Rules

Purpose

To promote public awareness of ham radio and Florida’s state parks system; to contribute to the recognition and appreciation of Florida’s diverse ecology; to encourage camaraderie and sportsmanship among Florida’s Amateur Radio Operators; and to provide a venue for Florida amateurs to get out and enjoy operating in the great outdoors.

Objective

  • For competing stations to operate from as many of Florida’s 172 state parks, trails, and historic sites as possible, with an emphasis on park-to-park contacts.
  • Out-of-state stations may work only Florida stations located in a Florida State Park.
  • In-state stations not located within a Florida State Park may only contact stations that are operating from inside a Florida State Park.

Contest Period

The contest begins on the first Saturday in April, 1400 UTC to 2200 UTC, and continues the following Sunday, from 1400 UTC to 2200 UTC . Eight hours each day, sixteen hours total. Most Florida parks open at 8:00 AM local time, and close at sundown. The operating time period of 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (local) should allow time to enter the park each day, set up a station, operate, and tear down in time to leave before park closing. Please courteously observe all posted park rules and State Park staff instructions. It is the responsibility of the activating amateur to ensure that the park you want to activate will be open. A list of park locations and contact information can be found at https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails

Modes and Bands

  • Modes of Operation: All amateur radio modes are welcome, provided they allow for the full contest exchange (station callsigns, and park location information).
  • Amateur Radio Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.
  • Please honor all band plans.
  • Stations may be worked once per band, depending on entry class. In the case of Florida State Park stations, if an operator moves to a different park during the contest period, additional contacts made with that station on the same band will count for an additional point/multiplier.

Suggested Frequencies

These are suggestions, not requirements. To maximize participation, amateurs are encouraged to operate within the General license portion of the amateur bands.  Operators should use good amateur radio practices and be considerate of others – do not cause interference.

Band (Meters) Phone (MHz) CW (MHz)
80 3.825 3.550
40 7.200 7.050
20 14.250 14.050
15 21.300 21.050
10 28.450 28.050

Entry Categories

  • Location Classes
      1. Station located within Florida State Park(s)
      2. Station located within Florida, not in a State Park
      3. Station located outside of Florida
  • Operator Classes
      1. Single operator
        1. One person performs all operating and logging functions during entire duration of event
        2. Only one transmitted signal is permitted on the air at any time.
        3. One call sign used.
      2. Multi operator
        1. Two or more persons perform operating and/or logging functions
        2. More than one transmitted signal on the air is permitted
        3. One call sign used.
  • Power Classes
    1. QRP (10w or less)
    2. Low Power (up to 100w)
    3. High Power (greater than 100w)

Scoring

  • QSO POINTS – Each complete non-duplicate contact is worth one point.
  • MULTIPLIERS
    • Multipliers are the 172 Florida State Parks, trails, and Historic Sites.
    • Multipliers are awarded for stations worked on each band.
    • Multipliers for each band/callsign/park combination will only be awarded once per contest weekend.
    • Your multiplier is the sum of 1) Florida State Parks you activate during the contest, and 2) Florida State Parks you work (once per band) during the contest.
    • Examples:
      • If you work KK4FEM in park CCR on 15m CW, the AO-91 Satellite, and 20m SSB, you will be awarded three (3) multipliers, one for each contact on each separate band.
      • If you activate 1 park and only make contacts with other stations that are not in Florida State Parks, your multiplier would be 1. If you activate 2 parks and work 3 other stations that are in Florida State Parks, your multiplier would be 5.
      • If you move to a new park, and work a station you already logged from your last park, that contact would count as an additional multiplier.
  • BONUS POINTS
    • The total number of WWFF-KFF Parks on the Air stations operating outside of Florida that you log during the contest period may be added to your total. Do not count parks within Florida in this number.
  • FINAL SCORE – Multiply QSO POINTS by the total number of MULTIPLIERS, and then add any applicable bonus points. (FINAL SCORE = QSO POINTS x MULTIPLIERS + BONUS POINTS)

New Florida State Park or Deleted Florida State Park

The Florida Division of Recreation and Parks (FDRP) may add or delete Florida State Parks at anytime during the year. For the purposes of this contest, use the FLSPOTA State Park Identifier List at

http://flspota.org/parklist

as the official Florida State Park List. If a Florida State Park is deleted by FDRP, delete it from the FLSPOTA Identifier List. This has to be done since access to the property may not be possible. If a Florida State Park is added by FDRP, DO NOT add it to the FLSPOTA Identifier list. The new Florida State Park will not be recognized as part of the FLSPOTA contest until the following year. This will ensure long term planning is not disrupted for contestants.

