The RaDAR Challenge is a portable amateur radio operating event with movement between deployments via foot or various conveyances. Operate in a four-hour window of your choosing in the UTC day. No specific venue is required, although parks are a natural choice. You may operate any band and mode except repeaters. Satellite and digital contacts are encouraged with bonus points. You must make five contacts to move to the next location. The rules are available at http://radarops.co.za/index.
The April 2020 RaDAR Challenge is this Saturday. Normally we would be operating from a State Park, but the Governor closed the State Parks due to the COVID-19 situation. Per the Gov. DeSantis' 4/1/2020 Executive Order "Essential Activities" as: "Participating in recreational activities (with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, swimming, and taking care of pets." Therefore I believe RaDAR is essential. Fortunately, Conservation Park in Panama City Beach is open. There are miles of dirt trails for hiking or bike riding. This park is an excellent fit for RaDAR.
Dennis WA6QKN and Greg N4KGL are doing the RaDAR Challenge on the Osprey Trail in Conservation Park. We will ride bikes between stops carrying our radio gear. Our callsign will be N4KGL and our four-hour window will start at 10 AM CDT or 1500 UTC. We must make five contacts to move down the trail. The required distance on bikes is two kilometers or 1.2 miles. We will look for contacts anyway we can get them that includes RaDAR to RaDAR, local contacts or search and pounce. Our first choice for HF is 40 meters followed by 20 and 17 meters, CW will be around 7.030 and SSB is TBA. On VHF we will announce our ops on the 145.210 Repeater. Simplex contacts will count so switch over to 146.565 FM to work us. We can work you on multiple bands modes and multiple stops.
If you will be operating RaDAR or chasing us sent me an email at lanekg@gmail.com and I will send updates to your email. We appreciate the efforts to find us. It can be challenging.
Have a great weekend and have fun on the radio.
Dennis WA6QKN and Greg N4KGL.