Scouts Canada National Museum
1345 Baseline Road K1A 0C5 Ottawa, ON, Canada

Want to learn more about amateur radio and pick up a new STEM skill? The Scouts Canada National Museum team will be running another Basic Amateur Radio course, building on the success of last year! The course will start on November 15 and will run on Sundays from 2pm to 5pm using Zoom. If you're interested in registering, or would like more information, please email [email protected].

JOTA 2020 As you all know, Voyageur Council Scouts and Scouters were not permitted to gather to participate in-person for the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) this year. Instead, the National Museum’s Radio Team devised a way for Scouts and Scouters to participate in JOTA virtually and safely from their own homes via Zoom. The plan proved to be very successful and participation was surprisingly good. Contacts (QSO’s) were made with eleven different Amateur Radio station’s, one ...in Ontario, 7 in the USA (MO twice, PA three times, KY and NJ), and three overseas (Namibia, Luxembourg, and Russia). Importantly, eight Scouting Youth participated, including 4 Youth from the 32nd Ottawa Group, one of whom was 10-year old Adam who was very engaging with callers and expressed an interest in obtaining an Amateur Radio Operator certificate. Also of importance was Amelia, a Girl Guide Pathfinder from Perth, who engaged in great conversations with two Youth from the 32nd Ottawa Group and with two Youth from Barrhaven. In addition to the various Scouter Radio Operators, there were five Scouting volunteers (four Canadian Scouters and one US Scouter), and one Girl Guide leader who assisted with various conversations. Having two graduates from VC’s Amateur Radio Course operate on the Air for the first time was a bonus, and we hope that they will be encouraged to consider future operations on their own with their own youth. A good time was had by all participants and everyone learned a lot from the experience. Although no members of the National Museum’s Youth Team, who participated in the Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) in 2019, participated this year, there may have been some VC Youth who participated independently using VE3SHQ’s JID Code, which was posted for that purpose on the Museum’s Facebook Page. The National Museum’s three-member Radio Team (Scouters Chris Bisaillion, Harrie Jones and Thane Brown) must be commended for their efforts, and they deserve our heartfelt thanks. And, without the other Scouter volunteers and Youth who chose to participate in the event, it would not have been so successful. Amateur Radio practicing social distancing for over one hundred years!

As we approach Remembrance Day The Canadian Museum of Scouting would like to highlight the involvement scouts played in supporting the defense of Canada and Canada's ideals. One important element of this is a flag that flew on the front lines of World War I. and is now part of the museum's collection. In an effort to supply respite to the troops a marquee [tent] was set up and funded by Scouts, that acted as a church and provided a place of refuge in the conflict. This flag flew over that hut at two of the war's most historic battles Ypres and the Somme.

Hello JOTA and JOTI enthusiasts, Special JOTI starts tomorrow! Registration for individuals participating in the Special Edition of JOTI is now open. People can sign up now at... jotajoti.info and register. Please be patient if there are delays with registration we expect over a million people to participate this weekend so the system can get a bit slow. It is working... it just takes a while. Participants aged 13 and up can register themselves; those under 13 must be registered by a parent or guardian who will participate with them in the activities online this weekend. Program information is now available on the website listed above; visit the Campsite tab and the Activities tab for details on programme for the weekend. Again, please be patient if the website is slow as there are many around the world browsing it with you. If you have difficulties registering, visit the Support tab on the website listed above. Please read through the attached NewsFlash and send the relevant details out to all your participants ASAP so they can prepare for this weekend and avoid a rush of registration later on. https://www.dropbox.com/s/2el7oyw/NewsFlash-2020-04-02.pdf

Jamboree on the Internet JOTI Good Day Scouts & Scouters. Again, the Scouts Canada Museum Is participating with Scouts around the world in this year’s Jamboree on the Air / Jamboree on the Internet. You will see a link to the Jamboree on the Air attached as an event on this Facebook page. However you may be interested to join on the Internet. On the Internet - At Home or in a Small Group... JOTI can be run very successfully with participants accessing the Internet from home (this is how the spring Special Edition of JOTI worked and it worked well!) and this is likely easier to set up than dealing with shared resources (computers that would need to be sanitized between users) in addition to maintaining distancing and maximum numbers. So consider doing the fall JOTI like we did in the spring from individual’s homes with parental supervision and support. Here is the JID code meant for use by Voyageur scouts and scouters who want to participate in JOTI - 6CA14T For guidance, see the following three links. - http://www.jota-joti.ca/downloads/JOTI_Guide.pdf - http://www.jota-joti.ca/downloads/JOTI_Safety.pdf - https://www.jotajoti.info/

