01/18/2009 | N8MA In October 2008, the Montcalm Area Amateur Radio Club (N8MA) hosted Jamboree on the Air. Four troops in Michigan attended from Mount Pleasant, Cedar Springs, Lakeview, and Jenison. We had scouts talk on the air, in which we got to meet hams of all ages. We heard a German contest, and we made contacts in Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Ontario. They even went on fox hunts, in which the troop went out into the woods with a radio and Doppler antenna and started transmitting to the person, and he transmitted back so the group of scouts could find him. Fifty scouts earned the merit badge this year in Michigan from the four troops. The last thing we did was to have the scouts come up with a skit for the campfire. When all the skits were over we ended with cell phone texting versus Morse code, we had four people try to beat the Morse code machine. Only one was able to beat thirteen words a minute. Nine of our club members participated this year. Although we didnt make as many DX & local contacts as we did last year, we all felt that JOTA 2008 was a great success.

Alex, kd8ixl
Star Scout, Troop 604 Mt. Pleasant, MI
N8MA- Montcalm Area Amateur Radio Club -- KD8IXL