[aprssig] CQ JOTA CQ JOTA on APRS

[Bob Bruninga]

APRS mentors.

GET OUT on 17 Oct.  Contact your local ham radio clubs and find out who is supporting a JOTA scouting activity in your area next weekend.  Ask if you can take your APRS laptop and demonstrate it.

APRS can be used for JOTA for making contacts all over the world.  APRS has a global JOTA CQ method so that your CQ JOTA message goes not just on local RF but also to ALL other JOTA stations on the planet.

To work JOTA on APRS all you have to do is send an APRS message to CQSRVR and use the words CQ JOTA CQ JOTA at the beginning of the message.  This will put you on the CQSRVR server for 24 hours and forward your message to everyone else that has done the same thing.

>From then on, you too will get every such loggon message from everyone else.

When you see one of these, then you have a callsign and then you can messsage DIRECT to that station, since APRS allows callsign-to-callsign messaging anywhere on the planet.

See www.aprs.org/cqsrvr.html

You can even do this from your APRS HT or D700/710. Show the scouts that HAM radio TEXT messaging works!  YOu only need to enter two messages to QSO all day:

1) To: CQSRVR Msg: CQ JOTA CQ JOTA Troop XXXX in AL

2) To: CALL Msg: QSL! We are at Woodsmoke in FLorence

or whatever.  Even though you only have your microphone keypad, all you have to do for each contact, is just RESEND message #2 and only change the CALL.  Very easy to do from a keybad.

You resend message #1 once every 30 minutes or more (not allowed to send it globally any more often)...

Duh, scout kids KNOW HOW TO TEXT MESSAGE, and will love to see it work on Ham Radio!

Bob,WB4APR