One thing I never see mentioned is the fact that POTA and SOTA let us practice off grid operations. This is a really good skill to have if there is a natural disaster that happens.
One of my main reasons for getting my license was after watching a few videos of you Josh and Mike K8MRD doing POTA activations and thought that would be a fun thing to do. Now I’m hooked on POTA and I love traveling to different parks and the challenge of getting set up and doing the activation. Thank you Josh for another informative video!!!
Nice info. Just a heads up, it often can help viewers if you explain or define what the subject is before you explain how to do it. For example, Parks on the air is: Blank.
I'm currently studying for my general license and look forward to doing POTA in my area here in central Texas. Thanks to this video, it has helped remove some of the perceived complexity around doing a POTA. Thanks for making such a clear and concise vid.
Nice job! Just one concern about going hard at encouraging noobs to activate: You don't want them to wait until they have their portable kit ready before they participate. It may never happen. But if they hunt first from home, they may get excited enough to actually finish that kit. Certainly, someone who already has a suitable kit, go ahead and activate. But if you don't have a kit yet and do have a home station, do jump on and hunt now.
I have been licensed since 1958, and I love trying new things. POTA fills the bill for me. I have a Yaesu FT-100D that will be my portable rig. My grandson is 12, and is studying for his Tech. A few POTA contacts should give him some momentum. Thanks!
My first activation was on vacation while in Maine. It was also my first time ever calling CQ on HF, 8 months after getting my general. 100w into a ZS6BKW on 40m, I was being heard. Trial by fire, but I handled it very well and didn't feel like I was in over my head. There is no better way for a new ham to get experience and rack up contacts. I've since activated parks all the way out to Yellowstone.
Thank you for making this video. Have been a General Operator for 1 year in 2 more weeks. I have been considering doing POTA. You answered my questions. Thank you sir. 73 from Ed, KM4MMD
My wife and I are new to Ham Radio. We recently bought two HF radios (a Yaesu FTDX10 and a Xiegu G90) and required gear. We will use the radios at home as base stations, as well as at field days and at monthly POTA activations and car camping trips. For the portable applications, we want to be able to safely transport our radio gear from home to the locations. We are considering two alternative case strategies and want your opinion/recommendation: Alternative 1: Store the radios and gear in Harbor Freight 4800 and 5800 Apache cases during transportation, and we will pull them out of the cases and put them on a picnic table or truck tailgate when at POTA or camping location, and on a desk when at home. Alternative 2: Mount them in 4U or 6U Gator Cases and put the whole case on the picnic table, tailgate, or desk and leave them in the gator case during use. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Cary (KY4YG)
Just ordered the ARRL book for my son. He now have a travel trailer and with his wife has begun visiting the parks in Texas. He's still a Technician but I'm thinking this might get him moving. The coupon is guess has expired but oh well. Thanks for the video it was informative.
I'm hopefully getting a Yaesu ft-891 soon. Still trying to figure out antennas and what to support the antennas with. Any advice would be appreciated. Josh, you are a great mentor and inspiration to a lot of people. Thank you.
I am looking to doing POTA for the first time in few weeks, weather permitting and I thinking of going up to Henry Coe State Park because it way out of the way and vehicle accessible as I am mobility challenged. I will be running a G90 at 20watts, but may try so QRP on SSB just for grins and giggles. 73 KN6ZVI
Great video Josh! I really didn't like the way you used to have to submit logs and basically just didn't do many parks. With the new system I am going to do more now for sure, thanks for the info and look at the ARRL book!
@@HamRadioCrashCourse It was good , I didn't have much time for radio and didn't know when and where plus during the week, so I didn't bother you. Two long days at Legoland with the grandkids I was beat lol. I did activate a 1 point summit Niguel Hill for about 30 minutes all the time I had. Tried our new vertical and a homemade mic for the KX2.
A bit of a bummer that none of the radio-interesting parks (on tall hills, etc) near me are in the list. Lots of city/county parks and nature preserves here, state parks are way further out.
Josh, thank you for this and all of your videos. I enjoy POTA as a hunter now. Antennas are where I am interested in improving my understanding / experience in ham radio. Q: I have recently built a 40m CF dipole, using a 1:1 balun. I am relatively happy with it. My desire is to understand why or why not people are building CF dipoles with baluns. I recently saw Callum the DX Commander making a CF dipole without a balun. Have I wasted $120.00 using a balun?
