All the staff members have now made it home. We’re currently working on our final report of our efforts. That report will be published in early August on this website. We’re also gathering QSL cards and getting ready to process them. Thanks for your patience along those lines. We have uploaded the logbook to Logbook of the World and Clublog. You can check for your call sign at Jamboree Logbook.

The early numbers for the K2BSA Jamboree operation show that 2,600+ Scouts got in front of a radio and made contact with hams across the country and in a few instances, around the world. A total of 351 Scouts earned the Radio Merit Badge and well over 100 Scouts participated in ARDF — Foxhunting. The license exam sessions increased the population of amateur radio operators by 10 (nine technician licenses and one general) as well as provided four upgrades (two extras and two generals). Overall, it was a very successful operation.

We recommend connecting with the K2BSA.Scouting Facebook page for slide shows and daily reports. You may also find K5ND’s blog entry with slide show to be entertaining. Finally, Tanner Lovelace, KB4TYE, has posted a video of the International Space Station Contact.

Rain storms became a bit of a theme for our operation. We shut down the station in the late afternoon and really didn’t fire it up until the next day. Hosted the nightly net via a laptop running Echolink. The rain did force a few people into the demonstration tent seeking shelter which gave us the opportunity to introduce them to amateur radio!

Total demonstrations for the day reached 412 Scouts spread over 111 Qs. Forty-seven Scouts earned the Radio Merit Badge. Eleven Scouts got out on the ARDF course. We also conducted a balloon launch, this time with GPS receiver and APRS transmitter, but things went haywire and we were not able to track the balloon.

License exams increased the population of hams by nine. One of our staff members passed the Extra exam. The pass rate has not been very high at all, which will be food for further review of the need for this service at the next Jamboree.

Today we have another balloon launch planned, a full day of Radio Merit Badge classes, and tear down of the station in the late afternoon. We’re missing a couple of states for Worked All States. Not at all close to DXCC.

Thanks to everyone who got on the air and worked K2BSA and spent time with the Scouts.

Here’s the audio recording of the K2BSA Jamboree contact with the International Space Station that took place on July 20, 2013, with 10 Scouts selected from the 100+ Scouts that had completed the Radio Merit Badge through July 18.

It was an exciting contact for everyone and a once in a lifetime event for the 10 Scouts. In the press conference after the contact one of the Scouts described it as an “out of this world experience”!

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