Parks On the Air (POTA)

[J.W.]

It’s always fun when you can combine hobbies and Parks On the Air checks a lot of boxes on my list of interests. For those not familiar, Parks On the Air (POTA) is a program where Amateur Radio operators (activators) travel to various National and State Parks to make as many possible contacts over the air as possible. Other operators (called hunters) use their gear at home to try to contact as many of the activators out at the parks as possible. The rules are a bit more relaxed than for Summits On the Air (SOTA) but it is a similar format. All bands and modes are valid for making a contact which makes this program available to a fairly wide group of ham operators.

Even though there are award certificates for certain accomplishments, it’s not a contest and people do it mostly for fun and maybe some tongue in cheek bragging rights. Overlanding and POTA are a natural fit and I’ve met quite a few people along the way who fit into both categories.

Below are some pics from my activation this week. Anyone else on here active in POTA/SOTA?

 

[KyleGrant]

Ah, awesome! POTA/SOTA is quite high on my list of things to tackle. I've managed to get a HAM Stick mount on my truck for 40M and need to finish up my HF configuration for mobile, and upgrade so I'm not only stuck with CW on HF bands...

I initially became aware of this when my wife and I visited Pike's Peak. I called CQ on 146.52 and was pretty darn amazed to make the contacts I did, had a pile up on .52 which was a first for me. WGØAT was ~70mi away hiking up a mountain for his SOTA activation that day, that's when I was hooked and saw this as my next venture to explore after he explained what he was doing. Pretty dang cool way for us outdoor nerdy types to blend our hobbies. Hopefully some others will find it here and look it up!

Happy hunting - KSØTOR

 

[Prerunner1982]

Looks like they have added a number of new sites to the POTA list including historical sites.

 

[M Rose]

I have yet to activate, but I got my first spot yesterday

 

[J.W.]

Looks like they have added a number of new sites to the POTA list including historical sites.

I noticed that too. Looks like they have opened it to state and national monuments as well as parks and forests. I guess it just has to be on the state level or higher to qualify? I might have to try to get a few added in my area.

 

[M Rose]

I noticed that too. Looks like they have opened it to state and national monuments as well as parks and forests. I guess it just has to be on the state level or higher to qualify? I might have to try to get a few added in my area.

National Forest Service parks don’t count

 

[Prerunner1982]

National Forest Service parks don’t count

What do you mean?

 

[M Rose]

What do you mean?

I mean some, if not most Forest service parks... for exqmple three really nice parks in area are owned by the national forest service and they don’t count. In order to count they have to be registered... here in the Northwest the region manager for POTA isn’t allowing NFS parks.

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Anthony Lake Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Anthony Lake Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Bird Track Springs Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Bird Track Springs Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Two Color Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Two Color Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio. (select United States and Oregon and you will find that the three parks listed aren’t in the list... and this is 3 of about 75 NFS parks that are under 50 miles from my house...)

 

[Prerunner1982]

What do you mean?

I mean some, if not most Forest service parks... for exqmple three really nice parks in area are owned by the national forest service and they don’t count.

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Anthony Lake Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Anthony Lake Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Bird Track Springs Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Bird Track Springs Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Two Color Campground

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Two Color Campground

www.fs.usda.gov

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio. (select United States and Oregon and you will find that the three parks listed aren’t in the list... and this is 3 of about 75 NFS parks that are under 50 miles from my house...)

But the Wallowa-Whitman NF is a POTA entity so a campground within would count as the NF.

 

[M Rose]

But the Wallowa-Whitman NF is a POTA entity so a campground within would count as the NF.

No Wallow Whitmyis not a POTA entity...It is a SOTA entity. I’ve already gone rounds and rounds on this. To activate a park, the park must have a locator attached to it... if there isn’t a locator for the park you must contact the regional manager and have it added... it’s up to the manager, like I said... the NW Manager is only sticking to the official Parks listed on POTA.

 

[Prerunner1982]

@M Rose You were saying?

 

[M Rose]

So that point is also very specific... so... if I can activate a NF. Does that mean I can get a POTA for walking out my back door? According to Gaia Wallowa-Whitman owns all the land between Pendleton, Oregon and Idaho.

 

[M Rose]

@M Rose You were saying?

View attachment 193247

Also if this is the case, since Wallowa Lake State Park, Cathrine Creek State Park. Nez Pierce Trail national monument, Minum State Park, and Emigrant Springs State Park are all inside the WWNFS boundaries... how come are they listed separately? Again I revert back to what the Director for the Northwest told me. You have to be at a park with a locator at the designated grid points within the park boundaries.

the point listed for WWNF is the historical site for one of the Nez Pierce battles... and within the Hat Point Overlook (which is also a SOTA).

