Czech Republic 2019

First of all, I would like to thank all the organizers because the preparation and implementation has been a great effort and time. With the participants, we planned to go through the theory of radioamateur broadcasting, after testing without transmitting to a practical radio contest with radio stations. In the form of competitions and questions we went through all the corners of amateur radio operations. Children could then try all of these types of supervised operations, either through satellite and shortwave operation, or even FM operation including DSTAR and DMR. In the end we thanked all participants and rewarded the winners in the individual competitions.

Martin Černý OK1VHB, IARU R1 Youth coordinator

YOTA in the Czech Republic was my fourth YOTA event and the first one on a subregional level. Therefore, I found myself not knowing what to expect, because I knew there would be much younger attendees compared to the big YOTA summer camps. However, during the whole weekend, every participant, without exception, was focused on learning the basics of ham-radio operation and finding their own joy in it. I really liked how all activities were in a form of competition, which motivated the new potential future operators to always do their best and create new friendships. The days at the camp flew by, due to the very packed program the organisers of Czech Radio Club prepared for us. In three days, they managed to enlighten the participants in all of the areas which ham-radio offers, such as fox-hunting or connections through satellites. At the end of the weekend, I felt really happy about spending time among all of the curious minds and look forward to the next YOTA events.

Bety OM1DP

I’ve really enjoyed this Subregional camp. The program was just perfect. I learned a lot about ham radio and made new friends there too. Trainers at the camp were well experienced and they explained everything you wanted to know. The hotel we stayed at was a really good pick, because the rooms were in good shape and the food was good too. Everything was just great and I’m looking forward to another Czech Radio Club event.

Michal

The last day of our camp started with presentation about PMR followed by a PMR contest. The youngsters made huge progress in their operation skills, many of them could soon take part in a real contest! After lunch there was a presentation about DX on VHF, UHF and microwave by Petr OK2ULQ. Those youngsters who were relatively new to hamradio were amazed at how far one can reach using only simple equipment. We finished our camp with the awarding the winners of the Of-Air contest and PMR contest.

During the whole weekend there was a competition to paint OL19CAMP QSL cards. The most beautiful one will be used as an official QSL card and will be distributed via bureau.

On Saturday the program started at 6 a.m. –  kids are unstoppable! A lot of them couldn’t stay in bed and started to operate the radio in the early morning. The official program started with workshops. The participants were divided into 4 groups which rotated between five stands –

1) Fox hunting theory

2) J-Pole antenna building workshop

3) Electronics basics (taught by using a game)

4) Satellite operation

5) DX and contest basics

Dividing the participants into groups allowed the presenters to make their presentations more interactive and interesting for the participants, for example by using a game.

 After lunch we went out and tried ARDF, this was connected to the SOTA activation. Each youngster was given a receiver and their task was to find the fox hidden three kilometers from the camp. Despite our assurance that there is no need to leave the roads, of course the youngsters decided to follow the signal exactly and set off straight into the impassable forest! The finish was close to the look-out tower where the HF and VHF SOTA set-ups were prepared in advance. The lookout tower was the perfect place to test the J-pole antennas made in the morning. Unfortunately, it started to rain very heavily on the way back, the outside activities scheduled for the rest of the day were cancelled.

In the evening there was an “Off-Air contest”. First the participants learned how to make a contest QSO and how to log it correctly. After some time practicing, Honza OK1JD announced that he is satisfied with the contesters performance and that the big Off-Air contest could start. It was a great success! Considering that most of the youngsters had never had a QSO before the start of the camp, it was simply unbelievable how they were suddenly able to make 3 – 4 QSOs per minute.

The day ended with a presentation about all the activities organized by YOTA, for example the December YOTA Month, the Youth Contesting Program and the summer camps by Martina OK2YLQ. The participants were enthusiastic about participating in more of the YOTA activities in the future.

The first Czech YOTA Subregional camp started in the afternoon of Friday the 27^th, with the arrival of the first participants. The registration of newcomers lasted until 7 p.m.. The program was started by Martin OK1VHB who made a presentation to introduce the participants who are new to hamradio to HAM radio and the HAM spirit. The program continued with a lecture by Honza OK1JD about physics, antennas, radios and QSO basics. All of the participants learned how to make a SSB contactsand in the end of the day everybody was able to understand the principles, so during the night 80 m operation using OL19CAMP could follow.

After a little stress before the first CQ calls, the small expectations of the organisers were quickly exceeded. The Youngsters were really comfortable operating the radio and their enthusiasm and open mind were a big surprise.What makes this camp different to previous YOTA subregional camps is that a large part of the participants were not yet ,for many of them it was the first time learning about amateur radio.