FLSPOTA 2024 will take place April 6-7, 2024 throughout Florida’s beautiful state parks. 

I have updated the rules, with the bonuses being simplified. The only one now is the point bonus for each POTA station you can contact during your operation to support the event goals of encouraging folks to A) get out and operate in the parks and B) try make as many contacts as possible with stations in other Florida state parks, as well as POTA entities, stations in other states’ parks (GA, AL etc.)…basically, let’s make this a weekend to celebrate parks!

Check out flspota.org/rules for more info.

and…

Please send your activation plans to activations@flspota.org so we can update the activation list!

FLSPOTA 2023 will take place April 1-2, 2023 throughout Florida’s beautiful state parks. 

There are no rule or category updates this year.

Full text of the rules is available here. Keep up with FLSPOTA on Facebook, Twitter, and groups.io for updates over the coming weeks! Please send your activation plans to activations@flspota.org so we can update the map!

Single Op – Low Power – In Park:

Multi Op – Low Power – In Park:

Multi Op – QRP – In Park:

Single Op – Low Power – Not in Florida:

Single Op – High Power – Not in Florida:

FLSPOTA 2022 will take place April 2-3, 2022 throughout Florida’s beautiful state parks. 

There are no rule or category updates from last year.

Full text of the rules is available here. Keep up with FLSPOTA on Facebook, Twitter, and groups.io for updates over the coming weeks! Please send your activation plans to activations@flspota.org so we can update the map!

Single Op – Low Power – In Park:
KB2EZN 185
W8RD 210

Multi Op – Low Power – In Park:
W4PRP 37
N3RN 110
W4E 438

Single Op – Low Power – Not in Florida:
N2TA 65
N1ADX 25

THANK YOU to our activators and chasers who made this year’s event a success. Logs for the event must be submitted no later than Sunday, April 18th. More information on logs is available here: flspota.org/logs/

If you need a refresher on scoring your logs, check out this blog post.

Also, we’d love if you submit some photos of your activation(s) to activations@flspota.org for use in a wrap-up newsletter we’ll release after scoring is completed.

A few reminders:

• The contest window opens at 1400Z (10a Eastern) each day and concludes the same day at 2200Z (6p Eastern).
• Florida State Parks are operating at limited capacity. If you arrive when the park is at capacity, you will have to wait to enter.
• While inside the park, please adhere to local distancing and masking orders as needed. We are ambassadors to the hobby this weekend!
• There will be two K4LKL (Lakeland Amateur Radio Club) bonus stations, Colt Creek and Lake Kissimmee.

The most current list of planned park activations can be found here. Use the hashtag #FLSPOTA on Twitter to share activation frequencies!

Good luck in the contest!

We hope you’re excited for FLSPOTA 2021! Due to the cancellation of last year’s event, the 2020 rules updates will take effect this year:

• We’ve added a QRP category for operations ≤10W.
• Entry categories have been simplified:
  • Single operator (One person performs all operating and logging)
  • Multi operator (More than one person operates or logs, even if they share one station)
• Earn a bonus point for each out-of-state Park-to-Park contact.
• Scoring multiplier has been revised:
  • Your multiplier is the sum of FL State Parks activated and FL State Parks worked (once per band). This eliminates the possibility of a “0” multiplier for activators who do not make an in-state contact.
• As with last year, there is a 15 point bonus for any satellite contacts made during the contest, in addition to 10 points for working each K4LKL bonus station.

Scoring example:

Note: A previous version of this graphic incorrectly listed contacts as once per band/mode/activated park. The FLSPOTA rules state that stations may be worked once per band and activated park, and the graphic has been updated.

Full text of the rules is available here. Keep up with FLSPOTA on Facebook, Twitter, and groups.io for updates over the next month! Please send your activation plans to activations@flspota.org so we can update the map!

Greetings and Happy New Year to our friends in the Florida amateur radio community! We are pleased to announce that the next Florida State Parks on the Air event will take place the weekend of April 3-4, 2021.

Last year, we made the difficult decision to indefinitely postpone the event due to COVID-19 and the temporary closure of all Florida State Parks. Today, most state parks and campgrounds have reopened for normal use and we have decided to proceed with this year’s event with a few recommended modifications:

• All activators should adhere to CDC guidelines to mitigate COVID-19 exposure risk.
• Participating clubs are highly encouraged to limit the number of participants and/or use smaller groups to activate separate parks simultaneously.
• Shared equipment should be sanitized between operators.
• Anyone who is unable to safely participate in the field is encouraged to help this year’s Activators by hunting from home.

The planned rule revisions for 2020 will now be effective this year. These changes include the addition of a QRP category, revision of the scoring system, and simplified entry categories. These changes are covered in greater depth in this post.

We thank everyone for their understanding and we look forward to getting you in the log this April! As always, please send your activation plans to activations@flspota.org so we can publish them.

The FLSPOTA team – Matt NJ4Y, Corey N4FQ, and Ben N4BLH

Just a reminder in case anyone missed our announcement last week: Unfortunately, Florida DEP has closed all State Parks effective March 23. It is not known when they will reopen.

As a result, Florida State Parks on the Air 2020 has been postponed until later in the year. The new weekend is TBD, but will be announced on the FLSPOTA Facebook page and https://groups.io/g/flspota