Icom UK Supports The Scouts with IC-9700 Radio for JOTA Activities

Icom UK has supported Scouts with their annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) activities and other Amateur radio promotional activities by supplying an IC-9700 radio. This collaboration aims to enhance the Scouting experience by providing reliable and advanced radio equipment for communication during JOTA events.

JOTA is an exciting worldwide Scouting event that gathers Scouts from different countries through Amateur radio. It provides an opportunity for Scouts to learn about radio communication and connect with fellow scouts around the world fostering international friendships. With the support of Icom UK and the provision of IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1200 MHz SDR Transceiver, Scouts now have access to a top-of-the-line communication tool for JOTA activities.

The Scouts’ Amateur Radio National Support Team provide and encourage others to lead Amateur radio-based activities as part of the Scouting activity programme throughout the year. Running a balanced programme is a very important part of day-to-day Scouting, and every additional activity available increases the variety for the young people. Amateur radio also has a direct link with one of the activity badges that the young people can earn as passing their foundation licence exam immediately qualifies them for their communicator badge.

John Gascoigne (M5ET) Team Leader of the Scouts’ Amateur Radio National Support Team said, "The type of things the young people do at these events can vary, but we normally put together a multi-band demonstration station and encourage the participants to send greeting messages for ongoing QSOs as well as running construction based activities, demonstrating SDR receivers (aircraft tracking with ADS-B is very popular!) ARDF (possibly our most popular side activity) and for those who are licenced we’ve also run some contesting sessions in some of the large HF contests."

He added, "It is important that young people are given an insight into Amateur radio. So much of today’s technology relies on the basic principles of radio communication to work. We like to link the wider subject in with technology they are more familiar with and give them that extra understanding. We then find that they naturally progress into wanting to know more about what we’re doing with the radios in our demonstration setups and some of them then decide to look further. We’ve had groups of event participants enjoy the activities so much that they’ve actively pestered their leaders to do more Amateur radio in their standard programme and of course we’ve then helped put those leaders in touch with local clubs who can help with the next step."

John added, "The IC-9700 is a great radio with a modern look and feel in a compact chassis which doesn’t take up half a desk. Having 100W on both VHF and UHF means we can generally run it without needing an external amplifier improving the ease of setup. CI-V is important for both logging and rig control and being able to do that over a USB connection without the need for an additional interface is incredibly valuable. We’ve also used the ethernet control at times allowing us to connect the radio to our bigger antennas but operate it from another location on site using the RS-BA1 software allowing us to continue the demonstrations even when we cannot access our usual operating areas or put up a portable antenna. The pre-defined repeater memory list from Icom’s website is another valuable tool, which we find very useful especially in new locations, and we’ve enjoyed the use of D-STAR in addition to FM and SSB when looking for quality contacts. The waterfall display is a brilliant visual tool for showing how the spectrum can be shared and explaining how tuning and frequencies work."

John said, "We wanted a modern VHF/UHF radio which would look attractive to the participants visiting our station at events as it’s a lot easier to get that initial engagement when the technology you are using looks modern, rather than having something on the desk that looks like it came from 20-30 years ago. The IC-9700 is perfect for this and once an initial interest is piqued it then performs well on our antenna systems, allowing us to maintain that interest with good quality contacts which are easy to understand (whilst SSB is great for enthusiasts, it often lacks the presence of a good FM contact). We also like to highlight the things we can do with Amateur satellites and the ISS, especially since Tim Peake’s mission a few years ago, we’ve found that it’s a very attractive side of the hobby that the young people can’t find an alternative way to do. We often hear the question “Why would I want to use a radio to talk to Australia when I can do it with FaceTime on my phone?” When you show them you can send a signal via a satellite or the ISS, it sparks their interest and gets them excited about the technology. Being able to then take the IC-9700 out to portable stations we set up at other events and do these demonstrations there is very valuable and we anticipate using it in the field as much as at our fixed station. We’re also hoping to be able to use it for some EME in the future once we get our antenna system built for it."

"The hobby encourages many practical skills, an important view of safety (both electrical and physical) improving communication skills, encouraging multi-tasking (e.g. logging and operating at the same time) attention to detail, accuracy and clarity of both spoken and written information. JOTA gets stronger year-on-year with more stations being set up and more groups participating each time. It’s truly remarkable to see something first thought up over a coffee morning at a camp by a small group of radio Amateurs and then fronted by one British Amateur (Les Mitchell, G3BHK) going global like this."

As to the future, John said, "At this point in time our standard events are undergoing some changes in approach, with both the format and number of attendees being reviewed. JOTA, however, is a target for expansion, as it offers something unique that most other events don’t. We’re planning on running events from three of the national Scout Adventures centres and are hoping to set up RF links between the three which we will keep active during the event, as well as making contact with others across the globe."

He added, "Thanks Icom UK for providing the IC-9700…this allows us to deliver on current and future goals as well as help develop possibly the next generation of Amateur radio operators."

To watch a short promotional video from JOTA 2022 showcasing the event and the important involvement of Amateur radio, please click on: JOTA Video.

For more information about the Scouts visit their website: www.scouts.org.uk

03/09/2025