What Is POTA (Parks on the Air)?
Parks on the Air (POTA) is an international radiosport award program that encourages licensed amateur radio operators to visit, enjoy, and operate portable equipment in a variety of parks and public lands, always respecting other park users and local regulations. The program gives ham radio operators a structured, community-driven reason to take their stations outdoors — and it delivers results. POTA logged roughly 40% more QSOs in 2025 than in 2023, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of amateur radio. On any given day, hundreds of activators are on the air simultaneously from parks across North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Brief History and Origins of Parks on the Air
In 2016, the ARRL ran a one-year event called National Parks on the Air (NPOTA), which gained significant popularity. Following the success of NPOTA, there was a desire to continue a similar program, which led to the formation of Parks on the Air (POTA) as a separate entity. Parks on the Air started in early 2017 when the ARRL's National Parks on the Air special event ended. A group of volunteers wanted to continue the fun beyond the one-year event, and thus, Parks on the Air was born. A nonprofit organization was founded in 2018 to continue POTA permanently.
How POTA Differs from SOTA and Other Award Programs
Parks on the Air, similar in style to the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program created in the UK in 2002, has its roots in the World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) program, which began in 2012 to encourage amateur radio operators to operate portable from protected nature areas. While SOTA focuses exclusively on hilltops and mountain summits — requiring activators to hike to elevated terrain — POTA casts a much wider net. POTA's aim is to encourage licensed amateur radio operators to operate temporarily from, and bring more visibility, awareness, and appreciation to not just national and state/province level parks, but also National Monuments, National Preserves, Wildlife Refuges, Wetland Management Districts, National Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems, Wildlife Management Areas, and more. This makes POTA far more accessible to operators who may not be able to climb summits but can drive to a nearby state park.
The POTA Organization and How It Is Managed
POTA is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Severna Park, Maryland. It is an international radiosport award program that encourages licensed amateur radio operators to operate portable equipment in a variety of parks and public lands. The program is run entirely by volunteers and is funded by community contributions. You can join the Parks on the Air Discord Server or the Parks on the Air Facebook group, where you can easily interact with the POTA community online. POTA also maintains accounts on X (Twitter) and Mastodon for those who prefer to interact on those social media platforms. The primary operational hub for POTA is the website at pota.app, where all spotting, logging, awards, and leaderboard data live.
Why POTA Has Exploded in Popularity Among Ham Radio Operators
Parks on the Air is an ongoing program encouraging amateur radio operators to develop their skills, fostering community, and demonstrating the hobby to the public. Thousands of parks are available in the program worldwide, and each will present a unique experience. The appeal is multifaceted: POTA combines outdoor recreation with radio sport, is completely free to participate in, awards automatically track your progress, and the community is extraordinarily welcoming to newcomers. POTA has since grown into a wildly successful program with over 49,000 active hunters with 10 or more parks and 29,000 activators promoting portable operations from parks and protected areas worldwide.
Understanding POTA Roles: Activators vs. Hunters
What Is a POTA Activator?
Activators are operators who travel to a designated POTA park, set up a portable station, and make contacts from within the park boundaries. The activator's job is to get on the air, announce their presence, and work as many hunters as possible. With patience, skill, and good luck with propagation conditions, contacts can sometimes be made worldwide using radios little larger than a pack of playing cards, although some activators prefer to use higher power, more sophisticated and larger equipment. Activating is the active, outdoor side of POTA — you are the one going on the radio adventure.
What Is a POTA Hunter?
Hunters are operators who contact activators from home, mobile, or any other location. As a hunter, you monitor the POTA spots page at pota.app, tune to an active activator's frequency, call them, and log the contact. Parks on the Air is on the honor system, based exclusively on activator logs, so as a hunter, you don't have to lift a finger (other than the one that hits your key or PTT). Hunters receive credit automatically when an activator uploads a log containing their callsign — no log submission is required on the hunter's side.
What Is a POTA S2S (Park to Park) Contact?
A Park-to-Park (P2P) contact occurs when two POTA activators who are simultaneously operating from within separate park boundaries make contact with each other. Park-to-park contacts are considered gold in the POTA community — if you hear another activator, work them. Both of you get credit for a P2P contact. P2P contacts count toward your activation's QSO total and also earn special P2P credits in the POTA awards system. These contacts are particularly prized because they demonstrate the program working exactly as intended — portable stations connecting with other portable stations across parks.
How Points and Credits Work for Each Role
Both roles earn awards, and both are essential — without hunters, an activator can't build a log, and without activators, hunters have nobody to chase. POTA issues awards to participants based on a wide range of criteria including the total number of radio contacts made, number made on each amateur radio band, and for different modes of communication including voice, Morse code, or FT8. Hunters receive one park credit per unique park per UTC day worked. Activators receive activation credits and can also earn P2P credits for each park-to-park contact they complete.
