Parks On The Air (POTA) is an

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

operating award program started in 2010 with its nonprofit organization being founded in 2018 that encourages amateur radio operators to operate in a variety of parks and public lands as a portable station. Activations can take place during other events such as Field Day. The POTA movement saw a large surge of interest in 2016 after the

ARRL The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska o ...

hosted a one year activation event called NPOTA. The event was created to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park System and was designed to encourage amateur radio operators to transmit from within National Parks. POTA has been a popular method of community and student outreach, with events taking place in parks and sometimes during other public events. The organization has worked to spread to countries outside the United States including the Caribbean and India. Amateur radio operators who set up stations at a park are known as activators, and other amateur radio operators who complete contacts with them are called hunters. There are awards given out to both activators and hunters based on a wide range of criteria including awards for the total number of contacts, contacts made on each

amateur radio band Amateur radio frequency allocation is done by national telecommunication authorities. Globally, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) oversees how much radio spectrum is set aside for amateur radio transmissions. Individual amateur st ...

, and for different modes of communication. POTA_K-4466

References

{{reflist Amateur radio operating awards Amateur radio