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POTA Primer

There has been growing interest in within the club, and with a bit of research and a lot of enthusiasm, we’re now set up to get out and ACTIVATE as WB1GOF!? Some basic info for those new to POTA is on this page, with a separate page providing more detail about club activations.

If you haven’t quite figured out what is all about yet, then briefly - POTA “Activators” are hams who operate portable from State and National Parks, and “Hunters” attempt to contact those Activators while they’re in the park. ?The POTA website has a page - or check out the on YouTube.

The Basics

To get started as a Hunter (you can do this from home, or any station), follow the advice from the POTA.app site:

The first place to start as a hunter is to head to?. The home page you land on will be the spotting page, which lets you know who is on the air, what parks they are in, and what frequencies and modes they are currently operating on. Spin the dial, and answer their call if you can hear them. If you make a contact, you’ve officially started in POTA! That’s all there is to it!

Hunters can contact an Activator for credit once per UTC day, for each combination of band, mode, park reference, and state/province/etc. ?It's common to give a signal report and the state/location you're working from, but not required.? As a Hunter you don't need to submit logs - or do anything other than make the contact - the Activator will upload their logs to the POTA site.??

To Activate, make sure you and your equipment are within the boundaries of a listed , and simply call "CQ Parks On The Air" or "CQ POTA".? Be ready to give Hunters your park reference, and keep a reliable log of contacts at the park - that can be on paper, or with a program/app, but you'll need to go to the web site after activating and either enter the QSOs or upload an ADIF file. The Hunters are counting on you to submit your log, so be as timely and accurate as possible! ?An Activation is considered successful if the operator makes 10 unique contacts. ?

POTA is designed to be approachable and inclusive.? While there are rules and procedures to follow for a proper Activation - and some specific guidelines for Club or group exercises - they’re not onerous, and just take a bit of attention.? POTA is easy for Hunters, but that does mean that Activators need to get things right so that everyone gets credit.? When we activate as a Club, each individual operator actually gets joint credit for the contacts they work . . . but the Club’s activity is uploaded to the POTA site all together to get (and give!) activation and contact credit.

Useful Details

POTA is classified as an "operating activity", not a contest, and contacts are valid on any legal ham band and mode (voice, CW, all digital modes) according to the operator's license and location. ?Simplex and satellite contacts are allowed, but terrestrial repeater contacts don’t count.? (You can use a repeater to solicit direct contacts, though.)? We have a page with?Sample POTA Exchanges for CW and SSB as well as links to good operating examples on YouTube.

Spotting and “assistance” are allowed - in fact encouraged, with an active (self-)spotting page on the .? Once spotted on the site, Activators may find themselves running a bit of a pileup - or at least getting a constant stream of hunters answering their calls. (Spot yourself from the park if you have access; or Hunters may spot you after making a contact.).?

There are many fun and visible on the web site too (just register an account with your callsign).? This is all made possible by Activators uploading their logs to get credit - and to give it to everyone who hunted them.??

In some cases an Activation is in more than one park (known as a 2-fer, 3-fer, etc) and you'll get credit for multiple contacts in one (you don't have to record all the parks as a hunter, the site takes care of this based on the activator's log).? In other cases, Activators may "rove" between parks or states in a single day, providing an opportunity for more contacts. (As a side note, contacts within a Park are legal, so turn the power and work your friends if you are out for a joint activation!)

When activators contact other activators, that's known as a "park to park" QSO.? Log the park number(s) of the other operator if you can, but the online system will match up these logs and give you credit even if you don't.

The Fine Print / Learning More

Visit to find out all about the program and rules. ?For more detail than what's above, check out the , which explains the most common situations and procedures.? Even as an Activator, it’s good to be reminded of what Hunters will be expecting.? At some point, it’s a good idea to read the formal , and the brief .??

If this has you interested - go check out more detail about club POTA Activations, but as a summary - if you haven’t tried POTA yet, come out and join give it a try!? Several members have experience and will be happy to help you get started.? You can contribute to the Club’s POTA activities, and find out what it takes to do it on your own as well.? The stakes are low and we’ve been having a great time so far!

And if you’re an Activator, think about inviting others along when you head to the park…

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