General guidelines for activators: the three Ps

In this page I will try to compile some guidelines for activators. These guidelines will evolve as the programme develops. They should be understood as recommendations.

1. PREPARE your activation:
   • ​​Do your research. Use our beach finder to try to identify the beach you wish to activate. If not listed, or you cannot find it, collect the data about your beach (location co-ordinates in decimal degrees, commune/county, province/state, and country). You will need this information when announcing the activation of an unlisted beach. We've got a specific tutorial on what qualifies as a beach for us.
   • Announce your activation.
     • You must add your activation to the Beaches On The Air website before it starts. You simply do not fill in the QSO count, picture or video yet. You will be able to edit those fields after the activation has finished. Adding your activation to the website early serves as an announcement of your activation for chasers. You will get a secret 4-character alphanumeric activation code that you will have to pass to your chasers during your qso with them (you must not pass activation codes by any other means). Chasers will be able to claim their QSOs with you immediately after making them, while the activation is still ongoing.
     • Share the link to your activation also on our Facebook group and any other social media.
     • Tell your fellows and any regular chasers about your activation, but do not give them the activation code until you make a QSO with them. Activation codes may only be passed by radio during QSOs.
2. PROMOTE Beaches On The Air:
   • During your activation you should try to promote the programme among chasers by
     1. Calling CQ 'Beaches On The Air' in phone or CQ BOTA in CW.
     2. Responding to any other CQ call, referring to your 'Beaches On The Air' activation.
     3. Sharing your 4-character alphanumeric activation code during your QSOs.
     4. Trying that your activation gets posted on the DX Cluster, e.g. by asking your chasers to spot you there after their QSO with you.
     5. Inviting your chasers to visit the programme's website 'beachesontheair.com' and redeem the activation code you gave them to see the details of your activation and claim their chaser points.
3. PICTURE your activation:
   • Take pictures and videos of your activations. Other members enjoy this very much, and it also helps us promote the programme among visitors.
   • When recording a video, please consider doing it in landscape format, which is the format currently favoured by YouTube.
   • When you upload any videos of your activations to YouTube, add 'Beaches On The Air' to the title.
   • Add your best picture and/or video to your activation entry on the website, together with the QSO count and a description of your activation in the 'Remarks' section of your post.
   • Post only original pictures and videos of your activations, where others can see you, the beach, and/or your rig on the day of the activation. Do not post other kind of promotional material such as postcards, tourist promotion videos or QSL cards. We like clean pictures, without any overlays on them. Do not post pictures that you do not own.