Thursday, August 4, 2022

SM028 - OK Parks On The Air (OKPOTA) 2022

Put August 20th and August 21st, 2022, on your calendar for the Oklahoma Parks On The Air (OKPOTA) day. The POTA concept has taken the country by storm, and hams of all types are getting interested in the program. While every day can be a POTA day, we’re going to try to get Oklahoma on the map by activating as many of the 164 parks in Oklahoma over the weekend. And by getting as many Oklahoma POTA Hunters on the bands as possible. Activations will run from 0000Z on August 20th through 2359Z on August 21st. (7:00 PM CDT Friday night through 6:59 PM CDT Sunday night.) Please submit all log entries to the pota.app website by September 4th, 2022.

So, if you want to stay home and be a ‘hunter’ of POTA activations, get your home station antennas and radios tuned up and plan to make some great contacts across the country throughout the day. Check for POTA activations on the pota.app website. The good folks at POTA will be creating a special page to highlight our activations on that weekend.

If you want to go mobile and activate a park, start working on your portable radio/antenna combinations, create an activation on the pota.app website RIGHT NOW to schedule the activation of your favorite park, and make plans to ‘hit the road.’ Take a look at the other scheduled activations at your same park to make sure you don’t over a given park. Create a POTA account and schedule your activation at the pota.app website.

Park activations typically happen during daylight hours, so plan accordingly. More details will be available here as they develop and the current information will be available at ok.arrl.org/okpota/.

See you ‘on the air.’

If you need help with radios, antennas, connections, operation rules, creating a POTA account, or anything else, find an Elmer, work with your club, or send me a note to n5hzr@arrl.org.

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at http://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.

ARRL Oklahoma is On The Web

JOIN/RENEW ARRL NOW —  http://arrl.org/join/

73, de N5HZR — Stand by, more follows…

News from the American Radio Relay League