will provide you with some links to license classes.
While I don't teach license classes, I do help young scientists and engineers with their
science fair projects. Starting in junior high school, San Diego students can participate
in the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. My daughter Alice, who went to
CalTech on a full tuition merit scholarship, found out amateur radio is a great starting
point for science projects. The key to this treasure is to earn your amateur radio
license in 5th or 6th grade, well before the science fair.
(Say this if Boy Scouts are present.)
Boy Scouts can earn the Electricity, Electronics, and Radio merit badges. So, passing an
amateur radio license exam is the ticket to, not one, but THREE merit badges. With what
you have learned studying for and passing your ham exam, you will breeze through Radio
badge, which has a separate option just for amateur radio, and the other two badges too.
Another of the three options on the Radio badge is short wave listening, where you map the
distant short wave stations you hear.
(Say this if Cub Scouts are present.)
There are radio projects for younger Cub Scouts (as well). Elective three on the Arrow
Point trail in your Bear Cub Scout Book (Page 168-169) suggests to building a crystal
radio and mapping the locations of the distant radio stations you hear.
. . . You can hear distant radio stations because their signals bounce off the ionosphere,
a place high in the sky, and the ground. If we are lucky, we will be using the same
technique to talk to scouts in distant places today.
That ends this year's presentation. If there are no questions, I would like to introduce
my daughter, Alice, who will be giving you your JOTA certificate test today.
(While the scouts take their tests, a radio contact is made.)
Hello, my name is Alice Coppock, but I am also known by the amateur, or "ham," radio
callsign KC6VYI, Kilo Charlie Six Very Young Individual. (Point to name badge.) I earned
my ham license when I was 9. Like my father, I have volunteered to help the scouts at
Camp Mataguay connect with Scouts from all over the world.
As Anne Robertson, the host of TV's The Weakest Link, would say, (use English accent) "but
first, we must separate the men from the boys, the dudes from the wimps, and the eagles
from the tenderfeet. We are going to take "The Very Unofficial Jamboree On The Air Test."
(Return to normal voice.) Now, "The Very Unofficial Jamboree On The Air Test," (those
"in the know" call it by its acronym TVUJOTAT,) is very special, so special it is
copyrighted. If the TVUJOTAT ever got into the wrong hands, it could be the end of
Western civilization as we know it, and that's a pretty bad thing!
So scouts, stand up please, raise your right hand, make the scout sign, and repeat after me:
"On my honor as a scout, I will not reveal even one word
of "The Very Unofficial Jamboree On The Air Test." If
necessary, I will willingly sacrifice my life to the
slightest detail of it out of the hands of my country's
enemies."
Ok now, NOT ONE WORD ABOUT THIS TEST LEAVES THIS GATHERING!
When you walk away from here, mums the word, got it!
Is everybody straight with that?
(Wait for a response.)
I CAN'T HERE YOU!
I SAID, KEEP THIS TEST A SECRET.
Now, is everybody straight with that?
(Wait for a loud response, repeating the question as often as necessary.)
Please take a test sheet, writing board, and a pencil. Do not copy answers from your
neighbor or discuss the test. Remain quiet and focus on the test. Please ignore the man
at the radio while you take your test. When you are ready, you may begin.
(A minute or two, is enough time for the scouts to finish the 6 question test. Expect a
few chuckles from the audience, the test is a gag designed to keep the boys busy while a
radio contact is made.)
(Roger or Alice, speaks.)
TIME! Put your pencils down and turn your tests over. That was fun, wasn't it? Don't
hand in your tests yet; we'll write a letter on the back side of them.
While you were taking the test, I have contacted (Give name and write in on the board.) on
the radio. They're callsign is (Say it and write it.). They are located at (Say it and
point it out on the map, globe, or atlas.)
(If the contact comes from a country with a third party treaty.)
Now who would like to talk to them?
(Select someone and let them come forward.)
Hi, What is your name?
(Let the young man introduce himself.)
Why don't you talk to our friend on the radio. Talk about anything: scouting, the
weather, our campout, just ANYTHING. This radio only works one way, so say the word
"Over" when you are done speaking.
(Hold the microphone for them. Remember that the FCC regulations require a licensed radio
amateur at the control point. So you must operate the push-to-transmit switch on the microphone.)
(Write down details about the contact on the board as you learn them. Let the
conversation progress. If necessary, suggest some questions.)
Pick some more boys to talk if there is time and the contact wants to continue. Remember
to identify the station between boys. "Station (Give their callsign) at (give their
location) this is N9EPY at Boy Scout Camp Mataguay near San Diego, California, USA.")
(After the QSO ends.)
Wasn't (give name) an interesting person? (Make other comments about the conversation.)
Now we are going to write a letter to him on the back of your test. Write clearly,
because we will select only the best letters or parts of letters, type them, and send
them. If your letter gets answered, we will contact you through your troop or pack
leader. Then, you can write a letter back to your pen-pal. Having a pen-pal is fun, and
there are several scout awards for it, too.
(Let them finish their letters. If necessary, they can stay trough the next introductory
speech. Help the scouts write their letters. When they finish, collect their writing
boards and pencils. Put all their letters together in a 9" by 12" envelope and place the
name and callsign of the contact on the outside.)