JOTA

Jamboree on the Air is the largest Radio Scouting event, indeed it is the largest event in the World Scout calendar. A group of Scout Leaders who were also licensed radio amateurs, had the idea following their experience with a large station at the 9th World Scout Jamboree in Sutton Park in 1957.

Getting Started

Many Scout Leaders and Radio Amateurs ask what is involved in running a JOTA station. Liz, G0RJX, wrote this after helping run JOTA and TDOTA stations for several years but before she forgot the problems encountered by someone who was new to running a special event station. Download

This is an attempt to describe a special event station as seen by a visitor progressing through from first arrival to passing a greetings message and doing some of the activities. Download

Here the steps involved in planning and running an amateur radio station for the Scouts is summarised in a series of “bullet points”. While it was written with JOTA in mind, it is equally applicable to any station.

In 2009 there was an article about JOTA in the supplement to Scouts magazine. Although a couple of the names have changed, little else has. Scout-mag-sup-jun_jul09-pp16&17

The Scout Association Fact Sheet FS120522 Radio Stations at Scout Events downloaded June 2018 FS120522-Radio-Stations-at-Scout-Events. As the title suggests, this Fact Sheet covers Amateur Radio stations at all Scout events, not just JOTA.

FAQs

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions.

Register station

When operating, especially under bad conditions, it is very useful to have a list of the other stations taking part. If you are planning to run a JOTA station this year, please leave the details here. Do not enter anything that you don’t want to be displayed on the web because just before the event we will publish this list as an Excel spread sheet and a summary as a PDF file. If you are not sure, take to look at last year’s lists further down the page.

JOTA Registration Form

This year’s PDF summary is at the top of the list below and is updated every few days. You will not appear on the list until you have confirmed your registration by clicking on the link in the email you are sent after completing the form.

UK Station Lists

The lists of those who intended to take part are not removed but are available for reference here.

2022 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2022

2020 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2020

2019 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2019

2018 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2018

2017 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2017 Excel: UK-JOTA-station-list-2017

2016 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2016

2015 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2015

2014 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2014

2013 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2013

2012 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2012

2011 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2011

2010 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2010

2009 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2009

2008 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2008

2007 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2007

2006 PDF: UK-JOTA-station-list-2006

Report Forms

All National JOTA Coordinators are required to send a report with an estimate of the numbers taking part in their country to the World JOTA Coordinator. So all stations taking part are asked to send in a report – no matter how brief. To make it easier, there are forms which indicate the sort of information that is needed but should not inhibit anyone who wishes to add more. There are two forms which request different information, one for the Scout Leader and one for the Radio Amateur. These forms are available in Word format and in PDF for those who prefer to send their report on paper.

Word format for Radio Amateur download
Word format for Scout Leader download
PDF for both download

UK National Reports

From the Station Reports received, the UK JOTA Coordinator (and his wife) prepare the UK contribution to the World report and also the UK JOTA Report which mentions all the stations that sent in a Station Report. Here are the reports from previous years.

JOTA-JOTI World Report

The World JOTA Coordinator compiles the World Report from the information supplied by the National Coordinators. All the World Reports are available here.

History of JOTA

A large amateur radio station was operated at the 9th World Scout Jamboree in Sutton Park in 1957 and during a discussion about its success, the idea of Jamboree on the Air was formed. While many people have contributed to the success of JOTA, two names stand out: Les Mitchell G3BHK who organised the first JOTA and Len Jarrett VE3MYF who was the first World JOTA Coordinator. Their efforts over the years led to an increase in interest Worldwide and the number of countries participating rose quite rapidly to 70 in less than 10 years while the number taking part rose steadily to round half a million in 1993. Here is a brief history of Radio Scouting which naturally includes JOTA.