August 7, 2023
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YOTA Summer Camp 2023 | Day 1 | 06.08.2023

By | Publication, YOTA Hungary 2023 | No Comments

This blogpost is written by YOTA Team Finland

YOTA Summer Camp – the first whole day

Sunday was the first whole day in the YOTA23 Györ. After waking up from the first well-rested night for many who traveled from afar, we had a pleasant breakfast in the cafeteria and headed to the lecture hall.

At first, we got to know each country by having short presentations about what each country’s radio youth are doing, and how they are doing in terms of the size and frequency of their activities. Then we got a nice lecture about ARDF, and even got to try it in the afternoon!

At the ARDF exercise, all teams were given an 80m handheld receiver with directional antennas, and we had to find low-powered transmitters hidden around a marked area. Some brave youngsters even got to venture in a small forest to look for transmitters!

After the ARDF we got to do some split activities. It could be anything from kit building and learning CW to going out swimming in a river or operating in the camps radio station. This was a well-received interactive experience and both the CW from basics and kit building were so popular that neither could fit all the people who wanted to participate in one go. Luckily, we will have more opportunities to continue from where we left off.

To crown the first day, we had the intercultural evening, where every country prepared their own booth where they could serve some goods from their countries, or tell people stories and information about their countries, all the while getting to know the respective countries! The evening lasted up until midnight and many people were there for the whole time! The evening was very well received and greatly helped to lift the spirits and create unity for the people present. The evening was full of laughs, kind words and appreciation towards other cultures – ham spirit at its best! There were even singalongs in various languages and especially teams Finland and Italy seemed to find many songs in common in their respective languages. And many were happy to join even in languages they might not have spoken!

Many great pictures of the evening are available online at www.ham-yota.com.

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August 6, 2023
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YOTA Summer Camp 2023 | Day 0 | 05.08.2023

By | Publication, YOTA Hungary 2023 | No Comments

The 11th annual YOTA Summer Camp is here, and we already know it’s going to be an unforgettable week! From August 5th to 12th, we’re gathering in Győr, Hungary, with over 100 youngsters from 25 different countries. In our daily blog posts from the camp, you can stay updated on what’s happening on the biggest camp of the year for young hams.

While the first teams came to Hungary already on Friday, Saturday was the main day for arrivals. The teams from all around the world arrived at the campsite located at Széchenyi István University in Győr. In the 2023 edition of the summer camp, we are proud to say that multiple new societies are represented for the first time, including Egypt, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea.

In the evening the camp began with the official opening ceremony. In the ceremony we heard greetings from people behind the camp including organizers, IARU representatives, and the President of MRASZ – the Hungarian Radio Amateur Society. The participants also got their first look at the highlights of the interesting program that the camp offers.

The opening ceremony was live-streamed on the YOTA YouTube channel. You can watch the recording of the opening ceremony here: https://www.youtube.com/live/zYSZ42vp2rc?feature=share

The post continues after the picture

The program on the camp will be varying with a focus on teaching and experiences. The interesting lectures will among other things teach the participants about the world of contesting, SDR, and High-speed telegraphy. Participants are given a chance to practice kit-building and ARDF. There is even a possibility to participate in a CW course. As different cultures are always present at the YOTA Camp, the popular intercultural evening will happen once more. The camp will also include excursions to the capital city Budapest and the beautiful city of Győr where the camp is held.

Tomorrow you will hear about what we did on the first whole day at the campsite. But before that, find us on air with the callsign HG23YOTA and greet the future of the ham radio!

Check the pictures from the first day: https://www.ham-yota.com/gallery/?albumid=12085

 

August 2, 2023
1

YOTA Summer Camp Hungary 2023

By | Publication, YOTA Hungary 2023 | No Comments

On Saturday the 11th annual YOTA Summer Camp, will take place in Győr, Hungary, from the 5th to the 12th of August 2023.  

More than 100 participants from all over region 1 and guests from region 3 will attend the camp to enjoy ham radio together. Our schedule is filled with fun activities such as Night ARDF, the Intercultural Evening and “Train The Trainer” sessions, in which we discuss current topics in youth work across the member societies and develop ideas to tackle some of our common challenges together. Don’t forget to come and have a QSO with us! We will be on air with the callsign HG23YOTA. 

We invite you to join us for the Opening Ceremony of the YOTA Summer Camp this Saturday, 5th August 2023, from 1800 UTC as the event will be live streamed on YouTube. 

LIVESTREAM: OPENING CEREMONY

During the week the camp festivities will take over the YOTA Social media platforms. We’ll be sharing daily highlights, behind-the-scenes moments, and thrilling activities, so you won’t miss a thing. Join our online community and be a part of the camp experience from wherever you are!  

Feel free to share these updates on your own social media platforms, spreading the enthusiasm to your societies and anyone else who might be interested.  

