Florida State POTA

Author: Paul

  • Entry and Log Submission Deadline is May 4th

    We thank everyone for their support and participation in this great Florida amateur radio operating event. Event entries and log submissions will be accepted through May 4, 2026 and event results will be published later that week on this website.

    As of last night, April 21st the event entries picture looks like this:

    2026 FS POTA STATISTICS
    as of: 04/21/26
    ENTRY COUNT25
    First Timer Activator3
    Youth Operators5
    QRP ENTRIES2
    CLUB STATIONS6
    PARKS ACTIVATED115
    SSB / DIG CONTACTS4654
    CW CONTACTS769

  • Event Status Report

    Well …. to say the least, band conditions were not that great for the event this year; but that hasn’t slowed participation. As of this morning, we have received 9 event log submissions on our website and there is still one more day, today, for participation to take place. All participants are reminded that the final day to submit logs for the event is Monday, May 4, 2026. We are hoping to far exceed the number of event submissions from 2023 …. the first full year of event recovery after Covid-19 first affected the event. Previous year submissions:

    · 2023   19 logs submitted

    · 2024   9 logs submitted

    · 2025   5 logs submitted

  • Event Name Change

    On Friday, April 16, 2026 we received an email from Rick Parent, W0ZAP. POTA President/CEO asking that we please refrain from labeling our Florida state event as a “contest” or referring to “contestants” in our promotion of the state event. The committee managing this event unanimously agreed that this was an appropriate request and over the weekend the pages on our website have been edited to now refer to this as the Florida State Parks on the Air Event. Going forward, all future documents and promotional materials will only refer to this event as an “event”. We will continue to solicit log entries from “participants” and we will score those entries according to the “event” rules. Certificates of Achievement and other recognitions will be award to the high scorers in each rules category. Just please remember the this is not a “contest” and only your participation is being recognized.

  • Getting Close Now! Under 2 Weeks

    Florida State Parks On the Air is less than 2 weeks away, check out this 2 part video series on FSPOTA

  • Club Station Activations Are Being Reported

    We now show 7 clubs activating multiple parks on multiple days during the event. This response is beyond our wildest expectations for this, our first year of sponsoring this event. We are hopeful that even more clubs will come forward with planned activations between now and the start of the event on April 17th. This is a great way to introduce club members to the operating methods and joy of the immensely popular Parks on the Air program for amateur radio operators.

    Club Station planned activations are shown in a realtime spreadsheet on our website:
    https://fspota.org/club-station-activations/

  • Scoring Worksheet Corrections Posted

    The Scoring Working sheet form has been revised to hopefully clear up some confusion as to how account for CW contacts in the scoring process. Improved instructions have been added to line 4 of the worksheet.

    https://fspota.org/wp-content/uploads/ScoreWorksheet-2026-1.pdf

  • Video Reel for FSPOTA Event

    A short, 14 minute YouTube video has been prepared. Please feel free to post and share it with anyone you like.

  • It’s Almost Event Time!

    Please tell all your fellow amateurs and club members about this and help get them more Radio-Active in 2026.

    • Be sure to check the event “official park list” and only activate open parks from that list for event credit.
    • Submit a separate log (.adi format only please) for each park activated.
    • Use the logging page on our website to submit your event entry and .adi log(s)
    • Above all …. have fun, enjoy the park(s), and make lots of contacts

    We have incentivized youth operators (18 and under) to participate either as a participant or as a guest operator with a participant. As long as the youth operator makes at least one contact during an activation, participants may claim the 100 BONUS POINTS! Help introduce a young person to our great hobby and to the wonderful Florida State Park system.

    Clubs are strongly encouraged to activate one or more parks during the event as a “club station“. You only need two or more members to qualify and the more the merrier!. Introduce your club members to Parks on the Air and help get them out of their comfortable shacks and out into the fresh air at one of our great State Parks. This can be a great opportunity to build club esprit-de-corps and increase members’ enjoyment of our great hobby by learning new skills.

    Follow the latest event news and information online at:

    73, Jim Miller N7JIMFLPOTA Committee ChairmanTamiami ARC

  • Official Park List Updated!

    We have added 3 Florida state parks to the Official Park List to bring the total number of parks available for use during the contest to 177. The state just opened a new park in the panhandle recently, a park that was listed as closed is now open again, and we omitted one existing park from the original list by error. The three parks added are:

    • US-0635 St. George State Park, Franklin County
    • US-3621 Fort Foster State Historic Site, Hillsborough County
    • US-13011 Shoal River Headwaters State Park, Walton County

    The new list is marked as “Rev 2.0” in the bottom right footer. If you previously downloaded the list from the website please remember to “refresh” the page before downloading or printing to ensure you have the “Rev 2.0” version of the list with 177 parks.

    Direct link: https://fspota.org/wp-content/uploads/Florida-Start-Parks-List-with-POTA-Number.pdf

    POTA.APP shows almost 400 Florida sites on their website. Please keep in mind that only parks managed by the Florida State Park Service are valid locations for the Florida State POTA Contest. These 177 valid locations are identified on the Official Park List for the contest.

  • QST April Event Notice Sent

    A notice was submitted today to ARRL for publication in the April QST magazine well ahead of the February 1st deadline for April publication. I hope we can generate a lot of hungry hunters to be looking for us April 17 – 20, 2026.

    73
    Paul KN4BAR