2024 PA QSO Party Bonus Station
Steel City Amateur Radio Club, Operating as N3LL:
The Club was formed in 1941 and is based in the Pittsburgh area. Steel City ARC will be using the callsign N3LL which honors its former owner Robert “Bobby” Carnahan who was an active contester and a recipient of many PA QSO Party awards.
The Steel City ARC has a clubhouse located near Pittsburgh and is one of the oldest clubs in the area with a very long active history. In the clubhouse they have two operating rooms. The HF room has six different HF radios, with a mix of radios to choose from: a 1960’s Drake transceiver to the latest SDR radios like the Flex Radio 6600 and Icom 7610 radio. The VHF room also has an HF operating position and a dedicated VHF/UHF station using an ICOM-9700 for use on contesting the upper bands. Steel City ARC membership currently stands at 77 members with quite a range of operators.
OPERATIONAL PLANS:
Our goal for operating as a bonus station is to keep four HF transmitters on the air the whole time that the QSO party has its active hours. We will be operating on voice and cw modes during the event. We could also add an extra station to operate on 6m and 2m at times. It is important to us to have a station on 10m, 6m, and 2m for the tech class operators that want to contact us. We will also use spotting websites for posting our operating frequencies to give other operators the greatest chance to work the bonus station.
In their submission, they noted "We handle the PA QSO PARTY as a party since we have a clubhouse with a full kitchen. There is plenty of food to go around to attract members to attend the event. We go as far as posting a large picture of the state on our white board and marking off each county as we work them. The party is one of our most fun events that we do as a club each year."
Some things to keep in mind if you are interested in applying to be a PA QSO Party Bonus Station:
- If a group or club wishes to be considered for a particular year's Bonus station, they should contact the PA QSO Party Association to indicate their interest, and prepare an Operation Plan for the proposed Bonus Station.
- There are often several groups applying for the bonus station every year. By the very nature of a bonus station, we can select only one. There have been times in the past, when people or groups, not selected, have become so upset that they have boycotted the party because of it. Please do not do that. The decision is very difficult; there is no reason to make it more so. If not being chosen as the bonus station will cause you to become so angry with the administrators of the party that you refuse to participate, reconsider the application.
Past PA QSO Party Bonus Stations
1992-1995 – Nittany Amateur Radio Club
1996 – W3OK Delaware Lehigh Amateur Radio Club
1997 – W3SGJ Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association
1998 – K3YTL Murgas Amateur Radio Association
1999 – W3HA Carbon Amateur Radio Club
2000 - W3YA Nittany Amateur Radio Club
2001 – K3CSG Scranton Pocono Amateur Radio Club
2002 – W3FRC Frankford Radio Club
2003 – W3KWH Steel City Amateur Radio Club (first multi-station effort)
2004 – W3UU Harrisburg Radio Amateurs Club
2005 – K3YTL Murgas Amateur Radio Association
2006 – N3SH Wireless Association of South Hills
2007 – W3P – Nittany Amateur Radio Club 50th Anniversary
2008 – W3OK Delaware Lehigh Amateur Radio Club
2009 – N3KAE The KQX Group
2010 – K3MJW Skyview Radio Society
2011 – K3SMT
2012 - W3SC Schuylkill Amateur Repeater Association
2013 – W3ZGD Hilltop Transmitting Assn
2014 – W3TDF QCWA Chapter 17 Ray Bilger Celebration
2015 - W3C by the KQX Group
2016 - W3UU The Harrisburg Radio Amateur Club
2017 - W3FRC, W3F, W3R, W3C The Frankford Radio Club
2018 - N3LI Operated by the Nittany Amateur Radio Club