Why the hate for POTA?

[a727469]

I don't care for POTA, SOTA, or whatever. Why not Cemeteries On The Air on Halloween? American Legions On The Air on Veterans Day? HRO or DXE On The Air [just like AM/FM radio station remotes back in the day]? Taverns On The Air? Urgent Care On The Air [for hams that have medical issues]?

Yes, it can get absurd, but so can the amount of self-promotion that advocates do for it do in every publication and every communication format for hams.

As I stated above. ”I believe anything within reason to advance the hobby and not hurt anyone is fine.” Let us not exaggerate. The point is very clear. Any hobby can and should use any means that makes members enjoy the hobby as long as they keep the safety and respect the rights of other people.
Some may find parts of any hobby to be silly or unnecessary ..I know I do…code, contests, parts of the ARRL, but I respect them all in some way and want the hobby to expand and thrive and adapt as technology advances.

 

[alcahuete]

As I stated above. ”I believe anything within reason to advance the hobby and not hurt anyone is fine.” Let us not exaggerate. The point is very clear. Any hobby can and should use any means that makes members enjoy the hobby as long as they keep the safety and respect the rights of other people.
Some may find parts of any hobby to be silly or unnecessary ..I know I do…code, contests, parts of the ARRL, but I respect them all in some way and want the hobby to expand and thrive and adapt as technology advances.

It's like FT8. And in all fairness, you can't talk about your hemorrhoids on FT8, so I get the anger, but my goodness. The people complaining about all this are the same ones who will be saying the next day that the hobby is dying and we have to do something to get the youth involved.

SMH....sometimes I just have to throw my hands up in complete bewilderment.

 

[vagrant]

It's like FT8. And in all fairness, you can't talk about your hemorrhoids on FT8,

That’s why I use PSK31. I let my fingers windbag my ailment du jour. Plus, I can type faster than it sends.

Joking aside, when I hear a POTA or whatever station calling I make the contact. I continue to listen and if they don’t get a reply I chat with them about their setup. This will often catch others that will make contact with the caller once we end the QSO. To me it’s all an experiment and it is fun to learn what works and doesn’t.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Some may find parts of any hobby to be silly or unnecessary ..I know I do…code, contests, parts of the ARRL, but I respect them all in some way and want the hobby to expand and thrive and adapt as technology advances.

What annoyed me into mocking that activity is all the ink spilled on QST for an event that was, in my estimation, overhyped. It just bothered me that the League ignored E-M-E, LF use, any SHF/EHF use, or other activities and the only thing we hear about is contesting and standing on a physical elevation and transmitting as if it were a distant island.

 

[a727469]

I cannot disagree on poor emphasis of certain activities at ARRL. But fortunately or unfortunately depending on your prospective, not everyone belongs to ARRL or just ignores areas they do not care for. While I do not see amateur radio ending, I do see a change and hope that infighting can be reduced,

 

[AK9R]

It just bothered me that the League ignored E-M-E, LF use, any SHF/EHF use, or other activities...

Did you write an article about EME, LF, SHF/EHF, or other activities and submit it to the QST editor for publication?

 

[mass-man]

Dare I say it??? Spin the VFO!!!

 

[ladn]

Cemeteries On The Air

I like that!
It may not go over in many of the modern graveyards like those owned by SCI or Forest Lawn, but I could definitely see it in historic burial grounds.

 

[KF0SKV]

I like chasing POTA. A few of these operators are just getting started into the wide world of Amateur Radio. Or have space constraints, e.g. apartments, HOA's, et., al. Or some just want to get out and enjoy the outdoors! I could go out and do it, but it would be a pain in the butt to unplug my 7100 and put in the car.

Sure, chasing POTA can be challenging when the QRM/QRN is high or QSB is strong. I have had some short but nice QSO's with a few of them. Some just want the contact and move on. That is ok. Whatever floats their boat.

Not going too far off topic, I'm not into FT8 or other data modes, (Ok SSTV has my interest, but is that data?) not that I am old fashioned, I like old fashioned Amateur Radio. AM/CW/SSB. Wire antennas, 100 watts or less.

