How to Really Up Your POTA Game (and why you shouldn’t)

Propagation conditions are tough. It used to be so easy to set up in a park and make your minimum 10 QSOs for a valid activation in as little as 10 minutes. I know, I have done it many times. Now we are at, or near, the peak of solar cycle 25; the Sun is very active and that means solar flares, coronal mass ejections and sustained periods of unstable HF propagation conditions. POTA activations are still happening, but it is no longer quite so easy. There must be something we can do.

Well there is. You no longer have to struggle to get through an activation. There is a very simple way to get your activation complete in very short order – even during a complete HF blackout. And for a bonus you can get lots of Park to Park (P2P) credits along the way. And best of all you can do it all without violating any Parks on the Air rules. Oh, just one more thing, PLEASE DON’T EVER DO THIS!

Here is how it works

Gather a group of 10 friends who are all licensed hams. Everybody will need a multiband HF + 6m, 2m and 70cm transceiver. Antennas? Leave ’em at home! Just bring along a dummy load for each operator. Each operator gets assigned a number from 1 through 11, think of it as “tactical callsigns” for the duration of the exercise. Now it’s time to hop on the air and start racking up those POTA awards!

To begin, operator #1 calls each of the other operators in turn and completes his activation in just a couple of minutes. Remember, we are using dummy loads which leak sufficient RF to enable contact to be made over very short distances. Maybe push a couple of picnic tables together and gather all 11 operators around the tables.

Next, operator #2 takes his turn and also completes his minimum 10 QSOs for a valid park activation in the time it takes to boil an egg. Each of the other operators repeats the procedure until all 11 operators have a valid activation. Total operating time – about 22 minutes. Meanwhile, operator #1 has been boiling eggs and making egg salad subs for the group. Time for lunch!

Okay, lunchtime is over and wouldn’t you know it, 11 park activations and 110 QSOs have been made, but wait … there’s more! Every member of the group is in a park – alright, the same park, but that doesn’t matter (really). That means every QSO was a Park to Park QSO too – bonus! The chart above shows how it works. 55 P2P QSOs are made and both operators each get a credit.

It just gets better … (worse)

Now lets say the group selects an operating site that is a 2-fer, or a 3-fer. Heck that means every group member is making multiple valid activations. Just imagine, 3 valid activations for 2 minutes of work – wowza, that’ll boost your stats!

The Ultimate POTA Play … definitely don’t even contemplate this!

Remember we said each operator brings a multiband HF + 6m + VHF/UHF rig along? Here’s why. That gives us 13 bands to work with. Do you see the possibilities here? After a couple of hours the group could even move on to another park, rinse and repeat. Ok, cut out the delays caused by stopping for lunch and how ’bout all going for multiband Rover awards? OMG! Just think of how long it’s going to take to log and upload everything – that’ll take longer than the actual operating!

It’s the principle you see

Let me repeat, don’t ever do this! This is a thought exercise only and definitely not a recommendation. It is an extrapolation of the idea that 2 operators, maybe sitting at the same table, in the same park, can claim a valid POTA QSO and a valid P2P credit by contacting each other. That struck me as not really in the spirit of fair operating practice, so I contacted POTA for an opinion. Here is the reply I received:

“There is no specific rule regarding distance for a P2P. The rules and what you perceive as spirit are two different things. POTA does not have rules based on spirit. POTA Rules are simple for a reason and on purpose. https://docs.pota.app/docs/rules.html . 
 
Do not worry about what others are doing. If you choose not to log someone in the same park, that is up to you. POTA is self rewarding. It is not a competition amongst others. POTA has something for everybody. Some folks chase awards. Some folks chase friendships. Some set specific goals for themselves. And so on. 
 
Have fun with POTA. That is the #1 unwritten rule.”

Officially then, POTA “is not a competition amongst others” but every park in the POTA database has a “Park Leader” list categorized by number of activations and number of QSOs. There are categories on the website for “Top Activators” and “Top Hunters”. Not a competition amongst others? Not according to the rules maybe.

So it seems that if anybody did actually contemplate working the system in this or a similar way, while staying within the rules, every QSO and every P2P would still count. I remain uncomfortable with that. That is my personal feeling; you may well feel differently and I respect that.

Finally, let me say that POTA has done so much good for our hobby and I remain an enthusiastic supporter of the program. This post is not in any way intended to be a criticism of the Parks on the Air program.

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