The Pinecone Amateur Radio Club was founded on January 19, 2025 by three friends seeking more opportunities to operate contests together.

Callsigns

Our first call sign, KR4AQZ was granted by the FCC on January 22, 2025. It was first used on the air xx/yy/zz. This callsign was first used in a contest during the 2025 Winter Field Day and ARRL 160m contests. Not long after that contest, the search was on for a beter callsign. Preferrably one that is shorter, easier to say, and easier to send over CW.

The club’s current callsign is N4BCJ. The suffix is formed from the names of the founding members. This callsign is a big improvement over the Kilo-Romeo-Four-Alpha-Quebec-Zulu and was used very sucessfully during Field Day.