The POTA Exchange

Our CW exchange from the park is short and sweet, little more than the briefest handshake. The rules for POTA don’t qualify any requisite information so in the end, we really just need a call sign to put in the log.

You can do whatever you want, whatever works for you.  But in my small experience, framing my activation in a way that’s familiar and comfortable to the hunters is what’s most successful.  So, it’s not so much about “what works for me”, as it is about “what works for the hunters” with the least amount of struggle on both ends.  People like routine, especially in Morse code contacts.  I’ll share the structure I use below.

The prevailing POTA CW QSO, while not standardized, is usually structured around four basic elements – the call, the answer, the report, and the close.

• The Call: The call is the activator calling CQ POTA DE KA5TXN.  I don’t send CQ three times, I don’t repeat my own call, I don’t send K – Just CQ POTA DE KA5TXN.

• The Answer:  The hunter sends his callsign – not my call de his call, not his call and K, just his call.

• The Report:  I send his RST, and BK.  He replies with BK, sends my RST, then BK.

• The Close:  I send 73 DE KA5TXN and dit dit.

At the bare root of it, that’s all there is.  And it’s all business, contest-rude, just another day at work.  So in practice, I prefer to add some courtesy, not enough to make the piled up hunters sit through a rag chew, but enough to promote a pleasant exchange of information. My personal inclination looks more like this so we both walk away feeling good about it:

Activator: CQ POTA DE KA5TXN

Hunter: KW5CW

Activator: KW5CW GM UR 5NN 5NN BK

Hunter: BK GM UR 5NN 5NN TX TX BK

Activator: TU TU TX ES 73 DE KA5TSN dit dit

Hunter: dit dit

I’ve linked an excellent video from Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL.  He’s an excellent POTA operator and offers a thorough explanation of the CW exchange for POTA QSOs.  Tom is an excellent example of how to hunt and how to activate.

Parks On The Air  (POTA) CW exchanges explained

An activator’s tips for hunters.

1. Try not to zero beat the activator in a pile up. When I’m operating on 14.060 and you come back on 14.060, that’s called zero beat.  When multiple ops come back on exactly 14.060 at the same time (a pile up), it sounds like a single warble and I usually struggle to copy anyone. I call it a whale pod.  So, in a pile up, tune a smidge off frequency. You can use RIT to create this off set or easier, just nudge your VFO until I sound a little off with a slightly higher or lower side tone.  This brings you back to me with a pitch different from the others and I can pick you out. Don’t go too far or you might move past my filter.
2. Avoid stepping on other hunters.  In a pile up, hunters are waiting, poised with “finger on key”, for a turn to QSO.  They often interpret the dit dit from the activator as QRZ and immediately send their callsign to “be next”.  If you answer my dit dit with your 73 message, something like TU 73 DE UR5CALL dit dit, you’ll step on all the hunters coming in behind you.  The best practice is to return your dit dit and move along.
3. Know who’s calling before answering. There’s an activator spots page on POTA.app, use it.  But remember RF can be tricky. You sometimes think you hear an activator but are actually hearing someone else.  Listen a bit and make sure. 
4. Read the room.  The activator is running his show.  If he sends courtesy, then come back with courtesy.  If he sounds short and brief, match him.  If you hear a pile up, he’s probably stressed a little. Help him by getting in and out. 
5. Avoid repeating your call sign unless it seems like he needs it. There’s sometimes QSB, QRN, and QRM you won’t hear from your end.  If the activator comes back to your call with a question mark, answer with a little extra space between characters. Don’t repeat your call multiple times, unless he’s just not copying. In this game, you both need your callsign in his log, so try to be helpful.
6. There’s a million tips, do’s and don’ts.  It’s a game of people and we all contribute to the fun or misery of it.  Be courteous, be self-aware.  Make it fun for everyone.

TNX ES 73
KA5TXN
DitWit