KF5BET
10-18-2009, 09:20 PM
The boyscouts held their annual Jamoboree on the Air (JOTA) this past weekend.
We were volunteering through our church and couldn't be there, but I had contacted one of the hams and told him that I would have my daughter monitor the local repeater to help them make contacts.
It was set up that Abbi would start monitoring around 10:00am. Abbi (12 yrs old), was not that excited about having to talk to a bunch of boys on the air (I know that won't last for long...) but she agreed to do it.
I went out with her and fired up the handheld and sure enough they were there looking for some contacts. I coached her through a couple of contacts and left her on her own. This was the first time she got on the air since she got her ticket.
After we left our prior commintment, we swung by the Boy Scout Office and man were those kids surprised to find out they had been talking to a 12 yr old girl. There sure were some wide eyes...All of the older hams there complimented her on her radio etiquette and how clear she pronunciated. All of the boy scouts had wanted to talk to her when they found out she was their age and had her license (I think they thought that was pretty cool). They probably thought it was better than talking to the "old" guys there helping them!!
Abbi had a blast making contacts (I think she made about 20). When we got home she wanted to get back on the air and make some more.
I could not have been more proud. Hopefully this will spur her own to be more active in the hobby!
We were volunteering through our church and couldn't be there, but I had contacted one of the hams and told him that I would have my daughter monitor the local repeater to help them make contacts.
It was set up that Abbi would start monitoring around 10:00am. Abbi (12 yrs old), was not that excited about having to talk to a bunch of boys on the air (I know that won't last for long...) but she agreed to do it.
I went out with her and fired up the handheld and sure enough they were there looking for some contacts. I coached her through a couple of contacts and left her on her own. This was the first time she got on the air since she got her ticket.
After we left our prior commintment, we swung by the Boy Scout Office and man were those kids surprised to find out they had been talking to a 12 yr old girl. There sure were some wide eyes...All of the older hams there complimented her on her radio etiquette and how clear she pronunciated. All of the boy scouts had wanted to talk to her when they found out she was their age and had her license (I think they thought that was pretty cool). They probably thought it was better than talking to the "old" guys there helping them!!
Abbi had a blast making contacts (I think she made about 20). When we got home she wanted to get back on the air and make some more.
I could not have been more proud. Hopefully this will spur her own to be more active in the hobby!