I find radio more of a journey than a destination – we step off towards what we want to accomplish and pick up “experience” (code word for trial and error) along the way.  I’ve found there aren’t any real turn-key solutions.  You just can’t “buy” all the capabilities like you can buy a cell phone, PC, or a TV.  While there’s endless radios, antennas, and power sources to accumulate, we have to mix, match, and adjust the component parts to make a functioning station that satisfies our operating goals.  While I’m certainly no Elmer, I have packed in a wealth of focused “experience” in a short period of time and will happily share what’s mine.  Like everyone, I have a robust origin story in life as well as in radio.  I might touch the highlights with a separate post but I won’t bore you with it here.

My primary interest is operating portable radio and I achieve that through POTA, Parks On The Air.  It’s a worldwide, amateur radio activity where operators set up radios in designated parks and wildlife areas to “Activate” – meaning call on the radio and make contacts with any operators listening.  On the other end, operators search the bands “hunting” for operators activating from parks.  When contact is made, a QSO, both activator and hunter get a “credit” towards their POTA goals.  POTA has a whole bundle of web pages defining the activity’s structure, awards, rules, and tools and I won’t belabor that here.  Suffice to say, POTA plays a huge part in my ham radio journey.

I hope to…

• Share what POTA has taught me about Ham radio.
• Share the places I’ve activated.
• Share the methods I’ve used.
• Share the equipment I’ve used.

Why…

• To inform
• Generate interest
• Pay back and pay forward
• Journal my own experiences.

What I’m not…

• Monetized
• Creating a new career
• A ham radio primer or Elmer

CU AGN ES 73,

KA5TXN Mark
DitWit