Awards

SCOTA Award

Purpose: The purpose of the SCOTA Award is to encourage licensed radio amateurs to make two way contacts with Scout Camps on the air. 

Eligible: Any licensed radio amateur 

Award start date: 1/1/2023

Rules:

  1. SCOTA activation: The camps should be activated by registered Scouts both youth and adults. No activation by a non-scout will be accepted, since the purpose is to have the Scouts activate the camp. All operations from a camp should have approval from the camp ranger or director. Only operations from either the camp station or within the boundaries of a Scout camp area will be acceptable for counting as an activation for SCOTA. 
  1. SCOTA point value: Stations that count for the SCOTA award are two different types of Scout stations. A SCOTA is a station that is operated from a permanent BSA owned/leased camp. A Scout Station on the air (SSOTA) is any Scout lead radio operation from a Scout event that is outside of any BSA owned/leased Scout Camp. The SSOTA identification is determined by what region they are operating from. Both SCOTA and SSOTA regions count towards the SCOTA award. The four high adventure camps are unique in that within their boundaries there are both SCOTA stations and SSOTA regions.

Below are the points assigned to each type of Scout station.

  1. World Jamboree Station   10pts
  2. National Jamboree Station 9pts
  3. SSOTA High Adventure Region 8pt
  4. SCOTA High Adventure Station 7pt
  5. SSOTA Challenged Council Region 6pt 
  6. SCOTA Council Station 5pt
  7. SSOTA Council Region (i.e. JOTA events) 4pt

 

SCOTA Award levels: The initial SCOTA award can be earned by collecting 50 points. Twenty-five of the 50 points should be from contacts with SCOTA council stations.

Quality Camp Station Award:

Purpose: The purpose of the Quality Camp Station Award is to encourage the preparedness and function of the camp station, including its outreach to Scouts. This can be awarded on an annual basis.  

Eligible: Any BSA-owned Scout Camp with a SCOTA station.

Requirements:

Silver Level

  1. Offer the Radio merit badge every week of summer camp.
  2. Make at least one camp-to-camp contact each week of summer camp. 
  3. Complete one station improvement project. 

Gold Level

  1. Offer the Radio merit badge every week of summer camp.
  2. Make at least one camp-to-camp contact each week of summer camp. 
  3. Complete one station improvement project. 
  4. Participate in JOTA 

Quality Scout Station Award:

Purpose: The purpose of the Quality Scout Station Award is to encourage preparedness of and functionality of the Radio Scouters station as well as encourage on-air contacts with Scout Camp Stations. 

Eligible: Any registered youth or adult Radio Scout station.

Requirements:

Silver Level

  1. Work at least 5 SCOTA and 5 JOTA Stations in a year or Participate in a JOTA Station.
  2. Finish a station improvement project, if no improvement is necessary then help a fellow radio amateur with their station improvement project. 
  3. Make at least 20 contacts using any mode in a year. 

Gold Level

  1. Work at least 10 SCOTA and 10 JOTA Stations in a year or Participate in a JOTA Station.
  2. Finish a station improvement project, if no improvement is necessary then help a fellow radio amateur with their station improvement project. 
  3. Make at least 50 contacts using any mode in a year.

 

Station Definitions: There are multiple types of stations that exist in SCOTA/SSOTA. Here is what they all mean.

  1. World Jamboree Station – An amateur radio station of any type at a World Jamboree event.
  2. National Jamboree Station – An amateur radio station of any type at a National Jamboree event.
  3. SSOTA High Adventure Region – A mobile/temporary station at a BSA high adventure camp (Philmont, Northern Tier, Summit, or Sea Base) that is anywhere except for the SCOTA area.
  4. SCOTA High Adventure Station – A permanent station set up at a BSA high adventure camp (Philmont, Northern Tier, Summit, or Sea Base) basecamp.
  5. SSOTA Challenged Council Region – This is a region defined by SCOTA/SSOTA that has been identified as harder to activate or “challenged.” This could be due to remote areas, high elevation, difficult terrain, etc.
  6. SCOTA Council Station – This is a permanent station setup inside a council or camp by the council for scouts and scouters to use.
  7. SSOTA Council Region – This is a region that SCOTA/SSOTA defines as a councils “region.” Any SSOTA operations within this region but are not considered “Challenged” or “High Adventure” fall under this category.