What is Portable Operating?

Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, gives a quick overview of portable operating and all the activities it entails!

Common Handheld for Outdoor Use

From entry level to experienced, check out radio choices from ARRL staff!

Portable Operating in Action!

ARRL staff takes to a local park for a portable operating session

Parks on the Air, or POTA, is an activity where a Ham Radio operator travels to a National, State, or Country Park to set up their equipment to make radio contacts with other Hams.

If you're looking for more about POTA, check out this article in On the Air magazine.

If you're looking for a portable antenna project build, check out the article in On the Air magazine.

Check out a POTA special on our YouTube channel:

"Summits on the Air is a great way to take ham radio outdoors. And you can do this with just a Technician license and a handheld transceiver. So get off the couch, find a summit and make some VHF radio contacts."

Summits on the Air, or SOTA, is a similar activity to POTA except hams operate from a designated list of summits and work with other radio operators when they activate summits. The summits are assigned points based on elevation and there are scoring systems for both activators (radio operators on a summit) and chasers (radio operators working someone on a summit).

If you're looking for more on SOTA, read this blog from our website and read this article from On the Air magazine.

To read up on portable operating, head to our store and purchase a copy of Portable Operating for Amateur Radio