The Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS) was formed in November 2005.  Originally licensed as KD8CKP, our call sign was upgraded to K8BF - That's Kilo 8 BIG FUN!  PCARS was started by a local group of hams who thought that the whole purpose of  belonging to an Amateur Radio Club was to have Fun, serve their community and promote the Amateur Radio hobby.  PCARS has exceeded our expectations on all accounts!

You can have fun with us!  Every year in February we sponsor the Freeze Your Acorns Off (FYAO) QRP Field operating event for club members.  Look for the stations calling CQ FYAO (using their own callsign).   We also sponsor the Ohio State Parks on the Air (OSPOTA) contest the weekend after Labor Day each year.  And, if your local club would like to start a "Parks on the Air" contest for your state, get ahold of us, we can help you with a lot of the ground work.  (We are very proud to note that the Ohio State Parks on the Air contest was an inspiration for the ARRL's National Parks on the Air contest in celebration of the National Park System's 100th Anniversary!)  We are an active, annual participant in the ARRL Amateur Radio Field Day.  But you don't have to wait for one of these "events" to get on the air with us - PCARS has a club, 2 meter net, every Thursday at 8:00PM (local) on the K8IV repeater (146.895 Mhz, 110.9 tone).  We also encourage Echolink check ins, via the K8SRR echolink node.  So, whether your from around NE Ohio, or around the world - we welcome your check in to our club's weekly net.  (10 consecutive check ins will earn you a "Suitable  for Framing" certificate!

PCARS has promoted the Amateur Radio Hobby every year of it's existence.  We hold tech classes for new hams, and upgrade classes for existing hams.  We have brought a lot of new hams into the hobby, and have helped a lot of hams move up and find out how to have fun with Ham Radio!  We hold VE sessions at our club facility the first Saturday morning every February, April, June, August, October and December.  Every Tuesday evening we have a Special Interest Group (SIG) covering Contesting and DXing, Antennas, Digital Modes, QRP/CW, and Linux for hams.  In recent years we have participated in local Makers Faires, which has been an outstanding venue in which to showcase Amateur Radio.

Our members are active in ARES, providing public service to many of the other local activities in NE Ohio that have come to appreciate our knowledge and expertise in helping them to put on a better event.  We have members who work with our local EMA to provide emergency services, in whatever capacity they are able and trained to serve. 

Everyone who wants to participate and have fun with thier hobby is welcome at PCARS!  If we can help you have more fun with your hobby, regardless of where you are located, I invite you to contact us.  You can get much more detailed information about PCARS from our website, located at www.portcars.org .  You can also download a copy of our Award Winning Newsletter:  The Radiogram.  The Radiogram has all the latest, up to date information on everything the club is doing.

73 de Kilo 8 Big Fun!