Putting the links up front for the short attention spanned
So today (FRI 12/19/2025) I was made aware of the website POTA.news by catching a livestream from Hamtuber Eric N1JUR. Eric had the site’s creator, Perry W1GRD, on the stream to talk about what going on with the site. I started playing the stream in the background while I did some work around the house, but I got pulled into watching the stream.
First off, the website is pretty cool and definitely worth checking out by anyone into POTA. But what got my attention is that they are creating their own awards for POTA. Starting with the Pack Mule award.
As I enjoy hiking with radio, this award is right up my alley… or trail maybe. The requirements are more challenging than the typical POTA awards. It is more along the lines of SOTA’s Mountain Goat, but not quite as a challenge for most. To get the Pack Mule award, a POTA activator is required to hike or walk a distance in the park before you set up your station. On top of that, you need to make 100 activations. So this is a marathon, not a sprint.
As I type this, it seems the details are being worked out and the requirements and detail on how to enter will be coming soon in early 2026. I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
I don’t think too many hams could legitimately deny that the “on the air” activities, Summits on the Air and Parks on the Air, POTA especially, have been a major boost to the ham radio hobby. I for one would probably have no real interest in HF if I didn’t discover SOTA on YouTube while researching a backpacking trip.
SOTA resonated deeply with me and my love of backpacking and hiking. Throwing a small QRP kit in my pack and making QSO’s half way around the world for a Wisconsin “summit” added an excited new eliminate to my hikes.
While what draws me and the other hardcore SOTA activators and chasers is that SOTA, by it’s nature is challenging. Limited access to activation zones, one has to usually hike a distant just to get to the activation zone, and not being able to activate from your vehicle. Then top if off with there is really only one SOTA award, Mountain Goat.
At first, POTA didn’t interest me too much at first, for I was more into the challenge that SOTA naturally brings with it. SOTA has stricter rules and fewer options for activation sites. POTA almost seemed “too easy” to me, and I didn’t try it for a long time because I thought I would lose interest in it quickly, so why bother signing up. Right?
Well, clearly the thousands of hams around the world to enjoy being POTA activators now my first assessment of POTA was wrong. I was hooked on the game of POTA from my first activation, and the way POTA is structured is the reason.
What make POTA different and makes it much more popular, from my perspective, is two factors. Easy access and it’s gamification of the activity.
First off it’s easier to play. Many, many more easy accessible entities, and easy for the activator to upload log. Logging, by the way, is what I think is POTA’s secret weapon over POTA. With POTA, only the activator’s turn in a log, while SOTA hunter’s need to turn in a log to get hunter points. Nobody talks about that, but I firmly believe this is a boost for POTA. Makes it even easier to be a hunter if the friction of turning in a log to POTA was required. Not saying people are lazy, but… people are lazy. Removing the step of turning in logs has certainly helped create many die hard hunters.
The second factor for POTA’s success besides it’s ease, is it’s gamification. POTA has awards galore! Especially at the start for those new to the game. At first is seems you get an award or two every time you upload a POTA log. Scrolling through your awards page on the POTA website, you see your progress in the graphs and charts showing how close you are to the next level.
Some really, really get caught up in the awards. Some to the point they print our the PDFs and hang them proudly on their ham shack wall. I’m more on the other extreme where I don’t really care about the awards. But I have to admit, when I see one of the progress rings the awards page getting close to being full, it makes me start planning my next POTA outing.
The PN&R Pack Mule award has my full attention. This concept of logging trail miles with your activation along with the relatively high number of activations required makes this a challenge that will take a bit of time and effort. I like this a lot. Kind of a “Mountain Goat Light.”