Each year, more than 500,000 scouts in more than 100 countries take to the airways on the third full weekend in October.
From Friday through Sunday, more than 300 scouts in the Allegheny-Highland Council, which includes Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, will participate in the 55th annual Jamboree On-The-Air at Camp Merz in Mayville. The scouts will be able to experience amateur radio with the help of Chautauqua Amateur Radio Service of Jamestown. The radio club will erect portable antennas and have their equipment ready for service.
The camp, billed as The Monster Mash, will also have games and scouting programs.
Aaron Miles, liaison between the Boy Scouts and the Chautauqua Amateur Radio Service, said scouts of all ages can participate.
Once at the amateur radio station, the communication typically requires speaking into a microphone and then listening via the stations speakers. However other forms of specialized communications will also take place, such as Allstar link ECHO link and digital mode.
The World Scout Bureau reported that in 2011, the Jamboree on the Air had nearly 750,000 scouts participating from more than 6,000 amateur radio stations. Scouts can receive information that can be used to fulfill a radio merit badge requirement.
The CARS club will also be on hand to give anyone testing for their amateur license if they are ready. Otherwise exams are given at the James Prendergast Library in Jamestown the Saturday of every month at 2 p.m.
For more information, call Laura Mueller at 720-7938.