W6BSA Operators and Operating Schedule

W6BSA Hours of Operation

Station 1 Radios (HF SSB/CW, VHF FM, and perhaps UHF DStar radios) W6BSA is planning to operate from MDARC trailer (weather permitting):

Set-up/test VHF/UHF Friday am (by Bill W.)
Set-up/test HF Friday pm (after Bill K6KN arrives with HF antenna)
Saturday and Sunday 8am-5pm (15:00 - 24:00 GMT)

Station 2 Echolink Computer Friday (maybe), D-Star Radio Saturday and Sunday, via Internet at or near the Youth Lounge during exhibit hall hours. D-Star radio(s) on loan from ICOM.

Set-up D-Star Radios Saturday 8:30am (or maybe 9am by Scott H., depending on access)
Saturday 9am-5pm (16:00 - 24:00 GMT)
Sunday 9am-1pm (16:00 - 20:00 GMT)

Station 3 Computer (EchoLink and/or JOTI via Internet) in Salon A during Youth Forum "Youth and Scouting Activities" and lunch periods:

Set-up Saturday 8am
Saturday 8am-9am (15:00 - 16:00 GMT)
Saturday 12noon-1pm (19:00 - 20:00 GMT)
Saturday 2pm-3pm (21:00 - 22:00 GMT)
Saturday 4pm-5pm (23:00 - 24:00 GMT)
Sunday 8am-9am (15:00 - 16:00 GMT)
Sunday 11am-1pm (18:00 - 20:00 GMT)

Operators Needed

Station 1: At least 2 licensed Amateur Radio operators are needed each shift at the trailer station site. General or higher for HF, Tech. or higher for VHF/UHF/EchoLink. EchoLink operators are requested to bring their own laptops configured for EchoLink. EchoLink operators need to be preregistered and validated prior to Pacificon.

Station 2 and 3: EchoLink operators need to be licensed Amateur Radio Operators. JOTI operators do not need to be licensed. Operators are asked to bring their own preconfigured and tested laptops.

Operator Information

Operators please read the following:

Guidelines for Amateur Radio Operators (BSA)
Youth Protection (BSA)

For more information please see:

Schedule Planning Tools

radioalert Yahoo! group for notification of WOSM JOTA changes
JOTAskedbook Yahoo! group for scheduling contacts
JOTA stations registered with US JOTA Organizer (BSA)
JOTA-JOTI database (WOSM)
JOTA Stations in ARRL Pacific Division Area

Operating Tools

JOTA Scouting DX Cluster (dxzone.com)
J-Codes for communicating with non-English speaking Scouts and Guides
Calculate the Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates (FCC)

Time Information

NIST Official UTC Time (Java required)
NIST Official US Pacific Time Zone Time (Java required)
WWV, WWVB and WWVH Time Broadcasts
US Time Zones

Station 1 Configuration (at trailer)

Position 1: VHF/UHF FM Station

Rig: VHF/UHF rig (TBD) on outside table, preferred or trailer VHF/UHF built-in
Antenna: Discone antenna mounted on trailer.
Power setup: to be determined. Trailer will have 117v AC
Repeater: Monitor CCRA WA6HAM repeater system for SF Bay Area JOTA communications, and inbound EchoLink node WA6HAM-R 501653 connections
Repeater(s): Still need repeaters with outgoing IRPL and outgoing EchoLink if Internet access not available at trailer or hotel firewalls block UDP ports needed for EchoLink.

Position 2: HF Station (40m, 20m)

Rig: Trailer HF rig or subsitute on outside table
Antenna: 31 ft. vertical wire in triangle for 20m, 40m.
Power setup: to be determined. Trailer will have 117v AC

HF operations will need to be band coordinated with W1AW and other HF stations near-by. (Think "field day" type operation.)

Position 3: Internet Station

Rig: Laptop computer (provided by each EchoLink operator
Accessories: headset with microphone, webcam for video (optional)
Internet Software: EchoLink (for voice communications), mIRC (for typed messages) and TeamSpeak (for voice conversations)
Internet Connection: Hotel ethernet (cat5 cable required) or WiFi. Hotel router wirewall needs to pass inbound UDP 5198 and UDP 5199 through to local computer for EchoLink to work.
Power setup: Trailer will have 117v AC (extension cord/computer power supply maybe needed