Parks on the Air (POTA) in Indiana

Parks on the Air (POTA) is a worldwide amateur radio program that rewards operating from — and contacting — designated parks, forests, and other public lands. There are two ways to play. An activator sets up a station inside a participating park and calls CQ, and a hunter works those activations from home (or from another park). It is a low-cost, beginner-friendly way to get on the air, enjoy the outdoors, and earn awards. Everything runs through the official site, pota.app, with full guides at docs.pota.app.

How to Hunt

Hunting means working park activations, usually from the comfort of home. The heart of it is the live spotting page on pota.app, which lists who is currently on the air, which park they are activating, and their frequency and mode. You can go straight to the live POTA spots page to see current activations. Tune to a spot you can hear, answer the activator's CQ, and exchange signal reports and park references. Create a free account on pota.app to track your contacts toward certificates and awards — your credit is generated automatically when the activator uploads their log. See the POTA Hunter Guide for the details, and track your progress on the POTA stats / leaderboards page.

How to Activate

Activating means being the operator at the park. The basics:

  • Pick a park. Browse the official POTA map to find a participating park near you and note its reference number.
  • Make 10 contacts. A valid activation requires at least 10 logged QSOs with other stations. Find a clear frequency, call CQ, and post a self-spot on pota.app so hunters can find you.
  • Log and upload. Keep an accurate log (paper or software), then submit a correctly formatted ADIF file using the POTA self-upload tool. A free logger such as HAMRS makes field logging and ADIF export easy.

Read the POTA Activator Guide and the POTA rules before your first outing.

Loggers and Spotting Apps

Good logging software makes activating much easier — it lets you self-spot, log QSOs quickly in the field, and export a correctly formatted ADIF file for upload. Popular free choices include:

  • HAMRS — a simple, POTA-focused logger for phones, tablets, and computers with one-tap self-spotting and ADIF export.
  • Ham2K Portable Logger (PoLo) — a fast, mobile-first field logger built for POTA, SOTA, and other portable programs (see also ham2k.com).
  • POTA spots page — the official live spotting feed; many third-party "POTA Spotter" apps simply read this same feed so hunters get alerts on the go.
  • pota.review — community news, reviews, and articles about POTA gear and operating.

Indiana Parks

Indiana's participating parks use the US-IN area references in the POTA system (for example, references shown as US-XXXX within the Indiana entity). Because the roster of parks changes as entities are added and edited, it is best to look them up on the official list rather than rely on a fixed table. Use the live POTA map — allow location services or pick Indiana from the entity drop-down to zoom to the parks near you — or browse the community US-Indiana park list.

Indiana has plenty to work, including the Indiana Dunes National Park along Lake Michigan, the Hoosier National Forest in south-central Indiana, and the many Indiana State Parks, State Forests, fish & wildlife areas, and reservoirs scattered across the state. For current reference numbers and park details, always check the official POTA list above.

To plan a visit, hours, and access for the land itself, see the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Indiana State Parks pages. Federal lands have their own sites: Indiana Dunes National Park and the Hoosier National Forest. Always confirm whether a permit, day-use fee, or advance notice is needed before setting up a station.

POTA and the Rest of the Hobby

POTA pairs well with digital modes — FT8 and other weak-signal modes let you rack up contacts even on a modest portable station. Local clubs often organize group POTA outings, which are a great way to learn portable operating and share gear. Brand new to the hobby? Start with our Get Licensed guide, get your callsign, and you can be hunting parks the same day.

Related Outdoor Programs

If you enjoy POTA, several sister programs use the same portable-operating skills (and many parks overlap):

Useful Tools

  • pota.app — the official POTA site, account sign-up, and the live spots page.
  • POTA map — find participating parks and their reference numbers.
  • docs.pota.app — hunter and activator guides, rules, and FAQs.
  • POTA spots — live feed of stations currently activating.
  • POTA stats — awards, leaderboards, and activity statistics.
  • HAMRS — a free, POTA-friendly logging app with ADIF export.
  • Ham2K Portable Logger (PoLo) — a fast mobile field logger for POTA, SOTA, and WWFF.
  • pota.review — POTA news, reviews, and operating articles.
  • US-Indiana park list — community wiki list of Indiana (US-IN) POTA references.