Once again, the third weekend in October saw me helping to run a Jamboree on the Air station with a number of local Scout and Explorer troops. This time we were operating under the callsign GB2BMH.

I provided the portable HF station, set up in the field as before. This time however, a bit of extra planning meant we were blessed with mains power, a tent, a table and chairs—a definite step up from the picnic blanket we had last year. And just as well too, because the weather was decidedly colder and windier. Luckily, the rain held off.

While many of the Scouts preferred the indoor activities (it’s hard to compete with Minecraft), almost all of them rotated out to the HF station on the field during the day, with 20+ Scouts and Explorers having their first amateur radio QSOs.

The nice tidy station photographed above quickly got covered in paper logs, blown around by the wind, and a representative number of mugs of tea:

The highlight of the day for the Scouts (and the leaders, and myself) though was on VHF—listening into the International Space Station.

An educational contact was planned between 1st Radford Semele Scout Group and the ISS, represented by Jonny Kim, KJ5HKP. I’d briefed the Scouts in advance that we would only be able to hear the ISS side of the conversation, not the Scouts asking questions, but that didn’t seem to dampen their enthusiasm. With a Scout helper aiming my Arrow antenna throughout the pass, and me adjusting the radio frequency for Doppler shift, we heard almost all the conversation from one horizon to the other, just standing in the field.

A bonus (and completely unplanned) highlight was with Sean K8JSM, a pilot working Aeronautical Mobile at 35000ft across the mid-Atlantic. This was my first /AM contact, so I was very excited, and for the Scouts I had on station at the time it took a while to sink in where our contact actually was!

We had the following HF QSOs throughout the day:

UTC	Freq	Call	Rpt Sent	Rpt Rcvd	Troop	Location
0828	7126	GB1TS	59+20	59	1st Twyford	Twyford, England
0840	7129	G7NDB	59	59+		Basingstoke, England
0849	7129	G3RBH	59	59		Stourbridge, England
0851	7129	F1IFS	49	57		France
0854	7129	M0IQW	59+10	59+		London, England
0856	7129	GW8IKH	59	59		Crickhowell, Wales
0858	7129	GB5SJ	59	59		Caldecott, England
0902	7129	G4FKA	59	59		Bristol, England
0904	7129	GB1CNS	59	59	Colchester North	Colchester, England
0913	7129	GW7VJK	59+20	59+20		Llandovery, Wales
0920	7129	2E0TNH	59	59		Scunthorpe, England
0925	7129	G8GNI	59	59		Oxfordshire, England
0937	7129	GB8CS	59	59	2nd Clevedon	Clevedon, England
1200	14298	DF5TB	57	53		Bamberg, Germany
1203	14298	IW2NRI	59	59		Lake Como, Italy
1210	14298	HA8AR	56	59		Bekescsaba, Hungary
1212	14298	DB8APG	59	59		Frau Holle Land N.R., Germany
1212	14298	DK1FL	59	59		Frau Holle Land N.R., Germany
1219	14343	DJ3IKE	58	59		Germany
1237	14343	HB9WOE	58	59		Frauenfeld, Switzerland
1310	14343	IQ5EM	59	59	6th Empoli	Empoli, Italy
1321	14343	PA1VS	59	59	Zeddam	Zeddam, Netherlands
1325	14343	PE1RIX	59	59	Han Jordaan Haaksbergen	Haaksbergen, Netherlands
1415	14258	IQ5DY	57	59	Pontedera	Pontedera, Italy
1415	14258	DF2HB	46	59		Ottersberg, Germany
1430	14252	OZ6HR	59	59		Denmark
1443	14252	K8JSM/AM	55	23		2600nmi south of Greenland, 35000ft alt
1457	14252	DA1250HAS	59+10	59+20		Herrenberg, Germany
1516	14281	DL1XS	58	59		Speyer am Rhein, Germany
1528	14296	DL4SCH	46	45		Hamburg, Germany
1535	14296	HB9FUX	58	58		Thalheim, Switzerland
1538	14296	OE3XPU	58	59	Perchtoldsdorf	Perchtoldsdorf, Austria
1550	14296	CT2IQK	34	55		Braga, Portugal
1628	14296	HB9TDH	59	57		Grünenmatt, Switzerland
1630	14296	IU9CXI	45	45	118th Roma	Rome, Italy

I’ve taken the names out of the table for privacy, but it was great to get our Scouts not just talking to other amateur radio operators but exchanging their names and talking about themselves with other Scouts from around Europe.

And the map of just the Scout troops:

Many thanks to all our contacts from JOTA 2025! QSL cards are gratefully received (bureau or direct—email for details) and with any luck we will get the Scouts to write some cards of their own.