What is POTA?

POTA stands for Parks On The Air and refers to Amateur Radio operators deploying portable radio equipment and operations that promote emergency awareness and communications from national/federal and state/provincial level parks. There are two primary methods to get involved in POTA. One is activating a park and the other is hunting a park.

Activating a park involves identifying a national/federal or state/provincial level park and deploying portable radio equipment (a transceiver, power source and antenna) within the boundaries of the park and making at least 10 contacts (contacts should be logged).

Hunting a park involves contacting those stations that activate parks. You can do this from your home or other locations. You can also do this from another qualifying park. When this type of contact is made it is designated as a park-to-park contact. All contacts should be of a simplex nature, that is not using a land based repeater for the contact.

Watch a video that describes what POTA is.

First activations.

Resources.

Use the POTA website as a starting point. Sign up and create an account on the POTA website. You will track your activations, parks and logging here. There is a wealth of information to help get you started like additional videos on activating and hunting.

Follow this link for the official POTA website. https://parksontheair.com/

To contact the Trident Amateur Radio Club POTA team email us here -> pota@tridenthams.org

Below are the latest posts and news items related to POTA. Click here if you’d like to post your own story!

  • TARC December 4th Operating Day and POTA activation
    by Ron Davis
    TARC December 4th Operating Day and POTA activation Hello join us for the next Quarterly Operating Day and POTA activation all in one! The address…
  • The Cloak and Dagger Activation
    by judgekauser
    The Cloak and Dagger Activation I received a phone call from KK4JS one evening asking me if I could possibly meet him a week from…
  • New Park for an Old Ham
    by judgekauser
    NEW PARK FOR AN OLD HAM The eighty-two year old man had been a “ham operator” since the tender age of 14. He’d started, as…
  • My 2nd and 3rd POTA Activation
    by Greg Mitchell
    At the end of June, my family and I were staying at White Lake, NC, for our annual family trip to the lake. White Lake…
  • POTA Cheetah attempt.
    by Steve Anderjack
    With Monday July 5th being a holiday I decided I would try to get an early “late shift” activation at K-0518 Cape Romain National Wildlife…