Parks on the Air®, or POTA for short, is a program inspired by the ARRL's year long program in 2016 which promoted Ham radio operators to go out in the wild and set up portable communications from state parks around the world. Jason Johnston, W3AAX, is the POTA Administrator and President/Owner and has taken the original ARRL concept and molded it into the fun radio event that it is today. There are awards for both "hunters" and "activators", and just a lot of fun! But all this fun is really for a purpose... to hone our skills of communication during times of emergency. As Activators we learn about what we need to communicate out in the field and portably. We learn about antenna systems, radios, portable power, and how to put it all together for remote communication. But there is more... not only do we learn about Ham radio communications, but we are all learning about our nations National and State Parks and the beauty & resources they have to offer. It's addictive on both sides of the radio... Hunting is so much fun, trying to get thru the pileups, finding out how well your setup is doing over the air, trying to earn the different types of awards. And as an activator, it's always fun to be on the other side of the pileup. I don't think I've ever seen the bands as consistently busy as they are now. EVERY day I hear Hams talking on the radio with Parks and that's great! There is a REASON to get on the air. Not just for a QSO Party or a Special Event, or even a net, but for fun!
Talk to 10 different parks and earn a Bronze award. Talk to 20 and get a Silver award. Talk to 75 and you're up to a Sapphire Award, all of which you can download from your account, which is free, and print out. It's personalized and even has the date you earned the award printed on it. It doesn't stop at 75 either... lots of different and unique awards are available. Check it all out at Parks on the Air . And in the meantime... dust off that radio and go hunting...
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