I wish there was a good app like there are for SOTA telling me what park is nearby. I may know I am in say the Six Rivers National Forest, but I do not know the POTA code for that park. I get most people are not as spontaneous as I am, but outdoor activities are kind of open ended at times. I live in the west and cell coverage in the best places does not exist, so good luck with finding info on the web.
Great video and very informative. I enjoy being a hunter and considering becoming an activator at some point. I'm curious...where did you get the ham radio reference mat seen in the beginning of the video?
As always, thanks for a concise introduction to an exciting way to play radio, Josh! Having been a licensed technician for a year-and-a-half and having thought about doing POTA for about a year, you've motivated me to take the plunge and attempt a 2M 5 watt activation with my handheld at a nearby state park overlooking the city this week. In the meantime, two questions: (1) Do I need an internet connection to log contacts in HAMRS? Or can I do that while I'm offline? (2) Does SOTA essentially work the same way as POTA? (Just summits instead of parks?) Or is that the essentially a topic for another video?
1) no internet needed. Just transfer files after for upload. 2) SOTA is similar, but there are many differences. Like both parties must upload logs for SOTA
Really comprehensive intro to pota! Keep up the good work! Any plan to make a video covering sotamat? I just recently heard about it and a deep dive would be appreciated.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse better get started then so you can tell us! :) Kidding aside, maybe an interview format video with someone more into IOTA? It seems to be a bit more rigid rule-wise than POTA, so a primer would be very interesting, and there's very little content on YT about it.
@@HamRadioCrashCourseThanks! It was tough because the bands were busy, but I did it. Had a more experienced ham spotting me, and that paid off. Thank you for sharing your advice and experience.
Ha, i knew that park sounded familiar. I visited Chino Hills State Park back in winter of 2019 while on a work trip to Ontario. Nice place, I had it all to myself. I could definitely see it being a good site to activate.
Josh, I got a question about POTA. 1st off, know that I own a log periodic Yagi and can transmit 1500 watts into it. So its really easy to start a pile up. It seems like every time I have a pileup going, here comes a Pota op, like 2 kilo hertz down. There will be no one around, and if I ask them to move, I get a smart a$$ answer. WHY?? Even when the 13 colonies was going on, (and some was hard to hear) here comes the Pota guys bleeding over. Are they trying to STEAL the pile-up? What gives? Then they wonder why so many dislike them.
Just move up a bit and keep operating. Neither you or the POTA station own the frequency. Before asking someone to move you should be willing to move yourself.
One thing I never see mentioned is the fact that POTA and SOTA let us practice off grid operations. This is a really good skill to have if there is a natural disaster that happens.
Look at the smiling mug on the cover! Thanks for the shoutout
One of my main reasons for getting my license was after watching a few videos of you Josh and Mike K8MRD doing POTA activations and thought that would be a fun thing to do. Now I’m hooked on POTA and I love traveling to different parks and the challenge of getting set up and doing the activation. Thank you Josh for another informative video!!!
Nice info. Just a heads up, it often can help viewers if you explain or define what the subject is before you explain how to do it. For example, Parks on the air is: Blank.
I'm currently studying for my general license and look forward to doing POTA in my area here in central Texas. Thanks to this video, it has helped remove some of the perceived complexity around doing a POTA. Thanks for making such a clear and concise vid.
That was my photo of the lake at the beginning. :)
POTA On, 73!
K3KLB
Nice job!
Just one concern about going hard at encouraging noobs to activate: You don't want them to wait until they have their portable kit ready before they participate. It may never happen. But if they hunt first from home, they may get excited enough to actually finish that kit. Certainly, someone who already has a suitable kit, go ahead and activate. But if you don't have a kit yet and do have a home station, do jump on and hunt now.
I have been licensed since 1958, and I love trying new things. POTA fills the bill for me. I have a Yaesu FT-100D that will be my portable rig. My grandson is 12, and is studying for his Tech. A few POTA contacts should give him some momentum. Thanks!
The "adventure frequency"? New to me.
