Field notes · Parks on the Air · 8 min
How to log a POTA activation when the cell tower is a rumor.
Most POTA activations fail the log, not the radio. You roll into the park, LTE dies at the gate, and the logger that looked fine in the driveway is now a spinner. Here is how a clean activation actually works offline.
2026-09-12 UTC
Load the park before you leave the driveway
The worst time to type a park reference is after you have already lost data. Pull the K- or VE- reference, the park name, and a grid estimate while you still have a tower. Save it as the activation you are about to run — not a note in a second app.
If your logger cannot hold a park without the network, it is a website with a radio hobby. Treat the reference like a frequency: it belongs in the log before the first CQ.
- Park reference on the log line, not in a memo field you will forget to export.
- Activator versus hunter is a role switch, not a different program.
- A paper backup is insurance. It is not a workflow.
Write every QSO locally as it happens
Pileups do not wait for a round-trip to a cloud logbook. Call, RST, band, mode, UTC. If you can type the call, the QSO should already be on disk. Killing the app, flipping to a spotting page, or losing Bluetooth to the radio must not take the last five contacts with it.
DUPE is a local index. Working the same hunter twice on 20 CW because your sheet is in the car is how you burn a run. Band and mode identity has to be instant, gloves or not.
Spots are optional. The log is not.
Self-spotting is a courtesy to hunters. It is not the activation. If you cannot spot, you still log. When a path returns — a hotspot in the parking lot, a phone that finds LTE on the ridge — then you export.
ADIF should already contain the park. Uploading to the POTA program should not be a second afternoon of editing. If you are copying references from a notebook into a web form, the logger failed after the radio succeeded.
What to take besides the radio
A phone that can write a log without a login page. A battery plan. A park reference you loaded at home. That is the kit. The laptop can stay on the desk.
Log73 is built for this sequence: offline log, park on the line, DUPE at type speed, ADIF when you say so. It is in field trial. If you activate parks where the tower does not follow you, that is the operator we are building for.
Questions
How many QSOs do I need for a POTA activation?
POTA generally requires ten QSOs from the park. Log73 keeps that count on the log line so you are not guessing from a paper tally in the rain.
Can I log POTA without cell service?
Yes, if the logger is offline-first. Park reference, UTC, DUPE, and the QSO itself must live on the device. Spots and uploads wait for a path.
Log73 is in field trial.
Request a slot. Bring a radio.