YOTA Czechia 2024 – Day 2

Another busy day at the YOTA summer camp in Prague!

Today started with a lecture on SDR, with an emphasis on the evolution of radio hardware and implementation of software.

After this we were told about the polar expedition of the airship Italia, which crashed on the jagged icecaps of the Arctic Ocean in 1928.

Miraculously, the SOS call from the stranded crew was heard in Russia, and the survivors were rescued thanks to Giuseppe Biagi and his distress call from the salvaged radio.

After lunch, we had another presentation on antennas by the president of the Czech Radio Club, Jiri Šanda, OK1RI.

I find propagation and antenna tuning really interesting—having struggled with it in the past!—so this was really useful.

Later in the afternoon, each team was to present about the youth activities in their home country.

Here’s a photo of me talking about my experiences at CUWS!

To wrap up the day, after dinner, we had an off-air contest, which is a staple of YOTA camps.

This was the most chaotic half hour of the day!

Lots of running around and laughing, and lots of practice for listening for call signs amidst the QRM and pileups!

I think I probably exerted myself physically more than in a normal radio contest!

Category: YOTA Czechia 2024 updates