Day 4 was truly special for everyone—and a dream come true for many!
We started the morning as usual with breakfast, followed by hands-on workshops. Participants who needed extra time to finish building their QMX transceivers had the chance to complete them so they’d be fully ready for the upcoming SOTA activation. Meanwhile, the second group dived into EMCOM (Emergency Communication).
This session was a high-stakes team coordination exercise designed to encourage leadership and hierarchy management. Participants took on various roles within logistics, intelligence, operations, and telecommunications. Team cohesion was key as everyone worked together to construct HF and VHF stations and antennas to keep communications running smoothly.
After lunch, the event everyone had been preparing for all day finally arrived: a live contact with astronaut Sophie Adenot (KJ5LTN) aboard the International Space Station! We connected with her via a telebridge station located in Australia, allowing our YOTA Region 1 Camp participants in Wagrain to speak directly with space.
Twenty of our youth had questions prepared about life in orbit—ranging from “How will the ISS contribute to future space exploration?” to the very practical “How do you do laundry in space?”
The buildup was incredibly tense. As with any ham radio endeavor, you can prepare all you want, but success is never guaranteed—especially when your contact is speeding overhead on the ISS! But the second her voice broke through from space, a wave of relief washed over the room, and the excitement took off. In a race against the clock during our 10-minute pass, we successfully managed to ask 17 questions!
Spectators were able to join the excitement live via our YouTube stream, and we were also joined on-site by Austrian TV, Ö3 Radio, and local media outlets—giving us a fantastic opportunity to showcase amateur radio to the general public.
Following the ISS contact, we had some free time to process the experience, but the action didn’t stop there. Representatives from the Austrian Military visited to show off their tactical equipment, putting on a display and letting us take photos.
To prepare for the next day’s mountain trip, Sylvie OE5YYN, a SOTA expert, gave us an introduction to what to expect during Summit On The Air.
We wrapped up the evening with a series of fun presentations where each national team practiced pitching amateur radio to the public—brainstorming creative ways to inspire newcomers to get licensed!
