SCOUTS were given plenty of air time at an annual scouting event.

Jamboree on the air (JOTA) is an annual event in which hundreds of thousands of Scouts and Guides all over the world make contact with each other by means of amateur radio.

This year JOTA was held over the weekend of October 18/19 – its aim is to teach children the skills of wireless radio techniques and electronics.

Members of the Scouting organisation from around Wotton-under-Edge were lent a hand by members of the Thornbury and South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio Club (TSGARC) as they communicated with people from across the globe.

A temporary radio station was set up at Conygres Wood Scout camp in Wotton-under-Edge.

Conygres Wood was purchases by the Wotton-under-Edge Scout Group in 1973 and is now the spring to autumn meeting venue for the group as well as local Rainbow and Brownie organisations.

Over the weekend three separate radio stations covering local, European and some international communications were set up as well as Morse Code practice and a flight radar display.

All of the children were given an opportunity to hold a conversation on the radio, supervised by one of the TSGARC operators.

The JOTA station at Conygres was produced in conjunction with the 1st Wotton-under-edge scouts and the Thornbury and South Gloucestershire Amateur Radio Club (TSGARC) with much appreciated assistance from the Woodhouse Park Amateur Radio Club.

Paul Smart, a member of TSGARC, said: “This is the third time, in recent years, that we’ve worked with the scouts as a part of JOTA.

“The Scouts were communicating with other Scouts – mainly in the UK – but also with a couple of groups on the USA – one in Manhattan and another in Las Vegas.

"It's a great event for us to do. It was a really successful event and it was great that we were able to make contact with scouting groups from all over the world.

TSGARC meet every Wednesday at 7.30pm in The Chantry, in Thornbury. For further details on the group visit: www.TSGARC.uk