The Portage County Amateur Radio Service, Inc. (PCARS) announces the 2nd Annual “Ohio State Parks On the Air” (OSPOTA) contest to be held on Saturday, September 12, 2009, from the hours of noon to eight p.m. EDT (1600 UTC to 2400 UTC).
For hams throughout the State of Ohio, this is your opportunity to visit and enjoy the amenities offered by the 73 beautiful State Parks here in Ohio. Don’t just make a day of it, spend the weekend at the park of your choice. No matter whether you are camping or staying at one of the outstanding lodges or resorts, you will find that the parks are one of Ohio’s greatest assets. Find out more about the parks at: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks.
In 2008, over half of the State Parks had operating stations and hundreds of Amateur Radio Operators (hams) from around the country participated in the event. With the success of OSPOTA 2008, we hope to have hams at every park in 2009.
This contest places a premium on working stations at the State Parks. That means that it is critical to have as many parks activated as possible. The challenge for Ohio stations will be to work HF in the 50 to 300 mile range. This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the design and deployment of NVIS antennas. You can find numerous designs on the Internet as well as in various Amateur Radio antenna manuals. Along with your operating skills, it will be a chance to showcase your antenna building skills as well.
Individuals and clubs can operate Ohio State Park stations and there will be a special award for the club that activates the greatest number of Ohio State Parks. Non-park stations in Ohio as well as stations outside of Ohio can also compete.
Contact can be made with any mode (CW, SSB, FM, AM, digital) on HF and VHF bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and 2 meters and all contacts have the same point value. (Digital includes PSK-31, RTTY, etc.)
Make sure that you read the FAQ’s and don’t forget to download the “ODNR Info” sheet to take with you on Sept. 12th in case any State Park staff has questions about the event. The Rules for OSPOTA 2009 will be posted on the OSPOTA Website: http://parks.portcars.org well before the event.
So get to an Ohio State Park and get On The Air in September. Have some fun with this contest! Check back for future announcements about additional prizes. Learn more about PCARS at www.portcars.org.
73 for now,
OSPOTA Contest Committee