We are looking forward to a successful YOTA Summer Camp Hungary 2023 ahead! 

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June 30, 2023
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KOTA – Kids On The Air Czechia 2023

By | KOTA Czechia 2023, Publication | No Comments

We are excited to announce that the Czech Radio Club (ČRK/CRC) in cooperation with the IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group is organizing the KOTA Subregional Camp at castle Trhanov, from September 15th to 17th, 2023. This camp provides a fantastic opportunity for young radio enthusiasts between the ages of 10 and 15 to come together and participate in thrilling programs and activities.

During the camp, participants will have the chance to engage in various interactive sessions, workshops, and hands-on demonstrations. The program is designed to offer valuable insights into the world of amateur radio, fostering a spirit of exploration and learning.

Please note that the program will be conducted primarily in Czech language, and due to the young age group, we kindly request that you consider this factor when recommending participation.

If you have any queries or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Martina OK2YLQ at detiamladez@crk.cz.

We kindly ask you to share this announcement with your national societies and young enthusiasts who may be interested in joining us for this enriching event.

 

Note: This event is intended to be an extension of the existing YOTA initiative. Since the event includes a new target audience, the 2023 event is intended to serve as a pilot project to further discuss the concept at the upcoming IARU R1 General Conference in Serbia in November. Meanwhile, it will be treated as a YOTA Subregional Event in terms of monetary support and program.

 

Source: IARU Region 1, Youth Working Group

June 22, 2023
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Youth Working Group – Livestreams, Friedrichshafen HAMRADIO 2023

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The IARU R1 Youth Working Group is ready and set for the upcoming 3 days of Europe’s biggest ham fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany – the HAMRADIO 2023.

We’d like to invite you and your youngsters to join our team at the IARU R1 Youth Booth (A1-766) for a conversation as well as our scheduled meetings. These meetings will also be live streamed to the YOTA YouTube channel.

Please find the Program and Livestream links directly from here:

Friday, 23rd June:

  • December YOTA Month (DYM) & YOTA Contest – Plaque Awarding Ceremony 1300 – 1345 UTC, Main Stage, Livestream
  • How to Youth Work – A View into the Train The Trainer Program 1345 – 1430 UTC, Main Stage, Livestream

Saturday, 24th June:

  • IARU R1 International Youth Meeting 0800 – 0945 UTC, Room Liechtenstein, Livestream
  • YOTA Summer Camp Flag Ceremony 1300 – 1345 UTC, Main Stage, Livestream
  • The Youth’s Potential within Amateur Radio 1345 – 1430 UTC, Main Stage, Livestream

On to a successful weekend!

73 Team IARU R1 Youth Working Group

April 21, 2023
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December YOTA Month 2022 – Plaque Winners

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We are glad to announce the winners of the December YOTA Month 2022 wooden plaque winners within the following categories:

  • Most stations contacted (CW)
    First to contact the most unique active YOTA stations in CW mode within the award program

    • F5MQU

 

  • Most stations contacted (SSB)
    First to contact the most unique active YOTA stations in SSB mode within the award program

    • OE8MKQ

 

  • Most stations contacted (DIGITAL)
    First to contact the most unique active YOTA stations in DIGITAL modes within the award program

    • HA7XL

 

  • Most stations contacted
    First to contact the most unique active YOTA stations overall within the award program

    • OM3CND

 

  • Best overall score OM
    Best overall achieved award score by an OM

    • F4EZJ

 

  • Best overall score YL
    Best overall achieved award score by a YL

    • DL7PIA

 

  • Best overall score Youngster
    Best overall achieved award score by a Youngster (< 26)

    • 9A2ZI (born 2001)

 

The IARU R1 Youth Working Group will reach out to all winners shortly with an invite to join the awarding ceremony to be held during HamRadio fair 2023 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
If a winner will not be able to attend in-person, the wooden plaques will then be shipped via mail accordingly afterwards.

Congrats to all winning entries and we hope to seeing you all active again within the upcoming 2023 edition of DYM – the December YOTA Month.

April 16, 2023
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HamCamp | Friedrichshafen HamRadio Fair 2023

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We are glad to announce that DARC is once again hosting its famous HamCamp during upcoming Friedrichshafen fair in Germany from 22nd – 25th June 2023. There will be 160 beds available for youngsters up to 27 years of age and their attendants.

Please find all necessary information and registration from here. In case of any occuring questions, please reach out to the organizers at hamcamp@darc.de directly.

Hope to seeing you all again in Germany soon!

 

 

Source: Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) – Youth Department

April 8, 2023
1

Train The Trainer report – Team USA – DYM 2022

By | Publication, Train the trainer, YOTA Month 2022 | No Comments

Wow, what a fun DYM 2022!

