Whether at BARS meetings or the club’s breakfasts or lunches, there has been talk about POTA activations. POTA, short for Parks On The Air, has been a fun activity for amateur radio operators where they get to go to a state or national park, designated for activation, set up their gear and make contacts. Mike-KG2MM, a well-known POTA activator, has given some presentations at BARS monthly meetings and certainly generated some interest in POTA. One of our newer club members who has been licensed for less than a year, Keith-KR4BVK, has jumped into POTA with both feet and shared his passion with the club which led to a proposed POTA activity for BARS members. Keith arranged for BARS members to activate Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park, POTA reference US-3669, in North Jacksonville. On Saturday, October 4, 2025, Keith and Conner-K2CRH, set up Keith’s homemade 20-meter inverted vee antenna and he got right to making contacts. Bruce-N4OQV, set up his radio with a Wolf River Coil vertical antenna and attempted to make CW contacts. Keith, using the club’s callsign, KB4ARS, made over 50 phone contacts including 25 Park-to-Park contacts. Other BARS members who came out to support the POTA activity were Sam-K4NAV, Mike-K2KM, and Gerry-KE4GJB. All in all, it was a fun day and there will most certainly be future BARS POTA activations!
By Bruce Sherman – N4OQV