Getting Started with POTA: Licensing and Registration
FCC License Requirements for POTA Operation
To participate in POTA as an activator or hunter, you must hold a valid amateur radio license issued by your country's telecommunications authority. In the United States, amateur radio licenses are issued and renewed by the Federal Communications Commission. There are three license classes: Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra Class. The middle level, known as General Class, requires passage of the Technician test as well as a 35-question multiple-choice General exam. General class licensees are granted privileges on portions of all amateur bands and have access to over 83% of all amateur HF bands. For the most rewarding POTA experience — particularly for HF operations on bands like 40m and 20m — a General class license or higher is strongly recommended.
How to Create Your Free POTA Account at pota.app
Create an account on the pota.app website. When signing in, it is best to use one of your existing accounts on Amazon, Facebook, or Yahoo. The POTA system does not store any passwords. Once your account is established, you can add any callsigns to your account, including those you previously held, 1x1 calls, and callsigns with modifiers. Account creation is free, and your award progress, activation history, and hunter logs are all tracked automatically once you begin uploading or receiving credit from activator logs.
Navigating the POTA Website and Park Reference Numbers
The first place to start as a hunter is to head to pota.app. The home page you land on will be the spotting page, which lets you know who is on the air, what parks they are in, and what frequencies and modes they are currently operating on. Every eligible park in the POTA system has a unique reference number. In early 2024, POTA updated its reference codes and other data systems to match the ISO standard. For example, park K-0001 became US-0001; I-0001 became IT-0001. When logging or spotting, always use the correct current reference number for your park.
Understanding Eligible Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
POTA has chosen the National/State/Provincial criteria in order to limit the number of parks to something that matches available resources and volunteer time. If POTA were to include County, City, partnership, and private parks, it would easily triple (or more) the number of eligible parks and overwhelm POTA volunteers and IT resources. Eligible locations include national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, state parks, provincial parks, national historic trails, national seashores, and many other federally and state-managed public land designations. The POTA map at pota.app shows all eligible references searchable by location.
POTA Operating Rules and Requirements
Minimum QSO Requirements to Qualify an Activation
A successful activation requires a minimum of 10 QSOs from a park in the designated list within a single UTC day (Zulu day). This is the single most important rule in POTA. Courteous activators will still submit logs for unsuccessful activations to ensure their hunters get credit for the QSOs. If you fall one or two contacts short of the 10-QSO threshold, upload your log anyway — your hunters still deserve the contacts you did make, and the activation will simply be marked as unsuccessful rather than deleted.
Eligible Frequency Bands and Modes for POTA
Contacts can be made on any amateur band and mode — HF, VHF, UHF, SSB, CW, FT8, RTTY, and others all count. Land repeater contacts do not count, but satellite contacts do. Parks on the Air does not have a power limit. However, you must still adhere to legal limits based on your license class and band plans, and use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications. Fully automated QSOs are prohibited — each contact must include direct action by both operators making the contact.
How to Handle Split Operations and Park-to-Park Contacts
When an activation falls within the boundaries of two overlapping parks — for example, a national monument contained within a national forest — you can log that activation under both reference numbers. Mount Rushmore (K-0786) is contained within the Black Hills National Forest (K-4524). An activation within the boundaries of Mount Rushmore would be a "2-fer." This is a popular strategy among experienced POTA operators because it doubles (or triples) the park credits earned from a single outing without any extra travel.
Operating Legally and Safely Within Park Boundaries
The conditions of your radio license, all local and federal laws, and regulations must be followed; they supersede anything contained in POTA documents. Before activating a park, check whether the specific location requires a permit for radio operation. Handouts such as the ARRL "What is Ham Radio" pamphlet and QSL cards are good ways of providing information to curious passersby. Be aware that some park staff may consider distributing handouts an activity requiring a permit; be discrete and use common sense. Always practice Leave No Trace principles — pack out everything you pack in, and leave the park exactly as you found it.
Best Equipment for POTA Activations
Top Portable HF Radios for POTA Field Operations
Choosing the right radio for POTA is one of the most enjoyable parts of building your kit. For Parks on the Air, portable QRP radios like the Icom IC-705, Xiegu G90, or Elecraft KX2 are excellent choices. These offer excellent performance, built-in features like antenna tuners and batteries, and are designed for field operations. For operators who want more power in a compact package, the Yaesu FT-891 is a compact 100-watt HF radio designed for portability and strong performance. Although small, it provides excellent transmit power for reaching distant stations. The IC-705 is particularly popular due to its all-band capability and built-in battery.
QRP vs. Higher Power: What Works Best for Activations
The POTA community is divided in the best possible way on the QRP vs. higher power debate. QRP radios at 5–20W can work the world with good antennas and propagation. Many operators activate successfully with a $500–$700 QRP rig, a wire antenna, and a smartphone for logging. However, higher power does have advantages in marginal propagation conditions and when trying to break through pileups. The key takeaway is that antenna quality matters far more than power level — a
