Have you ever looked at contest schedules and thought it seemed like every format had already been tried and that the good ideas had already been used? That if your club wanted to sponsor a new contest, there just wasn’t any room for something original?
The board of the Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS) in Ohio had the chance to ponder those questions back in 2008. We wanted to create a contest that would have particular appeal to hams in the Ohio Section. The contest would have a unique format that had not been tried before yet still be relatively simple to score and have low hurdles for participation. That is, almost anyone could take a shot at it.
Jim Aylward, KC8PD (SK) was the member who came up with the idea for Ohio State Parks On The Air (OSPOTA). Chuck, W8PT, was the OSPOTA Contest Chairman from 2008-13, and I (Tom, KB8UUZ) have been the OSPOTA chairman since 2014.
What we came up with in 2008 is a contest that not only met those requirements but combines some of the best elements of Field Day and a State QSO Party, provides public demonstrations of in-the-field communication abilities, and rewards the ability to make contacts within your own section/state. Even better, it is a template that can (and would) easily be adopted in any other state or section or even used for the basis of a nationwide event that the ARRL did in 2016 with the National Parks On The Air year-long event.
OSPOTA is not affiliated with the now popular Parks On The Air® (POTA) program, which was started in 2017.
Putting Parks on the Air
The primary goals of OSPOTA are to have hams operate individually or as club stations from as many of Ohio’s state parks as possible and to highlight the beauty and diversity of each of the state parks that are spread throughout Ohio.
The format is straightforward: Individuals and clubs operate low- or high-power portable stations at Ohio state parks and attempt to make as many contacts as possible in an eight-hour time frame. They can contact any station anywhere. Other Ohio hams and non-Ohio hams can only contact park stations. Contacts are made in SSB and CW modes on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters, and the scoring is the same for each contact no matter the mode or band.
The magic is in the multiplier: the number of Ohio state parks you work. Unlike a State QSO Party, this puts a particular premium (even for all of the Ohio stations) on working other stations in the state. As a result, all of the Ohio state park stations will have to seriously consider the propagation characteristics of their antenna(s), in particular using Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) antennas.
PCARS tried to ensure that the date selected would not interfere with other events yet still be at a practical time of the year, allowing for Ohio’s weather and times of peak park attendance. The first Saturday after Labor Day (September 6 in 2008 was the first OSPOTA) was chosen because the weather would still be good while park use should be down a bit.
Participants are encouraged to make a weekend of it if they would like. Many of Ohio’s parks have excellent camping facilities while others have beautiful contemporary resort facilities that may be particularly appealing to the non-ham spouse. You know, “Honey, I planned a great weekend for us, and I will only be on the air for eight hours.”
Keep the Park in the Loop
As soon as we began discussing the event, we also made sure that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the state agency responsible for managing the parks, was fully informed about our plans. It took some emails and phone calls to satisfy them that the radio operations would not put any undue demand on park resources and to satisfy their curiosity about what we would be doing.
After the first year of the event, they came to recognize what a great way it is to publicize the excellence of Ohio’s state parks and to generate some additional off-season park activity. Some park visitors and even Ohio state park rangers stopped by groups that were active in the contest and made some contacts over the ham bands.
Want to Join in?
More information can be found at the OSPOTA website: www.ospota.org, including contest rules, FAQs, log sheets, and entry submission forms. Awards are given to the top entries for individual and club stations operating from the parks in various categories, and for the top individual Ohio and non-Ohio stations.
Check out OSPOTA on Facebook here. And there is an IO Group for OSPOTA located at groups.io/g/OSPOTA/messages.
Be aware only electronic (Cabrillo files) will be accepted for entries. No text, pdf, csv, adif, bin, photos of logs, paper, etc. Comparing contest logs is somewhat automated and we need your log file in standard Cabrillo format.
As in the past, you can let us know which state park you plan on activating, and we’ll keep everyone informed. Fill out the new form for your planned park info here.
If you have questions or comments, please email to INFO@OSPOTA.org.
And for more information about Ohio state parks, visit the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website here.
Here’s hoping that we catch you on the air on Saturday, September 12, 2026, for the 19th annual OSPOTA contest! And for you Ohio hams, there’s still time to check out eligible locations in your area and make plans to join us for this fun event from one of Ohio’s beautiful state parks/
***
Editor’s Note: Why is there a black squirrel in PCARS’ logo? Good question! Black squirrels had died off in Northeast Ohio and were reintroduced into the Portage Country area in 1961. Ten black squirrels from London, Ontario, were legally imported to the Kent State University grounds. Sixty-five years later you’ll find them scurrying up trees throughout the region. Perhaps you’ll share a picnic table with one during your OSPOTA activation!
The post Get Ready for the 19th Annual Ohio State Parks On The Air Contest appeared first on OnAllBands.
OnAllBands