 

[rf_patriot200]

The park district did something like this for astronomers or whatever they're called a couple of summers ago. The brought the telescopes out to the soccer field and the public was invited to come out and that a look through the telescopes and ask questions. I thought it was pretty cool and learned some things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. And the astronomers enjoyed it too.

One of my local Colleges does that here, Pretty fun !

 

[rf_patriot200]

As a ham who has just got back on the air, I am reading more and more about issues like this, within various groups. When did it get like this? I don't remember it being this "bad" 15 years ago, when I was last active...

Welcome to Hamming 2.0

 

[krokus]

POTA has been a way that has gotten more people out of the shack and in to parks. Both of those things need to happen more often. Besides, it's like a pico Field Day, getting operations set up in areas that are not pre-set for them.

Like many things in life, as others have noted: if you don't like POTA, don't work the activation. They are not hurting anyone, and hopefully not hurting the parks.

 

[K6GBW]

I wouldn’t work the activation, but if you are listening for simplex on a designated simplex channel it’s kind of messed up. It’s like having a captive audience. Maybe in BFE it’s not a big deal, here in LA is flat out annoying. What’s wrong with making 146.535 the POTA frequency and people that want to play that game can go there. There’s a band plan for a reason.

 

[AK9R]

There’s a band plan for a reason.

Maybe therein lies the "hate" for POTA. Some POTA ops are fairly new hams who maybe don't know the band plan, never had any mentoring about the band plan, or just don't care about the band plan. Older, more experienced hams are sometimes offended by that sort of attitude. Of course, there are older, more experienced hams who are easily annoyed by the young, whippersnappers.

 

[K6GBW]

That's kind of my point. I don't hate POTA, I think it's actually very interesting. But we probably should designate at a frequency for it to keep everyone happy. If I'm a mood to answer POTA stations I'd go there and give signal reports. But 146.520 around here is already busy. Usually we make contact and move to one of the other 2m simplex frequencies for an extended conversation. There are a "few" people here that co-opt the frequency occasionally and will use it for hours on end. They're nice enough and will release it if someone wants to make a call. I guess it's better than having it sit idle all the time. But here in SoCal we have more than a dozen simplex frequencies, so there's no reason not to spread out a little.

 

[T680]

Maybe therein lies the "hate" for POTA. Some POTA ops are fairly new hams who maybe don't know the band plan, never had any mentoring about the band plan, or just don't care about the band plan. Older, more experienced hams are sometimes offended by that sort of attitude. Of course, there are older, more experienced hams who are easily annoyed by the young, whippersnappers.

That's similar to CB radio and truckers. The super truckers complain that most people don't use CB radio (or even have them in their truck) and then complain when people use them. Throw in people like the mud duck monopolizing the one chanel most drivers use and it's easy to see why it doesn't get used very often unless there's a short term need.

 

[T680]

I

POTA has been a way that has gotten more people out of the shack and in to parks. Both of those things need to happen more often. Besides, it's like a pico Field Day, getting operations set up in areas that are not pre-set for them.

Like many things in life, as others have noted: if you don't like POTA, don't work the activation. They are not hurting anyone, and hopefully not hurting the parks.

I saw some YouTube videos of people using their radios after the hurricanes last summer and it seems like POTA would be great practice for that, as well as increasing publicity. I understand the frustration with having too many people using the airwaves at the same time and I've seen the opposite on CB where there isn't anyone there too.

 

[K6GBW]

I saw that many trucking companies don't even allow radios in the trucks anymore. That's to bad really. Many of the truckers are using Zello apps for particular highways. The constant evolution of things I guess.

 

[T680]

The manufacturers included the wiring and a speaker to hook up a CB when I drove, I guess they figured that was better than having people cause problems trying to hook them up on their own. I made a mistake of briefly working for a shady company (I didn't realize it until I got there and quickly left) that provided and installed their radio in their truck.

I liked having CB in the truck. When I switched to more regional driving I didn't use one and missed it.