Fellow NFARL members — mark your calendars and dust off your portable rigs!
We're inviting you to participate in the 4th Annual Georgia State Parks on the Air — a fantastic opportunity to combine the great outdoors with the joy of ham radio.
🗓️ When
2026 Contest Period:
Start: Saturday, April 18, 2026 @ 8:00 AM EDT (1200 UTC)
End: Sunday, April 19, 2026 @ 7:59 PM EDT (2359 UTC)
(Operating hours are subject to individual park rules and schedules.)
🏕️ What Is It?
Georgia State Parks on the Air is a statewide ham radio event with a simple but ambitious goal: merging the list of official Georgia state parks with the Parks on the Air (POTA) registry yields 52 parks — and the objective is to enlist enough individual hams, clubs, and ARES groups to fan out across the state and activate all 52.
Whether you want to set up a portable station in a state park as an Activator, or work parks from your shack as a Hunter, there's a role for everyone!
🆕 New for 2026: Teams Category!
A brand new Teams category has been added this year for operators who like to work in tandem — with a best friend, a fellow club member, or a spouse. If you enjoy working together, this category is for you! Full details are in the rules and FAQ on the official site.
📋 How It Works
- Objective: To encourage ham radio operators to visit Georgia State Parks and experience the fun of Parks-on-the-Air activations. This is a fun contest only — the rules are minimal, the scoring is simple, and the main award is simply the fun of getting on the air.
- All modes are permitted, including SSB, CW, FT8, FT4, RTTY, and other digital modes. Each band/mode/operator counts as a separate contact.
- Use of spotting networks is permitted. Contacts through repeaters, digipeaters, or internet gateways are not permitted.
- For Hunters: No log submission required — simply register at gaparks.org. Your score is calculated automatically from submitted activator logs.
- Every registered station will receive a certificate of participation upon request, and top finishers in each category will receive an award certificate.
📊 How Big Is This Event? Check Out the 2025 Stats!
The event keeps growing — here's what happened last year:
- ✅ 52 of 52 Georgia State Parks activated (a clean sweep!)
- 📡 17,104 reported QSOs (+5,360 from 2024)
- 🎒 64 Single Operator activations (+16 from 2024)
- 🏛️ 10 Club activations (+1 from 2024)
- 🎧 4,826 individual hunters (+770 from 2024)
📝 Register Now
Registration is open for 2026! Head to the official event website:
👉 gaparks.org 👉 Rules & Registration 👉 See Registered Parks & Activators
This is a great chance to get on the air, enjoy Georgia's beautiful state parks, and represent NFARL in a statewide ham radio event. We hope to see many of you on the air!
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