If you like the outdoors and ham radio then Parks on the air (POTA) is for you!
Parks on the air is an awards program where an “activator” sets up in a park, goes on air, and make contacts with “hunters” who operate from home. The hunters can even be activators in other parks for “park-to-park” contacts.
The fun part of POTA is that when you do an activation you are the pileup. There is nothing like the rush of working a pileup of operators trying to get you in their log!
As you may have guessed, the program is not limited to just VHF contacts. Any legal band-mode counts as a QSO, and the club encourages combined HF-VHF operating.
A strategy we often use is to set up and make a bunch of contacts during the Saturday morning SSB net. When the net concludes we transition over to HF and work out of state contacts.
Parks on the Air is a ton of fun, and is one of the most popular activities out there right now. Contact us to learn more and we can help you get started. We would love to bring you along on an activation!