2025 PA QSO Party Bonus Station
The 2025 Bonus Station is N3XF operating from Somerset County.
From Dave, N3XF:
2025 is my 60th anniversary of being a licensed Ham. I have participated in state QSO Parties since my first year of being licensed. I moved to PA in 1984 and applied for the call sign N3XF.
The station is located on Laurel Mountain about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh at an elevation of 2750 feet. The Somerset/Westmoreland county line runs directly under my towers, but we will operate from Somerset County to conform with the PA QSO Party bonus station rules.
We will have one station on SSB and a second station on CW for the entire duration of the PA QSO Party. We will run high power on all bands from 80 meters through 2 meters. Probably low power on 160 meters. We will be available on 6 and 2 meters, CW, SSB and FM simplex.
We will have a dedicated operator continually spotting our activity to QSO Party Hub and the PA QSO Party spotting page.
Could This Be Your Group Next Year?
Prepare a proposal in accordance with the guidelines below and be ready to submit it for review when we begin the selection process. Remember, the Bonus Station should be able to cover many, if not all, of the HF bands on both Phone and CW providing lots of opportunities for Party participants to get bonus points.
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