Signed up for a POTA Account.

[TNFrank]

I've been getting a lot of POTA QSO's on my QRZ log and I didn't know I could sign up for a POTA account without being an ARRL member. Now that I know I don't need to be a member I got an account and I already have contacts under the Hunter category. Also, the site lists people doing POTA Activations so I can more easily "hunt" them. I think this will be one of my favorite things to do on 10M SSB. Once I get my General I'll give 12M Hunting a try too. I'm really lovin' HF.

[WRYZ926]

@TNFrank you will be doing POTA activations before you know it. 

It's fun and a great way to experiment with different types of antennas to see what works best. The portable 1/4 wave ground mounted antenna and the EFHW antenna are probably the most common used for POTA and SOTA. For the EFHW, you only need trees and some rope to get one end up high or some type on telescoping mast to hang one end from.

[TNFrank]

There's just no Parks near by and local State Parks don't count from what I've been told. Too bad because we've got a couple small Parks close by.

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

There's just no Parks near by and local State Parks don't count from what I've been told. Too bad because we've got a couple small Parks close by.

Look online for the official list of parks. I think state parks do count. 
if you need help let me know the name of the state park and I’ll try looking it up for you. 
Municipal parks don’t count. 

[WRYZ926]

State parks and state conservation areas count. Though that does depend on each state.

I'm lucky that I have two conservation areas within 3 miles of the house and both are listed on the POTA website. There are a couple more within 20-25 miles of me.

According to the POTA website map there are three POTA parks near Phoenix and Avondale.

Base and Meridian State Wildlife Area Park US-11982

Robbins Butte Wildlife Area US-11028

Arlington State Wildlife Area US-7382

There are a lot of POTA parks if you head towards Flagstaff.

Check https://pota.app/#/map to find POTA parks near you.

[Northcutt114]

Welcome to the fun. I just came back from third unsuccessful activation attempt. That's right. Three times, no joy.

However, I did manage to get one Park to Park early on...which is one more contact than I have ever made in that park. 

I was told that the bands were bad today. Guess I'll try again tomorrow. 

[WRYZ926]

@Northcutt114 I've forgotten if you have your technician or general license.

20 meters is going to be your best bet right now for activating during the day. I tried 15m and 17m on my last couple of activations and didn't have much luck. But I did very well on 20m.

[Northcutt114]

Unfortunately, I'm stuck to 10m as I am but a lowly, lowly technician.

[WRYZ926]

Another option is to learn CW. Techs have CW privileges on 15m, 40m, and 80m. I will suggest to study for the general as it is not much different than the technician test.

Here is a good website that gives the band conditions. https://www.hamqsl.com

It won't be 100% accurate for your location but its still helpful.

Another helpful site is https://www.voacap.com/hf/#

I find that the 10m band doesn't really open up until about 8:30 AM here in Missouri.

Different types of antennas and locations matter on what you will hear on any of the HF bands.

Just a couple of examples. I live 500 yards away from another guy. I run a cobweb antenna and he usually runs either a loop or off center fed dipole. I will hear stations he doesn't hear and visa versa.

Another friend lives 18 miles away and has a 60ft tower with a beam antenna. Again he will hear stations that I don't hear and visa versa.

 

[TNFrank]

1 hour ago, Northcutt114 said:

Welcome to the fun. I just came back from third unsuccessful activation attempt. That's right. Three times, no joy.

However, I did manage to get one Park to Park early on...which is one more contact than I have ever made in that park. 

I was told that the bands were bad today. Guess I'll try again tomorrow. 

I'll be on tomorrow Hunting, let me know your call sign and I'll look for you on the POTA web site to see what 10M SSB frequency you're on. With any luck I should hear you and we can make a QSO. 

[TNFrank]

U.S.11982 is just a few miles from the house. I might give it a try sometime. 

[WRYZ926]

4 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

U.S.11982 is just a few miles from the house. I might give it a try sometime. 

