My First POTA Activation

I activated my first park for “Parks on the Air” (aka: POTA) on Saturday, September 9th, 2023 in the morning.

The park I chose to do my first activation at was A.W. Marion State Park (K-1931) down near Circleville, Ohio.

I scheduled the activation from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (local time, UTC-4). I chose this, so I had plenty of time to get ready and pack a lunch beforehand. I also say “scheduled,” because that’s what I put down on pota.app (the POTA website for activations and spots), and what I put down on the permit I had requested (and got approved) via the state park manager for this specific park.

Adventures of the Day! #

I showed up a little before my activation time and set up my equipment at a picnic table. I am fortunate that there was one available, and in an area that had plenty of tree coverage. Thankfully, I was able to stay in the shade most of the day.

The temperature and weather was absolutely perfect. It was in the low 70s (F) and partly cloudy with the sun peeking through a little bit, now and then. There was a slight breeze earlier on, but it died down as the day went on. I couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Most of the time I was calling CQ or trying to work others calling CQ. It was super exciting working folks at other parks. Many of my contacts were “park to park,” meaning we were both at parks.

My grand total of contacts (QSOs) for the 3-hours I was there was only 12. It wasn’t a ton, but at least enough to qualify as a successful activation (the minimum for a successful activation is 10).

While I didn’t have a ton of QSOs, I still had fun. Others on the air were very helpful and offered advice on the spotting and even went and spotted me on pota.app. I didn’t spot myself (more details below).

Overall, I am happy with how it went and I am excited and looking forward to doing this again. Nobody bothered me while I was there, which I am thankful for, and it was a very pleasant day.

My Setup / What I Brought #

I took my base station and packed up everything radio-wise into a small wheeled suitcase that I had laying around the house. It seems to be the perfect size to fit everything. If I look for another bag, it’ll likely be for better configuration and functionality.

• Radio: Yaesu FT-857D
• Tuner: MFJ-949E
• Antenna: MP1 / Super Antenna (with radials)
• feedline (25-ft and 3-ft)
• Heil Pro Set Elite 6
• Heil PTT handle
• microphone that came with Yaesu FT-857D (as backup)
• cables to attached the face-plate of the radio to the radio itself
• a lunch
• sunscreen

Lessons Learned #

1. I’ll definitely be “self-spotting” next time on pota.app (I likely didn’t have many QSOs because I didn’t “self-spot”) I didn’t self-spot because the rules for “Ohio State Parks on the Air” (aka: OSPOTA) said not to do that, and I was trying to participate in both POTA and OSPOTA.
2. The “Ohio Department of Natural Resource” (aka: ODNR) does NOT have a “state-wide” policy on whether permits are required for transmitting a ham radio at state parks, and they leave that up to each “park manager.” After talking with a handful of others who do POTA in Ohio, they never put in for a permit ahead of time. It seems that if I go back to the location I was at, I’ll need to put in a request for a permit.
   • tl;dr it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission
3. Plan to be there longer! While 3-hours seems like plenty of time, it really flew by!
4. pack more water than I think I need (I didn’t pack enough)
5. bring bug spray

Things I Did Right #

1. bring a notebook for paper logs as a backup to using HAMRS (an Android app)
2. visiting the park ahead of time to figure out a good location to set up
3. prepare a folder of my amateur radio license and permit for the park, along with other information about ham radio, in case anyone asked about what I was up to
4. having sunscreen on hand
5. bringing a camping chair as backup if I couldn’t find a picnic table that is available

73, K8VSY