PARKS ON THE AIR
POTA
You’re into HAM radio, or you wouldn’t be here in the first place. If you also enjoy the outdoors, want to be on the receiving end of a pile-up, or the thrill of a hunt, POTA may be for you.
Parks on the Air (POTA) was created by volunteers in 2017 after ARRL’s National Parks on the Air special event ended. Its a great activity where you can play with antennas portable radios and practice by making contacts! If you ever wanted to experience the sensation of a DX Pileup, then activate a park!
How to Get involved?
You can participate in POTA by being a hunter or an activator, both have various awards to strive toward. As a hunter you can operate from the comfort of your shack and contact activators that are out in the field. As an activator, take your radio, battery, an antenna to a designated location, set up your station, make 10 unique contacts and you have “activated” that location. Locations are National Parks, State Parks, State Forests, and land reserves.
The best place to start is Parks on the Air rules, FAQ and guides There is a lot of good, well written information here and at first might be a bit overwhelming.
POTA RESOURCES
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Head over to POTA.APP to create an account, as this will help you get set up for your first hunter or activation.
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As a hunter simply go to the Spots page, choose a particular or all bands, spin your VFO to a frequency of a listed activator and if you can hear the person, attempt to make contact. That is all there is to it, the activator does all the rest, logging the contact and you get credit for the contact as a hunter. Keep hunting.
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As an activator, choose the Map option from the hamburger icon. Once you allow using your current location, the map displays yellow dots indicating places to activate. Clicking the yellow dot will tell you the name of the park, forest or reserve. Looking at more information displays the top five leaders as well as the last ten activations. Compare the location with another mapping tool such as Google Maps for a plan of how to access the area as well the boundaries of the location. Grab your gear, head to the location, and set up. Find a clear frequency to operate from. On the Parks on the Air website choose the hamburger icon then Spots. Enter the frequency (without decimals), the park and comment of your choosing. Have your logging software ready, begin calling “CQ POTA, CQ POTA, CQ POTA, this is call sign at park number, name, and standing by”. Brace yourself for the pile up. A minimum of 10 contacts counts as a successful activation, but there is no limit. The Parks on the Air website makes it very easy to upload your log file (adi format) giving you and your contacts the well deserved credit.
Disclaimer:
This can and may become addictive!
POTA KITS
If you are new to POTA (Parks on the Air) and are uncertain about what kind of equipment you should use or how to pack and carry it for a successful activation, we can help. On the other hand, if you are an experienced POTA operator with a ready-to-go kit, you can share it with others. Simply click on the bag icon to check out some popular POTA kits.
Alternatively, you can submit your own kit to be showcased and help other POTA enthusiasts.
POTA MEETUPS
If you are new to Parks on the Air (POTA), we have an excellent opportunity for you to learn, ask questions and participate! Twice a year (Spring/Fall), we organize a POTA Meetup at a local park. During the event, we set up two stations for you to activate the park and gain experience as the "DX." It's a low-pressure way to try your hand at activating a park and enjoy being a part of the POTA community. To learn more about our Meetups, click the link below.
