Note: Starting with this article, I’ll be adding Protected Area Radio Community (PARC) numbers along with the POTA and WWFF references. PARC is similar to the other two and uses a numbering system similar to POTA. I’ll talk more about it in an upcoming article.
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This week, let’s talk about POTA After Work. When I first got involved with Parks on the Air® (POTA), some of my favorite activations weren’t the ones I spent days planning. My favorites were sometimes those spur-of-the-moment ones I decided to do at about four in the afternoon. This was especially fun in the winter because I had a limited amount of time to operate before dark.
I’d leave work and look for a nearby park. No rove was planned ahead of time—simply a spontaneous couple-hour activation at a local park. Sometimes I just wanted to put the radio on the air for an hour, make a few contacts, and enjoy the end of the day.
My favorite location in those days was the First Ladies National Historic Site (US-0813/KFF-0813). This site is in downtown Canton, Ohio, and is bordered to the north by a three-story parking garage and to the east by a six-story hotel. If you think that doesn’t matter, then you have never operated from an RF hole before. As with most cities, downtown areas are not especially RF quiet. There’s lots of QRN to deal with. But I kept at it and eventually earned my Kilo at this location. In the process, the Repeat Offender Award also landed on my account.
With fall approaching and the days getting shorter, those after-work activations become a little more challenging. There isn’t nearly as much daylight left when the workday ends, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough time for POTA.
In my case, there were plenty of days when I would be looking at park stats before leaving work. It didn’t take much coaxing to convince me to head to a local park.
I’m very fortunate to have several choices when choosing a location for an after-work activation. Here in Stark County, Ohio, we are close to a number of POTA parks. Besides First Ladies, there’s also Quail Hollow Park (US-1987/KFF-1987/US-OH-1987).
Quail Hollow Park seems an unusual exception to the POTA park criteria. It was once a state park but was transferred to county management back in 2016.
Another POTA after-work location has been the Zepernick State Wildlife Area (US-9522/KFF-6493/US-OH-9522) in Columbiana County. Then there’s the Lake Park State Wildlife Area (US-9473/KFF-6897/US-OH-9473) near home.
Anyway, back to the story. An after-work activation works because you’re not treating it like Field Day. The equipment is probably already in your vehicle. Setup takes minutes, and ten QSOs is all you need for POTA.
If you aren’t carrying a basic POTA station in your vehicle, why not? Is it because of the possibility of damage? I can sure understand that. My solution was to invest in a couple of plastic equipment cases for my gear.
They are readily available and inexpensive. DX Engineering sells the line of NANUK cases, which are a more reasonably priced alternative to Pelican cases.
I’ve found that the Afternoon Shift from noon to 4 pm can be a bit slow for POTA. So that’s another plus for getting out there after work. The bands seem livelier, which means more contacts. If you decide to hang out until 0000 UTC, there’s always the Late Shift to enjoy. Late Shift refers to those evening contacts made after the change of UTC day. Any stations you’ve worked so far can be worked again since it’s a new UTC day. I enjoy Late Shift because of the extra burst of contacts that appear.
There was even a little game I played occasionally. I’d arrive at a park 30 minutes before the end of the UTC day, then attempt to make my ten contacts before the day changed. Could I complete an activation before the UTC clock rolled over? Sometimes I could; other times, not so much.
But more often, a POTA after work looked more like this:
- 4 pm – Leave work
- 4:30 pm – Arrive at the park
- 4:45 pm– First contact
- 5-5:15 pm – Contact #10
- 5:30 pm – Head for home
That’s all it took. Sometimes, I’d stay later and wait for the Late Shift, but usually, I’d leave after 10-15 contacts.
Someday, after I retire, I suppose I’ll have all day to go play radio in a park. I can leave in the morning, activate as many parks as I want, and come home whenever I’m finished.
But I’m not sure that will make these little after-work activations obsolete.
There’s something satisfying about looking at the clock at the end of a workday, realizing there’s still a little daylight left, and deciding you’re not quite ready to go home. Sometimes ten contacts and an hour in a park are all you need.
And that’s it for now. Next time, I’ll give my impressions on the new POTA website, which is currently in beta mode. For now, let’s get out there and activate something!
73 DE WG8X
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