My first activation was on vacation while in Maine. It was also my first time ever calling CQ on HF, 8 months after getting my general. 100w into a ZS6BKW on 40m, I was being heard. Trial by fire, but I handled it very well and didn't feel like I was in over my head. There is no better way for a new ham to get experience and rack up contacts. I've since activated parks all the way out to Yellowstone.
Thank you for the shout-out, Josh!
Hunting is also good QSO practice. It'll help you get better at the exchange for contests vs rag chew or weekly nets etc.
Thank you for making this video. Have been a General Operator for 1 year in 2 more weeks. I have been considering doing POTA. You answered my questions. Thank you sir. 73 from Ed, KM4MMD
Wow! I think you have covered every angle. congratulations!
Thanks a lot!
I just watch that last night. Really good. Still studying my Tech license to take in September.
My wife and I are new to Ham Radio. We recently bought two HF radios (a Yaesu FTDX10 and a Xiegu G90) and required gear. We will use the radios at home as base stations, as well as at field days and at monthly POTA activations and car camping trips. For the portable applications, we want to be able to safely transport our radio gear from home to the locations. We are considering two alternative case strategies and want your opinion/recommendation:
Alternative 1: Store the radios and gear in Harbor Freight 4800 and 5800 Apache cases during transportation, and we will pull them out of the cases and put them on a picnic table or truck tailgate when at POTA or camping location, and on a desk when at home.
Alternative 2: Mount them in 4U or 6U Gator Cases and put the whole case on the picnic table, tailgate, or desk and leave them in the gator case during use.
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Cary (KY4YG)
Just ordered the ARRL book for my son. He now have a travel trailer and with his wife has begun visiting the parks in Texas. He's still a Technician but I'm thinking this might get him moving.
The coupon is guess has expired but oh well. Thanks for the video it was informative.
JUST made my inverted V and bought the ft891..I'm ready!!!
I'm hopefully getting a Yaesu ft-891 soon. Still trying to figure out antennas and what to support the antennas with. Any advice would be appreciated.
Josh, you are a great mentor and inspiration to a lot of people. Thank you.
You are fun to learn from, so low-risk, but with tons to gain from!
Thank you!
Thanks for the great video. I’ll get that book soon. We have some cool parks in the area here.
I am looking to doing POTA for the first time in few weeks, weather permitting and I thinking of going up to Henry Coe State Park because it way out of the way and vehicle accessible as I am mobility challenged. I will be running a G90 at 20watts, but may try so QRP on SSB just for grins and giggles. 73 KN6ZVI
Great video Josh! I really didn't like the way you used to have to submit logs and basically just didn't do many parks. With the new system I am going to do more now for sure, thanks for the info and look at the ARRL book!
Thanks Chuck! How has your trip been?
@@HamRadioCrashCourse It was good , I didn't have much time for radio and didn't know when and where plus during the week, so I didn't bother you. Two long days at Legoland with the grandkids I was beat lol. I did activate a 1 point summit Niguel Hill for about 30 minutes all the time I had. Tried our new vertical and a homemade mic for the KX2.
I am just starting to get into HAM, this video was very informative!, thanks a lot! I like your short videos, easier to digest the info😉...73
Glad it was helpful!
A bit of a bummer that none of the radio-interesting parks (on tall hills, etc) near me are in the list. Lots of city/county parks and nature preserves here, state parks are way further out.
Great video. great job 73
Josh, thank you for this and all of your videos. I enjoy POTA as a hunter now. Antennas are where I am interested in improving my understanding / experience in ham radio. Q: I have recently built a 40m CF dipole, using a 1:1 balun. I am relatively happy with it. My desire is to understand why or why not people are building CF dipoles with baluns. I recently saw Callum the DX Commander making a CF dipole without a balun. Have I wasted $120.00 using a balun?
I sending "Really good feedback" New HAM high interest in POTA.
Thanks Josh, very helpful for us noobs.😁👍
Amen! A quick how to!
I use that same mini log book when I activate.
I wish there was a good app like there are for SOTA telling me what park is nearby. I may know I am in say the Six Rivers National Forest, but I do not know the POTA code for that park. I get most people are not as spontaneous as I am, but outdoor activities are kind of open ended at times. I live in the west and cell coverage in the best places does not exist, so good luck with finding info on the web.