IF you get that tripod you were asking about, that would work well with your dipole for POTA.

[TNFrank]

Yep, once I figure how far from center to stake out the wire so it'll be at 90 degrees it'll be easy to set up. 

[Northcutt114]

1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:

Another option is to learn CW. Techs have CW privileges on 15m, 40m, and 80m. I will suggest to study for the general as it is not much different than the technician test.

Here is a good website that gives the band conditions. https://www.hamqsl.com

It won't be 100% accurate for your location but its still helpful.

Another helpful site is https://www.voacap.com/hf/#

I find that the 10m band doesn't really open up until about 8:30 AM here in Missouri.

Different types of antennas and locations matter on what you will hear on any of the HF bands.

Just a couple of examples. I live 500 yards away from another guy. I run a cobweb antenna and he usually runs either a loop or off center fed dipole. I will hear stations he doesn't hear and visa versa.

Another friend lives 18 miles away and has a 60ft tower with a beam antenna. Again he will hear stations that I don't hear and visa versa.

 

All useful information, thanks. Regarding those two websites...I don't know enough to know what they mean. That's a lot of data. I need something a little more cromagnon, like "Band good. DX today."

Can you point me to what I should be looking at one those sights?

 

[TNFrank]

2 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

Unfortunately, I'm stuck to 10m as I am but a lowly, lowly technician.

I am to for now but I'm going to study for my General and see if I can pass in a few weeks. 

Maybe a few more guys(and gals)can hop on 10M to see if we can help you activate a park tomorrow.

[Northcutt114]

The other thing that is frustrating is that I've watched a fair few YouTube videos of people activating parks and they make it seem super easy. I suppose a part of that is that people hunt them, trying to get on the video, I assume. So they have internet clout on their side and get a pile up. Me? Not so much. Even watching the HRCC (Josh I think is his name) guy do his POTA activation on 10m tech band, he got plenty of calls.

I was listening to a guy today calling CQ and I just couldn't get to him, but I could hear him. And he was doing the same thing I was, just calling out in the blind. Nothing but crickets. So it gave me some hope that it's not just me.

I was listening to a guy in Michigan doing an activation. I was able to hear him and the other station and then, just out of the blue, I lost them both. He was in the middle of giving his park number to the other guy and then whammo. Static. Nothing.

On a side note, I reached out to the guy who activated the park earlier this week. I can now see why he activated it. He was in his truck running a 100w mobile with a screwdriver antenna...and he's a General. So yeah....I realize that QRP is Ham on Hard Mode. But dang. On the positive side, his position was more or less directly under the powerlines I was wondering about, so that rules them out as an issue.

 

 

[WRYZ926]

6 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

All useful information, thanks. Regarding those two websites...I don't know enough to know what they mean. That's a lot of data. I need something a little more cromagnon, like "Band good. DX today."

Can you point me to what I should be looking at one those sights?

 

Here is what to look at on hamqls  Basically you are looking at the SFI (solar flare index), A index, K index and BZ. Normally you want to see the K index between 1 and 4. You want to see the BZ 0-3. The higher the SFI the better.

Also look at the HF conditions. In the photo is says conditions are good for 10.-12m,  15m-17m, and 20m-30m during the day. 15m-17m and 20m-30m are good during the night.

 

Here is a good link that will help explain all of this. https://www.carc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Understanding-HF-propagation-reports.pdf

[WRYZ926]

3 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

On the positive side, his position was more or less directly under the powerlines I was wondering about, so that rules them out as an issue.

I guarantee that those power lines were causing RF noise, there is no two ways about it. High power lines are worse. You never want to set up directly under any power lines. High power transmission lines will cause quite a bit of interference on any HF band.

[Northcutt114]

Just now, WRYZ926 said:

Here is what to look at on hamqls  Basically you are looking at the SFI (solar flare index), A index, K index and BZ. Normally you want to see the K index between 1 and 4. You want to see the BZ 0-3. The higher the SFI the better.

