KOTA, Kids On The Air, has successfully ended day 2 of their camp in Czechia. The participating kids did have a long and eventful day.
On today’s agenda were World Wide Flora Fauna activities from three OKFF entities. Also, various workshops were held, e.g. soldering, QO-100, “How to do a good QSO”, SSTV and ARDF on a nearby mountain. Furthermore, all attending took the group photo. In the evening the famous “Off-Air Contest” was held. The day finished with some OL1KOTA shortwave and QO-100 activity.
Stay tuned for the final day at this event tomorrow.
KOTA, which stands for Kids On The Air, officially opened today. This event is organized by the Czech Radio Club (ČRK/CRC) in collaboration with the IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group and marks a new addition to the well-known YOTA program. It’s aimed at a different age group and is considered a Subregional Camp.
Approximately 30 kids between the ages of 10 and 15 have gathered at Trhanov Castle in Czechia. Today’s schedule included their arrival, having dinner, a brief welcome session, and their first workshops on “What is amateur radio?” and “How to have a QSO.” These enthusiastic kids are already on the air using the callsign OL1KOTA. They are operating on the HF bands and the QO-100 geostationary satellite throughout the upcoming weekend.
Additionally, during the camp, participants will have the opportunity to take part in various interactive sessions, workshops, and hands-on demonstrations. The program is designed to provide valuable insights into the world of amateur radio, encouraging a sense of exploration and learning.
Sunday was the first whole day in the YOTA23 Győr. 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 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 ham-yota.com.
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.
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!
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. During the camp we will activate the callsign HG23YOTA on all the major frequencies.
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.
Throughout the entire YOTA Summer Camp, daily news will be posted. Keep an eye out on our YOTA Social Media pages and website.
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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