Parks and summits on the air

Two programs reward taking a radio outdoors. Parks on the Air (POTA) is for portable operation from national and state or provincial parks, to promote emergency awareness and communications. Summits on the Air (SOTA) encourages operating from the summits of hills and mountains. Both have the same two roles: an activator operates from the park or summit, and a hunter, also called a chaser, contacts the activator from anywhere (POTA rules; SOTA General Rules 3.1).

Hunting is a good first step. For POTA, hunters do not submit logs; they earn credit through the activator’s log (POTA rules).

Parks on the Air

These points come from the POTA rules, which take precedence over any other POTA guidance.

• A successful activation takes at least 10 contacts from one park within a single UTC day. Several sessions at the same park on the same UTC day add together.
• Any band and mode your license allows may be used. Contacts through land repeaters do not count, though you may use a repeater to arrange a direct contact. Contacts through satellites count.
• Every contact needs both operators. Fully automated contacts are not allowed, and neither are relays of call signs, reports or park numbers by a third station.
• You and all your equipment must be inside the park boundary on public property, in a park open to the public. Operating from a vehicle parked on public property inside the boundary is allowed. Trespassing on, or operating from, private land is not, even when it is surrounded by the park. Use the park agency’s official maps for the boundary.
• No exchange is required beyond what makes a valid contact, and POTA has no power limit of its own. The FCC rules still apply, including using the minimum transmitter power necessary (47 CFR 97.313(a)).
• Spotting: you may post your own activation on the POTA spotting page so hunters can find you.

Submitting a POTA log

Activators upload an ADIF log; there is no deadline, but hunters are waiting for credit, so upload promptly. Each contact needs your call sign (as STATION_CALLSIGN or OPERATOR), the other station’s call sign, the UTC date and start time, the band and the mode (POTA rules). The uploader asks for your park reference if the log does not include it (POTA ADIF reference). The logging guide shows what an ADIF record looks like.

Summits on the Air

These points come from the SOTA General Rules, issue 1.21.

• The activation zone is the area inside a contour line below the summit, normally 25 m vertically below the top. Your operating position, meaning where you are, must be inside it.
• Carry everything. All equipment must be carried to the site, and must run from portable power such as batteries or solar cells; permanently installed power and fossil-fuel generators are not allowed.
• No vehicles. You may not operate in or near a motor vehicle, and no part of the station may be connected to one, even on a summit with a road to the top.
• Contacts: one contact qualifies an activation; at least four, each with a different station, earn the summit’s points. Each contact is an exchange of call signs and signal reports, and you should give the summit reference often. Contacts with others in the same activation zone, and contacts through terrestrial repeaters, do not count; satellite contacts do.
• Points for a given summit can be claimed once per calendar year, and logs are submitted to the SOTA database. QSL cards are not required.
• Care for the hill. Activators must not damage the environment, leave litter or trespass, and must operate with consideration for other people and wildlife.

Taking part as a new Technician

Technician, General, Advanced and Amateur Extra licensees may use all of the amateur bands at 50 MHz and above (47 CFR 97.301(a)), so a Technician can activate a park or a summit on 2 m or 70 cm. Because repeater contacts count in neither program, plan on simplex, where 146.520 MHz is the national calling frequency (Technician pool question T2A02). Satellite contacts count in both programs; the satellites guide explains how they work.

In a log, ADIF has fields for these programs: MY_POTA_REF and MY_SOTA_REF for your own park or summit, and POTA_REF and SOTA_REF for the park or summit of a station you contact (ADIF 3.1.7).