Also look at the HF conditions. In the photo is says conditions are good for 10.-12m,  15m-17m, and 20m-30m during the day. 15m-17m and 20m-30m are good during the night.

 

Here is a good link that will help explain all of this. https://www.carc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Understanding-HF-propagation-reports.pdf

You're a God-send. Thank you. I can't spread anymore rep around today but I'll hit you tomorrow.

So you say you want to see the BZ somewhere between 0 and 3. Today it was a -7.1. Does that account for the "bands not being good today?" I say that because I was attempting to make a contact and the gentlemen said he could hear me but couldn't make out anything I was saying. He then went on a three minute monologue about how "that's what you get with 10m you know" and how blessed we were to be able to send a signal out into the world and that he was very sorry he couldn't hear me but keep trying because i had already done something right if I was getting out at all, "especially on a day like today when the band is so bad."

 

Also, for the last week the HF section has said the same thing. I assumed that was more of guide than a real time reflection. Am I wrong?

 

[Northcutt114]

1 minute ago, WRYZ926 said:

I guarantee that those power lines were causing RF noise, there is no two ways about it. High power lines are worse. You never want to set up directly under any power lines. High power transmission lines will cause quite a bit of interference on any HF band.

Well with 100w, he probably wasn't bothered. OK, I guess I'm hiking up the hill again tomorrow with my box. 

[WRYZ926]

@Northcutt114 you're welcome. And yes band conditions have not been all that good for a few weeks now. Plus there was a recent solar storm. Solar storms and solar flairs have a negative effect on the HF bands. We are still at the peak of the solar cycle but are on the downhill slide. 2024 was exceptionally good for 10m.

Even when HAMQSL says the conditions are good, that does not meant he conditions are good at your location. That is where a visual VOACAP propagation map comes in handy. When looking at the VOACAP map, green means a high likely hood of making contacts.

The lower the BZ rate is the more likely there will be more visible auroras at lower latitudes. While the light shows for us in the lower 48 is pretty, it isn't any good for making HF contacts.

There is a lot to learn about solar weather and how it affects band conditions. That PDF link I posted is a good starting point to learn how to understand all of the information.

Like I have mentioned before, once you think you understand propagation, it will throw you for a loop. I talk to guys that have had their licenses for 50-60 years or more and they will say the same thing.

[TNFrank]

You never know how long the guys doing the YouTube videos were working their POTA activation.  As someone who does YouTube videos I can say for certain a little bit of editing goes a long way. 6 hours of calling CQ with 1 hour worth of contacts can be edited to look like a contact every few minutes when it might have been 20 or 30 minutes between contacts. 

Once I get up and have my coffee I'm going out to hunt now the I can go on the POTA web site and see who's trying to activate. 

[WRYZ926]

The magic of video editing can makes things look super simple and easy. 

It's matter of being at the right spot at the right time. Propagation and even the park you are at makes a difference. I have had my share of failed activations where it took a couple of hours to just make 3-5 contacts. Other times I have made 30 contacts in less than 30 minutes. 

On my last activation, it was slow and hard to make any contacts on 17m. I made 2 or 3 contacts on the band. There was an instant pileup on me once I switches to 20m. I stopped once I worked 30 stations. I looked at my watch and it took 35 minutes from initial setup and tuning my antenna for 17m then retuning it for 20m. I didn't rush setting up as I had to setup my vertical antenna, portable table and chair, then get the G90 out of the box

My last activation was at a park that has only been listed on the POTA website since July or August 2025, so that helped.

[WRYZ926]

@TNFrank the activators do appreciate the hunters, especially on slow days and/or poor propagation. It can be hard to get 10 contacts for a successful activation.

And yes people search out the YouTubers so that they can try and get in the videos.

[TNFrank]

I added 3 more Parks to my Hunter list.