We had about 37 operators from not just the United States, but all over the world. For the first time ever, we welcomed many operators from outside of the U.S. that not only were amateurs in their respective countries, but had U.S. callsigns, meaning they could run remotely into U.S. stations using the K8* callsigns without violating any CEPT agreements. With many youths hooked up with the Remote Ham Radio Youth Program, this made it very easy for them to get on the air.

We were active on pretty much all modes, including satellites, with KE8RJU and others activating the satellites when necessary. In the past, we had many repeat volunteers to operate the callsigns, but this year saw many new licensees and youth willing to participate. We definitely advertised more this year that we were looking for more new operators, which definitely helped our cause to get more youth on the air. This increase of the number of operators from different areas of the United States and the world made it difficult to schedule operators to operate at particular times. Therefore, we pretty much just sent schedules out via Google Sheets to the interested operators that wanted to participate, making the process more automated and up to the youth operators on when they wanted to get on the air.

It was fun to get to know many of these youths that have the same interests as me, and I can’t wait for this year’s DYM 2023.

April 8, 2023
1

Train The Trainer report – Team France – DYM 2022

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“Overall, this December YOTA Month was a great experience for me. I had plenty of opportunities to have fun on the air. So much that I took part in… 7 special calls! In France, I used to operate TM22YOTA during weekends and TM4YOTA during weekdays from my local radio club station or my school. When I was at home, I managed to use the four american special calls K8Y/O/T/A and 9A0YOTA remote stations. Besides, I was in charge of organizing the YOTA contest with this 9A0YOTA special call. It sounded like a mess at first but it actually went pretty well. There were 3 operators: me, Darije 9A3BYW and Ryan EI8KW. As I was on vacation, I also had to set up a log server remotely a few days before and between two ski slopes ^^. The craziest part of this contest was during my shift turns, I had to do most of the contacts in my car, laptop on knees while going back home! The whole month was an amazing adventure with a lot of surprises, friends heard on the air, experimental modes (SSTV, FREEDV, PSK31…) and last but not least, massive pileups! My hype was so high for this year and all went so well that I hope to get the same hype for next year.”

– Jules F4IEY / K4IEY

Erasmus in Sweden of Maxime F4IQN

“I was in Sweden in Erasmus during December YOTA month so I couldn’t take part in the french DYM calls. During my stay, I was a member of ETA, Chalmers university radioclub and electronic club (SK6AB). It seems the club is not connected to YOTA activities organized by the national member society so I didn’t get to participate in the DYM in Sweden. The members are more interested in the DIY side of things and not the operating part. This is due to the very old and half functioning equipment of the station; it appears that the hobby is generating more interest among members after a prolonged period of disinterest. I participated a bit in DYM using remote stations in the US and Croatia but I was seriously limited by the slow wifi in my room and the exam and project reviews period in december/january.”

– Maxime F4IQN

 

The downside of this year was the lack of people operating the French callsigns due to something really relevant for a semester’s end: exams! Even if there were more activities in general than in previous years, the French young team mostly studied for an engineering degree and everyone was not available because of this exam period. Furthermore, adding the fact that most radioclubs are closed during holidays and because of the lack of personal HF gear, people cannot operate at all! A solution to this downside could be setting up an HF remote station, available 24/7 so that French operators can use it anytime, anywhere.

April 8, 2023
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Train The Trainer report – Team Switzerland – DYM 2022

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For the December YOTA Month in 2023, we tried to contact as many Youngsters as we could. From the about 25 contacted, about 8 were interested to participate in the DYM. With these 8 people, I was regularly in contact throughout the whole month of December and I tried to set up some meetings. On different occasions, I met with 2 licensed young Hams to go to the local club station of HB9W and do some QSOs under our special call sign HB9YOTA. Also, I met with 2 people interested in ham radio to inform them about what exactly ham radio is and how it’s done. Also, I explained to them how to get their license.

On December 15, 2022, I held a presentation about ham radio at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. This evening, I exchanged contact information with several interested fellows, with some of whom I’m still in contact. Some of them are going to take their ham radio exam at the Federal Office of Communications this February. I’m looking forward to introducing them to other young hams and doing some activities with them also.

From December 16 to December 17, 2022, Philipp DK6SP from the IARU Youth Team visited us in Switzerland. We went to HB9W and did about 860 QSOs in SSB, CW, FT4, and FT8. On December 17, 2022, Andy HB9JOE, Head of Radiosports of the USKA, visited us at the club station and we talked a lot about the future of ham radio in Switzerland as well as all over Europe. Furthermore, on several occasions, I activated the HB9YOTA call from the HB9W club station as well as my home station.

 

Jan C. Helfenberger, HB9GWQ

Youth Coordinator USKA, The Experimental Wireless Technology Society of Switzerland