Since upgrading my ham license in March, I have been exploring various aspects of the hobby. As I experimented with different modes and abilities, one thing was certain. I enjoy being outdoors. Earlier in the summer I embraced the Summits On The Air program (SOTA). See my previous blog. I also dabbled with Parks On The Air (POTA). I wasn't able to get out camping as much as I hoped during the summer. Michael came home from school in June. Then there were fires in many of the areas I wanted to explore. If it wasn't the fires, it was the smoke from them keeping me away. I got sick and so on. So I focused on the POTA around the Portland area.
What is POTA. It is Parks On The Air. It is a program set up to get hams out of their homes (shacks) otherwise known as home QTH and into the outdoors. Participating in POTA requires a portable set up. Meaning, most of the time a ham radio needs to run on battery power. An antenna needs to be set up and taken down each time. There are designated parks that are listed in the program. Usually state and national parks. National Forests, national trails etc.. There are many of these in each state. Oregon has a large number and some nearby my home QTH. QTH is what hams use as an abbreviation for location. Activating a park means that a ham operator made 10 contacts with other hams any where in the world, while in the 'Park'. A hunter is someone that is not in a park, but is seeking and making contact with someone in a park. Hams in a park can contact another ham in another park and that is called Park to Park. Or P2P.
So why participate in POTA? It gets me out of the house and into the outdoors. There is less noise on the radio from appliances from my home or a neighbors home. I can play with and test many different portable antenna types. Others participating in POTA will 'hunt' me and make contact with me. There are awards for activators and hunters. I meet some awesome people in person and on the radio.
I have activated several parks in the Portland area. Each park can be activated as many times as a ham wants to. There are many other locations in the Portland Area and in Oregon. One of which is the Oregon National Historic Trail (K-4576). Each park is given a number. The rule for POTA is that a trail, an activator needs to be within 100'. I had learned the Oregon Trail is on the Willamette River from Oregon City down stream to where it meets the Columbia River. I did some investigating and found that Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone has several spots within the park that is close to the water (within the 100' requirement). I have been going to this park frequently to activate. I have made many many contacts while at this park. Over 1000. And I have activated the park over 20 times. This gained me what is known as a Kilo Award and a Repeat Offender Award. The awards are PDF files that can be printed if we wish. I do that and frame the meaningful ones. You can see my various awards by clicking HERE on my profile page. On a side note, the Meldrum Bar Park has a big pile of wood chips. Free for the taking. There were some areas of my yard that needed to be covered. Each time I go to the park and activate, I bring home several bags of chips. See pics below.
At times when at the park, my set up draws a lot of attention. My antennas I use make it appear I am trying to communicate with aliens. While at the park, I have had people ask me if I was tracking fish. Talking to Martians. Spying on people and so on. It is always fun to meet new people at the park and explain to them what I am doing. I have met other hams that come by to visit too. I use my minivan while camping. I also use it when I am doing POTA. It is comfortable inside and quiet. But I can still enjoy my surroundings. I have several different types of antennas. A couple different radios. I run them on battery power. If the sun is out, I will set up my solar panel to keep the batteries charged. This set up has talked the world. Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Sweden, Slovenia, England, France, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and many others. Each trip to the park, I never know how far I will reach. Some days are better than others. What do we talk about? Not much really. Lol. Usually the exchanges are quick. There are often times that I will talk to other hams for a bit longer. This is called a QSO. We talk about what park I am at. What the other ham set up is like as well as mine. But mostly for POTA, the exchange is quick with a simple signal report exchange (meaning how well I hear them and how strong their signal is). And they will share their location (QTH).
