Parks on the Air® Awards

Awards

Parks on the Air recognizes your dedication with awards available to Activators and Hunters:

To get yours, just Login and go to My Stats and Awards Issued. Click on the award link to download it. We are currently adding more awards that are not available there yet, so that you can download them at any time.

Activators are those amateurs who operate portable from within Parks on the Air (POTA) designated parks.

Hunters are those amateurs who make contact with Activators who are operating portable from within Parks on the Air (POTA) designated parks.

There are several categories based on number of parks, geographic area, and so on. Click on each category to jump down the page and read more details.

Standard Awards for Parks

   

Advanced Awards for Parks

DX Awards

Awards for activating or contacting unique POTA DX entities. These are awarded in increments of 5 DX entities.

Activators

Activators earn this award by activating parks in multiple DX entities.

Hunters

Hunters earn this award by making contact with activators in multiple DX entities.

POTA Rover Awards

(Inspired by South African operator, ZS6BNE, Eddie Leighton [RaDAR] )

POTA Rover is a series of awards for activating certain numbers of unique parks in a single UTC day:

You can earn these awards multiple times, so get out there and have fun roving!

Early Shift/Late Shift Awards

Early Shift is the 6-hour period beginning at 02:00 UTC, +/- 1 hour for each 15 degrees of longitude that the park pin is offset from 0 degrees. For parks that cross multiple locations, the administrative reference unit (State, Province, etc.) pin is used instead, based on your activation location. Observance of time zones and daylight savings will make the exact local time vary from location to location. See Shifts Map for reference. The exact time for a given park can be viewed on the park details page for the park of interest, or can be calculated as (rounded to the nearest hour): 2 – (longitude of pin / 15) = UTC start of early shift.

Late Shift is the 8-hour period beginning at 18:00 UTC, +/- 1 hour for each 15 degrees of longitude that the park pin is offset from 0 degrees. For parks that cross multiple locations, the administrative reference unit (State, Province, etc.) pin is used instead, based on your activation location. Observance of time zones and daylight savings will make the exact local time vary from location to location. See Shifts Map for reference. The exact time for a given park can be viewed on the park details page for the park of interest, or can be calculated as (rounded to the nearest hour): 18 – (longitude of pin / 15) = UTC start of late shift.

Early Shift Activator

Early Shift Hunter

Late Shift Activator

Late Shift Hunter

Geographic Awards

Worked all References Awards

Having worked all of the available Parks in a particular state or territory.

Repeat Offender Awards

Awarded for activating or hunting a park multiple times.

Single Park – Tier One

If activated 20 times as an activator, or you’ve had 20 QSOs as a hunter, you qualify for the Oasis Award.

20 x = Oasis Award
40 x = Fox Den Award
60 x = Bear Cave Award
80 x = Fishing Hole Award
100 x = Eagle’s Nest Award

The entire process can go ad infinitum – starting with the first tier being 20, 40, 60, 80, 100… Then you could get your “Tier Two Oasis Award” at 120 activations/QSOs from the same park, etc., and the tags for the tiers can keep increasing.

Operator to Operator Award

Having QSOs as a hunter with an activator. In increments of 50, starting with a base of 50.

Park to Park Award

Earned by activators for making contacts with other park activators.

Special Awards

Support Your Parks Event Awards

Earned by making QSOs during one of the four seasonal events.

Winter Activator

Earned by making at least one QSO during the Winter Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of January.

Winter Hunter

Earned by hunting at least one park during the Winter Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of January.

Spring Activator

Earned by making at least one QSO during the Spring Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of April.

Spring Hunter

Earned by hunting at least one park during the Spring Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of April.

Summer Activator

Earned by making at least one QSO during the Summer Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of July.

Summer Hunter

Earned by hunting at least one park during the Summer Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of July.

Autumn Activator

Earned by making at least one QSO during the Autumn Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of October.

Autumn Hunter

Earned by hunting at least one park during the Autumn Support Your Parks event– third full weekend of October.

Outstanding Operator Award

This award is only by nomination from another operator, for showing good character and representing the best example of what a POTA operator should be.

This award is retired and not being issued at this time.

Six Meter (6 Pack) Awards

For activators you need 10 contacts on 6m. You can also make contacts on other bands as part of the activation – so, 10 contacts on 6m from 6 different parks.

For hunters, you will need at least one QSO from 6 different parks.

James F. LaPorta N1CC Awards

Having QSOs from ten different Parks on the Air parks on ten different bands, as a hunter or activator.

Activator

Hunter

Kilo Award

Activator

Award for Activators only. Make 1000 QSOs from the same park.

New Year Award

Activator

Earned for activating one or more parks during the first week of the year– January 1 to January 7.

Hunter

Earned for hunting one or more parks during the first week of the year– January 1 to January 7.

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