In 2017 the Youth Contesting Program (YCP) of IARU R1 will be continued. Youth members from IARU R1 member societies are invited to take part in a contest from so called “Top-Gun” stations. These young HAM’s will learn how to operate the contest station, improve their contest skills and will aim for the best results together as a team. A youngster will probably be coming for the first time to the host country and will get the chance to experience this country and share amateur radio knowledge with local youngsters.

Announced contest locations:
ES5TV ARI International DX contest (6−7 May 2017)
9A1A 9A1RBZ CQ M International DX contest (13−14 May 2017)
4O3A CQWW RTTY contest (23−24 September 2017)

Are you interested? Have a look at the YOTA website for more information.

During the month of December, several youngsters will activate call signs with YOTA as the suffix. The idea of this is to show the amateur radio hobby to youth and to encourage youngsters to be active within the hobby! Consider giving a demonstration at a school or local club, gather together with your friends, grab a pizza and make some QSOs or enjoy a great pile-up. Let’s show this great hobby to the world!

Feel free to make a QSO with the youngsters, they are happy to get some attention and exchange information. Licensed and unlicensed youth will be making QSOs, be aware this could be their first radio contact ever so give them a chance to experience a possible new hobby without getting impatient, we all remember our first contact.
Like previous years there will be a special award available for persons who worked several YOTA stations.

To apply for a YOTA callsign you need to follow some rules:

Rules:
1- Follow the rules. Although this is a friendly activity, some rules are needed.
2- Have a callsign with YOTA in the suffix. For example: PA6YOTA
3- Maximum of 2 callsigns per country. If you are willing to make an exception, for example your country has several prefix districts, feel free to contact us with your request.
4- Applicants must ensure that the callsign is used primarily to get Youngsters On The Air (Youngsters are defined by IARU R1 as ‘under-26’)
5- We kindly ask you to upload the ADIF log on a daily basis. At least all QSOs must be sent as an ADIF file before 10^th January 2017.
6- All QSOs must be made in December 2016.
7- This is NOT a contest; we are trying to spread the word! Talk to people about what we do, not only quick 5/9s. Admitting, a pile-up is always fun and off course we all love it
8- Use the same YOTA callsign which was used in your country in the previous year(s)
*We are aware that it is not possible to have a callsign with YOTA in suffix in all countries. Is this also your case and would you like to take part, contact us.
*All applicants applying for a YOTA callsign should be a member of an IARU member society.

Deadline for registration will be closed on 20 November 2016.
Registration page: http://​www​.ham​-yota​.com/​d​e​c​e​m​b​e​r​-​y​o​t​a​-​m​o​n​t​h​/​r​e​g​i​s​t​er/

Today was a historical day for youth and amateur radio. In the Youngsters On The Air camp in Austria the first YOTA contact ever was made with the International Space Station. More than 100 young radio amateur from about 30 countries were attending this contact. 20 Of the young HAM’s had the chance to talk to astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ. The contact was setup as a telebridge contact via VK4KHZ. 
The Austrian national television channel ORF made a video of the contact.

Check out the YOTA website for daily news flashes.

This Saturday, 16^th of July, already the 6^th Youngsters On The Air week will take place. Over 100 youngsters from 30 member societies, including an IARU Region 2 team from USA, will travel to Wagrain in the Austrian mountains. This edition will be organized by OeVSV which is proudly celebrating their 90^th anniversary.

The youngsters will be having a lot of fun with amateur radio, there will be many workshops, they will be optimizing their skills in electronics and contesting and will make new international friends. To name some activities from the exciting program: SOTA, COTA, propagation in an ice cave, homebrew HF antenna and using the same antenna in the mountains as a SOTA station, HAMNET, working with a Raspberry Pi and making a WSPR beacon out of this or use it with DV4mini for digital voice and the famous intercultural evening where everyone brings food and drinks from their home country. On Monday 10:25 UTC there will even be a telebridge ARISS contact with astronaut Jeff Williams KD5TVQ, which will give the youth an unforgettable experience. All this is only a small selection of the program.
More info and real live updates of the event are available here.

If you would like to make a QSO with one of the youngsters, listen for OE2YOTA which will be on air on most bands in several modes.