 

[J.W.]

@Prerunner1982 What are you using for mobile, Jon?

I really want to pick up the IC705 but the price since the AKM fire is insane so I’m just using my 7300 on low power for now. I’m also thinking about the Chameleon EMCOMM EFHW antenna but I’ve had surprisingly good luck simply using some hamsticks. I managed to work Portugal and the Virgin Islands with 10 watts on 20m which was a ton of fun and I was able to get WJTX working on an old netbook so I could work some FT8 mobile. So far, I’m having a blast

 

[Prerunner1982]

@M Rose
To activate a national forest you have to be within it's boundaries not necessarily where the circle on the POTA map is placed. So yes if your property backs up to the NF you can step out off your property into the NFS land and activate.
The first 3 "parks" you mention are just campgrounds within the National Forest not stand alone park entities so no they would not be assigned POTA entity designators.
The other parks you mentioned are State Parks which are not within the NF boundaries, even if they were the land would not be owned by the NFS so the park is still a separate entity otherwise it wouldn't be a state park it would be a national park.
Trails/Monuments/and such that are on the POTA list and are within the NF boundary are called a two-fer as they can be activated at the same time.
The Wallowa-Whitman NF does not run from Pendleton to Idaho, it is more of a backwards C.

 

[Prerunner1982]

@Prerunner1982 What are you using for mobile, Jon?

I use the Kenwood TS480 in my Jeep. I have long cables for the remote head so I can set up on my camp table or a nearby picnic table.

 

[M Rose]

@M Rose
To activate a national forest you have to be within it's boundaries not necessarily where the circle on the POTA map is placed. So yes if your property backs up to the NF you can step out off your property into the NFS land and activate.
The first 3 "parks" you mention are just campgrounds within the National Forest not stand alone park entities so no they would not be assigned POTA entity designators.
The other parks you mentioned are State Parks which are not within the NF boundaries, even if they were the land would not be owned by the NFS so the park is still a separate entity otherwise it wouldn't be a state park it would be a national park.
Trails/Monuments/and such that are on the POTA list and are within the NF boundary are called a two-fer as they can be activated at the same time.
The Wallowa-Whitman NF does not run from Pendleton to Idaho, it is more of a backwards C.
View attachment 193290

um I’m pretty sure on the opposite side of the snake River up in hells canyon is Idaho... hells canyon is inside the Wallow-Whitman (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest - Recreation) to the north east side boundary, Pendleton is to the west by 20 miles of the Wallowa-Whitman inside the Umatilla National Forest Boundries... but since it’s easier for you to find Pendleton on the map than Kamilia, I used Pendleton... The Snake River separates the Wallow Whitman from the Payette National forest in Idaho. If you need I can get pictures of the Umatilla-Wallow-Whitman NFS signs on I-84 along with the signs from all the boundary roads separating the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, and the Mueler National forrests...
or you can look up Oregon Trail Interpative Park, you will see it is inside the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Then Look up Hells Canyon Creek Boat Launch. So like I said Pendleton to Idaho is Wallowa-Whitman National Forrest.

Thank you Jon for explaining how the two-fer works... so I see a way to get a four for one activation. I can activate the Nez-Pierce National park along the Nez Pierce Trail which is inside the Hells Canyon National Recraition Area inside the Wallow-Whitman National Forest. And I could do all of this at Hat Point and get a SOTA at the same time. Pretty sweet deal.

 

[M Rose]

I use the Kenwood TS480 in my Jeep. I have long cables for the remote head so I can set up on my camp table or a nearby picnic table.

That looks like a sweet rig Jon, from the quick googling I did... it looks like it would kick the pants off my IC-7100.

 

[J.W.]

I use the Kenwood TS480 in my Jeep. I have long cables for the remote head so I can set up on my camp table or a nearby picnic table.

The 480 is a nice rig. I would love to have something like that permanently mounted. Tough to find anything used right now. Are you using a second battery or running it direct?

 

[Prerunner1982]

The 480 is a nice rig. I would love to have something like that permanently mounted. Tough to find anything used right now. Are you using a second battery or running it direct?

Direct to my Jeep battery at the moment. Once I get a rear bumper with tire carrier so that I can get my spare out of the cargo area I plan on going with two 6 volt batteries in series for 12v and about 230aH charged by a 50w solar on top of the Jeep and an additional 100w panel when I am set up and operating (camping, field day, etc).