JOTA / JOTI NEWS FLASH This year's Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet will take place on October 16th - 18th 2020 As people start to get back to Scouting, keep Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet in your plans.One of the great things about this event is that it can be done taking into account all of the safeguards we are using in a COVID-19 world. In fact, we already did the Special Edition of JOTI this past April and it was done well and safely fr...om peoples’ own homes .As you all know, Voyageur Council Scouts and Scouters will not be permitted to hold inperson activities for the next two weeks or more. Thus, the Scouts Canada Amateur Radio Station (VE3SHQ) will not be able to participate in this important annual international Scouting event in the same way as in recent years. However, through the marvels of technology, our National Museum’s Radio Team has devised a way for Scouts and Scouters to participate in JOTA virtually and safely from their own homes via Zoom. The Radio Team members will operate from their home Amateur Radio Stations by passing the National Museum’s VE3SHQ/P call sign (i.e., P = portable) back and forth between their home stations as required. This method will allow Youth to talk safely with other Scouts around the world from their own homes. If they don’t want to talk on the radio, they can watch and listen. All those who would like to participate should contact [email protected] to register with the Radio Team’s Zoom operator, who will be responsible for queuing participants. Those who wish to participate must install the Zoom video conferencing client on their computers. One member of our Radio Team will be on-air Friday, October 16th from 8:00 to 10:00 PM, but registration of Youth will only be scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day, with a break for lunch from 12:00 Noon to 12:30 PM. We anticipate that this virtual event will be very successful and lead to new and renewed friendships, not only amongst Scouts and Scouters in Voyageur Council, but also nationally and internationally. Registration for the event can be made by contacting [email protected] .Your registration will be confirmed with the Zoom link for the event.

2020 Amateur Radio Operator Course Results . . As posted early this year, registered members of Voyageur Council (VC) were notified of a second opportunity to take a training course offered by the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club (OARC) to become certified Amateur Radio Operators. As in 2019, lead trainers were Harrie Jones, a Director of the OARC, and Thane Brown, who are both members of the Scouts Canada National Museum Group, and key members of the National Museum’s Radio Team, w...hich manages the activities of the Scouts Canada Amateur Radio Station (VE3SHQ). The course began in late February and was to be held every Sunday afternoon in the National Headquarters building. Unfortunately, Covid-19 intervened, and the course had to be delivered virtually using Zoom. The course sessions, and the exams that followed, were completed in mid-June. The exams were also conducted virtually, one person at a time, under protocols prescribed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED Canada). In addition to the necessary subjects of antenna design, construction, and radio regulations, the study course covered many subjects, such as Ohm’s Law, magnetism, solar activity, layers of atmosphere and ionosphere, basic electronics and theory, radio wave propagation, and magnetic waves, all of which are important requirements for understanding modern 21st century communications technology. The conclusion of this year’s course produced seven graduates, including four Scouters and three Youth. Six graduated with honours, and one Youth missed honours by only two percent. Together, the two courses offered by the OARC to Registered members of VC in 2019 and 2020 have produced thirteen new certified Amateur Radio Operators, three of whom are Youth members, an amazing accomplishment by any measure. This good news includes one VC Scouter who signed up late but still took the exam, and the Youth who missed honours by only two points and is being encouraged to take the exam again. Given the success this year, consideration is being given to offering the course again. We send very special congratulations to VC Scouts JW Esterak and Isaac Byrne of the 1st Gloucester Troop, and William Dudar of the 1st Alymer Troop, the first VC Youth to obtain certification as Amateur Radio Operators. It is hoped that the enthusiasm of all the graduates will be contagious and will lead to more Youth considering future studies in the related STEM skills.