Great video and very informative. I enjoy being a hunter and considering becoming an activator at some point. I'm curious...where did you get the ham radio reference mat seen in the beginning of the video?
Great video. How updated is the POTA book. There has been quite a few updates on the lately, does the book cover them. I'm hoping to start soon.
It's still valid.
Good info Josh!!! My first activation was just going to the park and making park-to-park contacts. It's a great way to start! (de WB8S)
Just subbed to you as I'm trying to get into amateur radio in Australia and its at 308K - the perfect caliber for me 😂
Yeah buddy.
This is helpful. Thanks!
As always, thanks for a concise introduction to an exciting way to play radio, Josh! Having been a licensed technician for a year-and-a-half and having thought about doing POTA for about a year, you've motivated me to take the plunge and attempt a 2M 5 watt activation with my handheld at a nearby state park overlooking the city this week. In the meantime, two questions: (1) Do I need an internet connection to log contacts in HAMRS? Or can I do that while I'm offline? (2) Does SOTA essentially work the same way as POTA? (Just summits instead of parks?) Or is that the essentially a topic for another video?
1) no internet needed. Just transfer files after for upload. 2) SOTA is similar, but there are many differences. Like both parties must upload logs for SOTA
Wonderful video Josh!
Thanks!
Looks like an awesome book about POTA! 👍🏽
I think so too!
Really comprehensive intro to pota! Keep up the good work! Any plan to make a video covering sotamat? I just recently heard about it and a deep dive would be appreciated.
Yep! It’s in the work!
Great overview! I get it's not maybe your thing, but a similar overview on IOTA would be really nice!
My problem is I’ve never done IOTA. I imagine I’d screw up a lot!
@@HamRadioCrashCourse better get started then so you can tell us! :) Kidding aside, maybe an interview format video with someone more into IOTA? It seems to be a bit more rigid rule-wise than POTA, so a primer would be very interesting, and there's very little content on YT about it.
Thanks! Where did you get that mat behind your book. Looks like it has bands, Q codes, Morse code, phonetic alphabet, etc. ?
QuirkyQRP on Etsy.
Which logging software d9 you recommend. I want to do pota stuff and DX cw.
Hino hills is a nice park! 2:13
Thanks Josh! Going to try to do my first POTA this weekend. Wish me luck! 73, KQ4OCF!
Good luck!
@@HamRadioCrashCourseThanks! It was tough because the bands were busy, but I did it. Had a more experienced ham spotting me, and that paid off. Thank you for sharing your advice and experience.
Ha, i knew that park sounded familiar. I visited Chino Hills State Park back in winter of 2019 while on a work trip to Ontario. Nice place, I had it all to myself. I could definitely see it being a good site to activate.
Very cool!
Dang I wish I had an Hf radio
You should do a video about putting together a budget portable station for pota or jota 😉
I have. Go watch me last one using the mono ten meter band radio. 👍
Josh, I got a question about POTA. 1st off, know that I own a log periodic Yagi and can transmit 1500 watts into it. So its really easy to start a pile up. It seems like every time I have a pileup going, here comes a Pota op, like 2 kilo hertz down. There will be no one around, and if I ask them to move, I get a smart a$$ answer. WHY?? Even when the 13 colonies was going on, (and some was hard to hear) here comes the Pota guys bleeding over. Are they trying to STEAL the pile-up? What gives? Then they wonder why so many dislike them.
Just move up a bit and keep operating. Neither you or the POTA station own the frequency. Before asking someone to move you should be willing to move yourself.
But I will be operating 1st, and here they come above AND below. Where do I go? If I move they follow too. WHY??@@k6usy
An AnyTone that does 10m SSB?
AT-6666?
I couldn’t have a better job on this video. Even if I were you. . . Wait. What does that mean? 73’s de n5vwn
Lol
Bro do you even pota?
I just ordered the POTA book and used the code you mentioned in the video. WOW- free shipping! Saved me $7.50. Thanks a lot Josh! -de KF7WXW
🥱🥱🥱
I’m wondering if POTA can be done reliably with an HT, since it’s all I got right now. Looks fun!
KF0QNM/AG
I finally made the big time. Tnx Josh. DE KA4KOE :)