 Exchange

  • Stations operating from within a Florida State Park send their call sign and their Florida State Park Identifier. Example: “KK4FEM, ADA”
  • Florida stations NOT operating from a Florida State Park send their call sign and “Florida”. Example: “KK4FEM, Florida”
  • Non Florida W/VE stations send their call sign and State or Province. Example: “KD4BF, Georgia” or “VE3BF, Ontario”
  • DX stations outside of W/VE (including KH6/KL7) send call sign and “DX”. Example: “KL7BF,  DX”

Station Location

For stations operating from within a Florida State Park, all components of the contestant’s Amateur Radio station must be physically present on the property of the claimed Florida State Park. Activations from parking lots, visitor’s centers and other publicly accessible property within the bounds of the claimed State Park entity are acceptable. While it is unlikely that the FLSPOTA Committee will request such documentation, we do reserve the right to verify that a particular operation occurred at the claimed location during the event. Participating amateurs activating State Park(s) are encouraged to secure documentation in one or more of the following forms

  1. A photograph of the contestant(s) in front of the main sign or distinguishing landmark within the park.
  2. Image of GPS latitude/longitude coordinates acquired at the station operating location.
  3. Dated receipt for entry fee or parking pass from the claimed State Park

There is an entrance fee to access most of the Florida State Parks (only $4 in most cases). This fee is the responsibility of the activating amateur.

Special Rule for San Pedro Underwater Preserve

Due to the sensitive nature of the San Pedro Underwater Preserve, the “park boundary” for the purposes of this contest are defined as a circle with a radius of 0.75 (3/4) miles, centered at 24°51.802’N, 80°40.795’W (the site of the wreck). You must be within this circle for your activation to count. Any activators seeking to operate from within this State Park site must abide by ALL applicable boating, mooring, and Florida State Park Service rules. Stay safe, do not interfere with the divers and other boaters around the wreck.

Miscellaneous

  • Call signs and exchange information must be received over the air via amateur bands, and logged by both stations for a complete contest QSO.
  • No cross-mode contacts and no credit for contacts made through repeaters
  • No station may claim simultaneous operation of the same callsign in more than one Florida State Park, State, Province or Country at the same time.
  • No participant shall make a QSO utilizing more than one call sign.
  • Multi-Operator entries must only use one call sign during the contest.
  • Soliciting for contacts is encouraged to promote more contacts being made. You can ask a station to meet you on a different band in order to make an additional contact. Use of spotting networks is allowed, and will promote participation in the event.
  • If you are multi-op, you can get assistance from other humans in your operation. We encourage the monitoring of packet or spotting systems during the contest so additional awareness of the contest can be made to encourage participation in the event. 
  • Remote operations are not allowed for stations claiming to be operating from within a Florida State Park. For this contest the control operator, transmitter, and receiver must be in the same Location within the claimed State Park (See “Station Location” section above). This does not apply to Florida stations that are not in State Parks, or DX stations.
  • Cheating isn’t allowed. This includes operating more than 16 hours and trying to make it look like you operated only 16. It means running more power than you are supposed to in your category. Using other means such as QRZ.com to fill in those missing or questionable call signs is not allowed. This is a RADIO contest and you should put in your log what you heard during the contest – not what you found on the internet afterwards. If this type of behavior is detected, the event participant will be contacted and potentially disqualified from the event. Let’s keep this clean, fun, and show good ham radio sportsmanship.
  • Decisions of the Florida State Parks On The Air Contest Committee are final.

Log Submission Guidelines:

To submit your logs:

  • Fill in the blanks telling us your category, power level, number of qsos and bonus info.
  • Attach your actual log file as a PDF, ADI, or Cabrillo .LOG file in the provided space. (file must be smaller than 3mb, and only .pdf, .adi, or .log format)
  • Click Submit!

And that’s it! If you have any questions or issues, you can still email us at logs@flspota.org

Reasons Why Your Log May Be Considered a ‘Checklog”

  • Non UTC times used
  • Exchanges missing
  • Log submitted past the due date

If you have any questions, please contact the FLSPOTA team by e-mail: info@flspota.org

Awards

Awards will be posted for the top scorers in each of the following location categories:

  1. Station located within Florida State Park(s)
  2. Station located within Florida, not in a State Park
  3. Station located outside of Florida

For the following power categories:

  • High Power
    • Single op
    • Multi-single
    • Multi-Multi
  • Low Power
    • Single op
    • Multi-single
    • Multi-Multi
  • QRP
    • Single op
    • Multi-single
    • Multi-Multi

Additional prizes or certificates may be awarded. If you (or your organization) are interested in sponsoring these or additional awards, contact kk4fem@flspota.org. For the latest information or updates check the Florida State Parks On The Air website:  www.flspota.org or the FLSPOTA groups.io mailing list https://groups.io/g/flspota