March 2023 POTA Activation

PBARC will have a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation at Crissey Field State Recreation Site (just north of the Oregon-California border, across Highway 101 from Del-Cur Supply) on Saturday, March 25, 2023 starting at 10 AM.

We will be using the club's call sign, W7BKG, for this event, rather than personal call signs. Except on FT8 and FT4, we will be using a portable designator; on phone modes (such as SSB) the call sign would be given as "Whiskey Seven Bravo Kilo Golf Slant Portable," while on CW or conversational digital modes it would be "W7BKG/P." The FT8 and FT4 protocols work better without a designator on the call sign, so we will use only "W7BKG" on these modes. (Use of a portable designator is common practice, but it is not required by FCC regulations or POTA rules.)

Because Larry KE7YUI, the club's call sign trustee, has an Amateur Extra-class license, the call sign can be used on any band. Only the privileges of the "control operator" can be used, but there is no requirement for the control operator to be the same person who is actually using the radio; a Technician licensee, or even someone who does not have a license at all, can use HF with a General or Extra licensee's supervision.

Each park included in POTA has a unique "reference" number. Crissey Field is K-9535. It is highly recommended to include this reference number and the park name in each QSO except on FT8 and similar modes, but it is not required, so don't worry if you forget.

On phone modes, a typical POTA CQ call would be something like the following: "CQ Parks on the Air, CQ CQ CQ, this is Whiskey Seven Bravo Kilo Golf Slant Portable, at Crissey Field, park Kilo Nine Five Three Five near Brookings, Oregon." If you are answering another station's CQ, use something similar to "Kilo Seven Alpha Bravo, this is Whiskey Seven Bravo Kilo Golf Slant Portable, from Crissey Field, Parks on the Air park Kilo Nine Five Three Five."

On CW or conversational digital modes such as PSK31, JS8, and RTTY, a CQ call may be something like "CQ POTA CQ POTA CQ CQ CQ DE W7BKG/P FROM CRISSEY FIELD K-9535 K," while a response to another station's CQ may be "K7AB DE W7BKG/P POTA FROM CRISSEY FIELD K-9535 K."

On FT8, FT4, and other WSJT-X modes, two changes need to be made. You will need to set your call sign in WSJT-X settings to "W7BKG". (Remember to change it back after the activation!) Also, you should add "POTA" to your CQ message so that it reads "CQ POTA W7BKG CN72." You may need to do this several times throughout the activation, because WSJT-X sometimes removes it. There is no need to send the park name or reference over these modes, and you do not need to do anything special when responding to other stations.