Category: Articles

As Winter turns to Mud Season in Downeast Maine, many EAWA members and friends are thinking of the upcoming Parks On The Air (POTA) season. Yes, hams can activate POTA year-round, but many of us wait for the milder temperatures of spring to start our POTA adventures. POTA is not only popular among our local hams, it’s exploding in popularity around the world. According to Kevin Thomas, a member of the POTA Board of Directors, “More than 85,000 parks are now active across 236 DX entities, with over 84,000 registered operators.” He also noted that the POTA website “processed 10.6 million QSOs in 2023, 13 million in 2024, and 15.2 million in 2025.”

Part of the fun of any ham radio activity is setting personal goals, then working to achieve them. In the POTA program, some of those goals may involve achieving POTA.app awards. Whether it’s that very first award, the Bronze Award, for activating/hunting 10 different parks, the Sapphire Award for activating/hunting 75 different parks, the Kilo Award for activators who have made 1,000 QSOs from the same park, or the Rhino Award for activating 10 different parks in 24 hours (a POTA Rove Award), there are many short-term and long-term challenges to consider. (See the full list here.)

There is a new POTA challenge slowly gaining popularity that comes from POTA News & Reviews, called the Pack Mule Award. This challenge involves hiking all your equipment into a park such that you are at least 1/2 mile from your vehicle. The Award requires 100 hiking activations, with at least 22 QSOs per activation. This certainly qualifies as a long-term challenge! (See more about the Pack Mule Award here.)

For some operators, the awards are nice but secondary to the personal goals and challenges that keep their POTA experiences fresh and interesting. Let’s hear from some of the EAWA members regarding their 2026 POTA goals.

Joan W1DLC plans to activate Baxter State Park, using CW and 10 watts. She added, “In addition to other camping activations, I am looking forward to operating with my POTA friends Barbara KC1SSY and Matt KC1VLH.”

Matt KC1VLH, shared “My goal is that by the end of the year I hope to add parks in the remaining 3 New England states as well as New York and Pennsylvania. I also plan to get other Maine state parks.”

Barbara KC1SSY shared that one of her goals has already started, which is to try her best to make a POTA contact everyday. Her second goal is “to increase my number of individual and group POTA activations through 2026, including some new-to-me parks and ideally at least one in another state.”

Dick W1KRP said, “2025 was a ‘year to forget’ so 2026 is going to be the opposite. POTA is at the top of my fun-list.”

John KQ1P hopes to try bicycling to a location for an activation, enjoy the EAWA club POTA activations, and to activate some new-to-him parks.

Greg KC1RID, an avid SOTA activator and hiker, said that while at Baxter State Park this year he will “at least do POTA in the evenings.” He added, “one of my goals is to hike all the Maine 4000′ mountains, so I might bag one or two other mountains outside of Baxter.”

Stan W1BOY stated his goals included “more activations this summer, both 100w picnic table portable and QRP hiking portable.” Stan has his eye on the Pack Mule Award.

Marion W1GRL shared that she hunts POTAs often, but hasn’t completed many activations. Her goal is “to keep up with W1BOY’s activations and use CW for POTA QSOs.”

In a club the size of the EAWA, there are likely to be active POTA hunters and operators not mentioned here. For example, Mark W1ABY is a dedicated POTA hunter. There are also those who support POTA operators, both human and canine. In a location as beautiful as Downeast Maine, combining ham radio with the natural landscape creates a perfect match!

As you make your POTA plans, mark your calendar for the Maine-wide POTA Day, Saturday, May 16. Also, keep an eye out for the traditional fall EAWA Club POTA activation, which usually comes around in September or October. If you haven’t tried POTA yet, perhaps reading these goals will inspire you to become a POTA operator. The people mentioned in this article would be happy to chat with you if you have questions. POTA ON!
Written by Marion W1GRL

Across the two hours of operating, eight women (4 of whom are licensed) shared in the fun of the YL POTA Day. To be fair, four men also came by to cheer us on. We gathered at Fabbri Picnic Area in Acadia National Park. Although the set up started with drizzle, the weather cooperated for the event.

We made over 40 contacts, with the farthest QSOs in Texas, Canada, and Spain. Among the highlights were the Morse Code contacts Joan and Marion each made with Jeff KA1DBE. Another highlight was a hunter who said he needed Maine to complete his goal make a POTA contact in every state. We were proud to let him know that it was a YL POTA special event that completed his quest.

Another highlight was an opportunity to share ham radio, and especially the work of women in ham radio, with a young girl. It was fun to share the Morse Code moments with her, along with some information about POTA spotting and QSO ettiquette.

This year’s YL POTA Party Day was a great success! Even with less-than-inviting weather, we honored women radio operators on this International Women’s Day. The ham community is built relationship-by-relationship, and today we shared our event with several non-licensed and newly-licensed hams. Here’s hoping for great weather in 2027!
Written by Marion W1GRL

The international ham radio community is coming together in March to celebrate YLs. Many groups around the world are planning YL POTA activations in honor of International Women’s Day. If you’re new to ham radio terms, “YL” comes from Young Lady, which now simply refers to females of any age.

The YLs of the EAWA are planning to activate Acadia National Park on Sunday, March 8, from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Joan W1DLC, Barbara KC1SSY, and Marion W1GRL, will be there to greet and share the fun of ham radio. We hope EAWA members and friends will stop by to cheer us on! All women, whether licensed or not, can get on the air if they’d like to.

Look for us at a picnic table at Fabbri Picnic Area in Acadia National Park. You can reach Fabbri by turning from Route 3 on the Otter Cliff Road, or by taking Schooner Head Road to the Sand Beach Entrance Station, then following Ocean Drive to the picnic area. 

It would be so confirming to all the EAWA YL members and friends to have a good turn out! If you have any questions please contact Marion W1GRL (good on QRZ) or use the “Contact Us” form for this website. We hope to see you!
Written by Marion W1GRL

Every Wednesday, and twice a month on Sundays, EAWA members and friends gather for ham radio conversations and workshop-style support for kits, home-brew builds, and troubleshooting. Perhaps you will join us sometime?

“Clandestine Coffee” provides an easy, enjoyable way to get know ham radio operators in the Downeast area. We usually have 10 to 20 EAWA members and friends around the tables, some coming from as far away as Belfast and Millbridge. Conversations often touch on many radio topics, reflecting the diverse interests of EAWA members.

Like Clandestine Coffee, everyone is welcomed to join in the Weekend Sessions as well. These workshop-style sessions begin at noon at the Meadow View Phase 4 Community Room, 25 Tweedie Lane in Ellsworth (see map here). We regularly have hams come just to hang out and see what everyone else is working on. People often bring in items they are working on, both hardware and software, to share or assemble, and perhaps get advice. Lately there have been soldering activities, assistance with logging programs, and trouble-shooting older equipment.

Unlike Clandestine Coffee, which happens every Wednesday, the Weekend Sessions are held only in the fall and winter months. We have 4 sessions left: March 8 and 22, and April 12 and 26. While you are thinking of what’s on your calendar, make a note that the EAWA’s Annual Ham Radio Symposium, held at the same location, is scheduled for Saturday, April 18. Check this website for more Symposium details as they are announced.

The EAWA is an active group! Whether you are a member of the club or not, don’t be shy about joining us for any event, or get to know us through our EAWA Facebook group. Amateur radio is an awesome “hobby of a thousand hobbies,” and part of that is joy comes from sharing in a community. We hope to see you soon!
Written by Marion W1GRL