ANNOUNCEMENT! - The 2026 Florida QSO Party April 25 & 26

 

The 2026 Florida QSO Party will be held April 25 & 26, and we sure hope you'll join us. 

All 67 counties will be active.   

Please check out the rules and further details at our Web Site: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/

 

The Florida QSO Party

Object: Everyone works Florida, Florida works Everyone
Activate and work ALL Florida counties
Have as much FUN as possible!

When: April 25 & 26, 2026
Two ten-hour operating periods, with a ten-hour break:
Saturday, April 25 1600Z (Noon EDT) – April 26 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT)
Sunday, April 26 1200Z (8 AM EDT) - 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT)
20 Hours total

Special Event Award- 2026 FQP Spelling Bee! 

To celebrate the USA’s 250^th anniversary, we will have a total of 20 special 1x1 stations whose suffixes spell US BIRTHDAY.  There will be two stations per suffix.  Contact at least one station of each suffix letter spelling US BIRTHDAY to earn this award. These stations will be on both modes and should be very accessible. QSL these 1x1 calls active in FQP via KU9C direct or via Logbook of The World (LoTW).                  

The call signs, counties and hosts are: 

CALL  CTY  HOST          

N4U    CIT    WF4DX

W4U   VOL   N4EEB

N4S    SUW  N4SVC

W4S   HER   K2SG

N4B    BRO  AI4WW

W4B   CAH   N4II

N4I     ALC    N4UU

W4I    VOL    KQ4R

N4R   IDR     N1TO

W4R  ORA   N6AR

N4T    LAK   NN7CW

W4T   ESC   N4OX

N4H   GUL   WA1S

W4H  HER   N2NL

N4D   SUM   W3US

W4D  PAS    K4EJ

N4A   BAY   NF4A

W4A  ORA   N4WW

N4Y   LEO   AC4TO

W4Y  LAK   WO4O

PRIZES: Printable color Certificates for top participants
Plaques for top finishing entrants.

FT-8 Under the Hood

FT-8 is a popular ham radio communication mode. If you are curious about how the WSJT-FT8 mode works under the hood, please watch. This was our topic for the March 9th, 2026, Beginner's Academy.

Registration is Open for the April 4th, 2026 RaDAR Rally

The RaDAR Rally is an exciting test of your portable operating skills on the first Saturday of April and November. Make five contacts and move! See www.radarrally.info for the rules and registration details. Also, join radar@groups.io. Greg Lane N4KGL is the RaDAR Rally coordinator. RaDAR, Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio, was originated by Eddie Leighton ZS6BNE in South Africa.

To register for the April 4th RaDAR Rally, see https://www.radarrally.info/

Panama City ARC Spring Tailgate Coming April 11th, 2026

Please join us as we celebrate 70 years as an organized club.  Bring gear to sell, your wallet to buy gear, or just join in conversation and share stories with your local hams.  Food will be available for a small fee.  We are planning to have a foxhunt in the area.

Location: PCARC Clubhouse

                130 N. Church Ave.

                Panama City, FL  32401

Date/Time:  April 11, 2026

                   9am to 1pm

Getting Started with Parks On The Air POTA

We are looking forward to Spring weather and activating parks with Amateur Radio. See parksontheair.com and pota.app. This was the topic of our Feb 9th, 2026, Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Winter Field Day 2026

 A number of PCARC Hams operated WFD from Sand Pond Campground. Photos by Frank KC8VKA.

Greg N4KGL operated ffrom his Daughter's backyard in Dothan.

N3FJP Logger and FLDIGI PSK31 for Winter Field Day

The Winter Field Day Amateur Radio Event is the last full weekend of January. N3FJP has a great WFD logger. You can also use FLDIGI for PSK31, a digital mode popular for WFD. These programs will work together to provide a combined log of all your contacts. This was the topic of our December 29th, 2025, Beginner's Academy Zoom.