I have been getting into hunting POTA activations and plan on activating parks near me soon. I have seen / hear how popular both POTA and SOTA have gotten and was wondering if maybe they deserve their own sub category on the forums here. I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before and there is a reason for not having a sub section for it. I have seen how popular and active the POTA facebook group is in particular and I would guess there are some people on these forums that are not active on facebook. Just a thought.
I'm a bit late to the party here as I see this was posted earlier in the year year. I guess I don't wander out of the QRP Corner often enough lol. I like the idea myself and seems like a good, worthy category. I've been hunting POTA activators whenever I get a chance and recently worked some SOTA activators as well. I wonder if one of the moderators could give some direction on the process? I'm not on Facebook at all but I can imagine there's a lot of good information exchanged there regarding POTA and SOTA and would probably be similar on here on QRZ.
Having worked my first SOTA/POTA activators this past week I am rather intrigued with this new activity. Since I operate almost 100% portable this would be very doable for me.
can the qrz logger handle the required fields for POTA/SOTA for S2S or P2P related fields into the ADIF file ?
I'm finding some CW POTA contacts are not listed on the POTA website so I end up with a complete QSO without a K-number. No idea where they are. Anyone else having this problem? Warren KC0GU
I thought the park number was supposed to be part of the QSO exchange. But I hear some ignoring it. Either they already know fthe park # from listening to previous exchange or they don't know any better. I watched a POTA demo on Youtube where the park activator rarely mentioned his park number. Seems to me the QSOs are loose Goosy. CQ POTA, CQ POTA...callsign and RST exchange and off they go! I have noticed a lack of the obligatory 599 exchanges one finds in most contests.
When I'm doing a POTA activation, I don't say the Park Number every time. I do if it's "Park to Park" About every 3rd QSO, I'll mention the K-#### park number and name of park. It's pretty laid back, and FUN please read the activator guide for more info on exchanges, etc. https://stats.parksontheair.com/info/activator_guide.pdf
From the POTA activator guide: You may wish to give your park information as part of your CQ, or as part of the QSO. Giving your location helps hunters with beam antennas to rotate for a better signal. I guess you also may not wish to give your park identifier. I agree it's pretty loose. Sometimes I feel like I've contacted Carlton the Door Man.
Would definitely love to have a POTA/SOTA section. I did my first one a week ago and absolutely loved it. It would also be nice to have the discussions on this forum.
