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Get On The Air — Master Field Guide

Portable amateur radio for activators and hunters, from planning to pack-up. First license, first repeater net, first POTA activation, a SOTA summit, a WWFF reserve, hunting from the shack, or a satellite pass from the campground — this is the operating layer next to the tools on this site.

It is independent. Not affiliated with Parks on the Air, SOTA, WWFF, ARRL, or ARES. Written and field-tested by KB3CMT. Program rules change; confirm the current version on the official site before you log an award. Last pass over this tree: 2026-09-02.

Get licensed, get on the air

This guide mostly assumes you already operate. If you do not have a callsign yet, or you have one and have never keyed a microphone, start here. Portable POTA/SOTA/WWFF comes after a first repeater QSO — not instead of it.

You do not need to feel ready. The first check-in is supposed to be awkward. Key up anyway.

We are independent of ARRL, the FCC, and the award programs. Confirm fees, question pools, and session dates on the official sites.

License path (US)

Three written exams, stacked:

ClassWhat it unlocksExam
TechnicianVHF/UHF plus a slice of HF. First HT, local repeaters, nets.35 questions, 26 to pass
GeneralMost HF. This is the usual portable-HF license.35 questions, 26 to pass
Amateur ExtraFull privileges. Optional; take it when the pool is fresh.50 questions, 37 to pass

Study, then sit a volunteer-examiner session. There is no Morse requirement.

Study (pick one and finish it):

Do not invent a local club list from this site. Find a session on HamStudy exam sessions or the ARRL exam finder.

FRN, exam day, then ULS

  1. Register in FCC CORES and get an FRN before exam day: apps.fcc.gov/cores. ARRL’s walkthrough: arrl.org/fcc-cores-registration-instructions.
  2. Bring a photo ID and your FRN. Pay the VEC session fee and any FCC application fee the coordinators tell you that day.
  3. Technician and General are 35 questions, 26 correct each. Extra is 50 questions, 37 correct. You can sit Technician and General the same session if you pass Technician first.
  4. After the session, watch the FCC ULS license search. That is where the callsign appears. Keep CORES and ULS contact data current; they are different systems.

First radio (an HT is enough)

A dual-band 2 m / 70 cm handheld gets you on local repeaters. You do not need an HF radio to be a ham.

Learn these before the first net:

Programming: do not wait for a perfect codeplug. Load a handful of local machines and go. Two tools, different jobs:

ToolUse it whenHabit
CHIRPFree, most HTs and many mobiles, you are willing to read a CSV-like gridRead the radio first (never write a blank image). Frequency column = repeater output. Duplex +/− and Offset in MHz (0.600 on 2 m, 5.000 on 70 cm typical — confirm the listing). Tone Mode Tone (encode only) is the usual first-net setting; TSQL also squelches RX and will mute the machine if the tone is wrong.
RT SystemsPaid, radio-specific cable + programmer; CHIRP is missing your SKU or you want “Simple mode”Offset often fills itself from the band. Same rule: Tone (encode) unless the club told you to use tone squelch. Keep a backup file.

Buy the cable that matches the radio (Kenwood-style 2-pin on many HTs is not a Yaesu 4-pin). Cheap USB–serial clones fail with the wrong chipset — if CHIRP never “sees” the radio, the cable is guilty more often than the software.

Directory of machines: RepeaterBook. Offset and PL come from the listing, not from folklore. Save a simplex calling channel too (146.520 MHz in the US is the usual 2 m national calling — confirm your band plan). Award programs do not credit repeater QSOs; this chapter is how you talk first.

First repeater contact

A repeater listens on one frequency and transmits on another. You transmit on the input (radio applies the offset); you listen on the output. If you hear the machine but it never hears you, the PL is wrong or you are on simplex.

  1. Listen. If a QSO is running, wait for a break.
  2. Leave a gap after the courtesy tone before you transmit — enough for emergency traffic to drop in.
  3. Give your callsign. That is a legal ID and a request to chat.
  4. Identify at least every 10 minutes and at the end of the contact (Part 97).

Listen-first and gaps also apply in the field. We keep the long version on Ethics so it is not copied three times.

First net

Find a listed net on RepeaterBook or a club calendar — we do not host a local net directory.

First check-in, in this order, then stop:

  1. Callsign
  2. Name
  3. Location (city or grid is enough)

Do not give a life story on the first round. Net control is writing a roster. If you later run a net, Net Scribe is the tool on this site.

Phonetics: NATO letters on the first pass (Kilo Bravo Three…). After they have you, plain callsign is fine.

Mistakes are normal. Doubled syllables, wrong offset, talking over the courtesy tone — everyone did it. Correct, ID, keep going.

If nobody answers: you may be on simplex, the PL may be encode-only on the wrong tone, or the machine may be down. Ask on a second listed repeater or a club simplex frequency. Do not turn the HT to 5 W on a handheld against your face for a whole net — start low.

UTC later: nets are local time. Parks and LoTW are UTC. When you graduate to portable, every logger clock is Zulu — Planning.

Clubs and Elmers

Ask a local club for an Elmer; do not expect this site to be a club directory. Start with the ARRL affiliated club search and the club listed on RepeaterBook for the machine you already use.

Habits / gotchas / checklist (license week)

Then go portable

Once you can check into a net without freezing, the rest of this guide is the portable layer:

  1. Program rules — 10 / 4 / 44 QSOs, no terrestrial repeaters for award credit, simplex VHF/UHF is fine
  2. Planning — pin, grid, UTC alert
  3. Station: hardware, antennas, setups
  4. Activate or Hunt
  5. Logger: Polo on the phone, N3FJP in the truck — close-out in ADIF Doctor

Award programs are independent of licensing. A Technician can hunt and activate on VHF simplex. HF parks wait on General.

Start here if you are actually going out Saturday

Activating:

  1. Program rules — 10 / 4 / 44 QSOs, vehicles, power, AZ
  2. Planning & grid — pin, Maidenhead, alert in UTC
  3. Antenna: 4WAVE vertical if you have a hitch; EFHW if you have trees
  4. Activate · Call CQ · Pileups
  5. Logger: Polo on the phone, N3FJP in the truck or shack — ADIF parks & gridsquare
  6. Award uploads · Recap

Hunting:

  1. Hunt / search & pounce — spots, phonetics, when not to call
  2. CW if that is what the activator runs; WSJT-X after you can hunt voice
  3. GridTracker optional at home
  4. Log for yourself; upload LoTW/QRZ if you chase confirmations — POTA hunter stats come from activator logs

Print: Field sheet · Shortcut sheets · Pack list Watch / official manuals: Resources

What this guide is for

Use it with the tools

JobTool
Print a one-pager before you lose cellField sheet
Fix the log before you uploadADIF Doctor
Find unworked parks inside a driveSaturday planner
Share the activation afterwardRecap cards
Run a net or public-service eventNet Scribe
Needed parks on the spots pagePOTAPlus (download zip)

Contents

Notes & edits

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