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February 2008
Girl
Guides on the Air is a special project of CLARA as well
as for
'hams' who are
interested or involved with the Guide and Scout movement. The idea
behind it is to show the guides and their leaders the purpose of
amateur radio and the usefulness it can play in many countries around
the world. See
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/hfarchibald/
for more information on GOTA.
How
GOTA started:
GOTA began in 1985 to celebrate 75 years of Guiding in Canada, the
United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. GOTA has grown each year
with more countries taking part, and most Canadian Call Areas now have
an operator sponsoring the GGC suffix e.g.
VE4GGC, VE7GGC. There are many Amateur Radio operators, winter camps,
clubs, schools, fire halls, Red Cross, churches and Military basis
involved with GOTA.
GOTA is
held the third full weekend in February.
It is always a special thrill for them to
communicate with guiding members around the world. After
operating, all guides
are given a QSL card. This is a card that acknowledges that
they have
made a two-way contact with another person. After the event they are
also eligible for a participation patch.
Inviting girl guides to your
shack:
Some suggestions to help you organize a visit:
- Know before
hand how many
girls and leaders you can handle at one time.
- Have a map
of Canada and
world map to show the girls where the other station is located.
- Show the
girls 'around' your
shack.
- Briefly
explain how amateur
radio works and what they can expect.
- Explain the
microphone and
that the receiver shuts off when the PTT is pushed.
- Mention
some of things you
can do with amateur radio.
- Have a
sheet with the
Phonetic Alphabet handy and have the girls practice spelling their
names in phonetics.
- Show them
your QSL card and
others you have received. Explain the function of the card.
- Make sure
the girls are well
supervised at all times. Stress to the chaperones that the equipment is
expensive and that meddling can be dangerous.
- Have
chaperones make sure no
one wanders away from the shack.
- If you know
of other GOTA
stations who will be participating, try to set up schedules on
appropriate bands and frequencies, but don't make any promises you
can't keep.
- One hour to
1-1/2 hours is a
recommended time frame for a session.
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Suggested
frequencies
for GOTA
80 m -
3.733 or 3.933
40 m -
7.088 or 7.188
20 m -
14.133 or 14.188 or
14.288
15 m -
21.288
10 m -
28.488
2 m is OK
to use
lADIES
AMATEUR RADIO Get Involved!
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