Ham2K Polo — complete field how-to

Polo (Ham2K Portable Logger) is the phone logger this guide assumes in the field. It is not the award system. It is not N3FJP. It does not replace a paper log.

Official manual: polo.ham2k.com/docs First sitting: Your First Operation Exports & privacy: Log Exports & Privacy Tips: Tips and Tricks Settings: Logger Settings Install: App Store / Google Play / GitHub (MPL 2.0)

Watch before the first park (official):

• Your First Operation — live demo (the video Polo’s own docs embed)
• Ham2K Apps YouTube — How-Tos playlist
• SWFL Hamfest walkthrough

Screenshots below are from the Polo docs repo (Apache 2.0). Attribution: NOTICE.

Mental model: Operation vs QSO vs Activity

If you skip the activity, Polo cannot write MY_SIG_INFO. POTA will reject the upload even though every QSO looks fine on the phone.

Day-zero setup (do this at home)

1. Install Polo. Open the cog on the operations list.
2. Set operator callsign. Everything else is optional until this is right.
3. Logging settings worth flipping now:

- Left-handed Send button if that is you. - RST sent-first vs received-first — pick one and never change it mid-pileup. - Jump to next field on entry if you like. - Enable the numbers row if your phone keyboard hides digits. - Bands/modes list: shrink it to what you actually run (20/40/15 SSB+CW is a sane POTA set).

1. Lookups: QRZ XML paid is what actually returns hunter grids. Free QRZ XML returns name/address/country only — no grid. HamDB (free, US/CA/DE) and HamQTH are other App Feature sources. QRZ API login is callsign + password, not email. Avoid exotic password characters. Use Check Credentials until it ticks.
2. Export settings: leave Include Private Data off unless you know why you want names and addresses in a file you might email.
3. Refresh offline park/summit data at home (Data Settings). Unknown-park in the field usually means the data file is stale.
4. Optional: import your shack ADIF as Call History so dead-zone lookups still have names.

Full settings tour: polo.ham2k.com/docs/polo-features/settings. Lookups: Data Lookups.

Your first POTA operation (click-by-click)

Official companion: Your First Operation.

1. New operation. Name it something you will recognize at midnight (US-1356 2026-08-31).
2. Open Operation (or Controls) and add the POTA activity. Type the park (US-1356 or just 1356 — Polo fills the entity prefix once it knows you).
3. Confirm location / GPS. That is how MY_GRIDSQUARE gets on the Full export. Wait for a fix. A metal picnic shelter will lie to you.
4. On the QSOs tab, set band and mode before the first caller. Polo remembers the last pair; that is how you accidentally log 40 m QSOs as 20 m.
5. Type the callsign. Tap Send (or the keyboard Send). That logs the QSO with current time, band, mode, and default reports.
6. Need their park (P2P)? Put it in the POTA / their-ref field on that QSO. Many operators type just 2518; Polo expands to US-2518. That becomes SIG_INFO / POTA_REF on export.
7. Need a different RST? Space to the report fields before Send, or edit the row after.
8. When you QRT: Operation → Export Log Files. Do not share one file with the world.

Official walkthrough still: Your First Operation.

Which file to export (read this twice)

Polo will offer several ADIFs from one sitting. They are not interchangeable.

A 2-fer POTA sitting produces two POTA files (one per MY_POTA_REF) plus one Full file. Upload each POTA file to pota.app. Import the Full file into AC Log.

If Recap’s map is empty after a Polo activation, you fed it the POTA export. Use Full.

Override (not recommended for award uploads): General Settings → Export Settings → Include Private Data. That stuffs lookup data into the program-specific files. Polo’s own warning: once you pass on someone else’s QRZ data, you do not control it.

Callsign-box shortcuts (keep this in the lid of the kit)

Polo treats the callsign field as a command line. Type the command, then Send. Official list: Tips and Tricks. Printable: polo-callsign-shortcuts.txt

Empty RST fields log as 59. Tap-and-hold a frequency or reference to replace the whole value without mashing backspace.

Paper-log catch-up: set date (05-09), set time (14:55), set band (40m), set mode (CW), then type calls. Consecutive entries advance one minute each. The clock stays paused until you tap time → Back to now.

KONAMI toggles developer mode. You do not need it in a park.

P2P / S2S typing: letters and numbers only — Polo fills dashes. Often you can skip the prefix: 2518 for a US hunter park, VK1AC001 for VK1/AC-001.

2-fer, 3-fer, and dual-program sittings

• Add each POTA park as an activity on the same operation.
• Polo writes a separate POTA ADIF per park. Do not merge them in a text editor unless you enjoy failed uploads.
• On a single QSO, multiple hunter parks can go in the POTA field separated by comma or space; Polo expands that to separate QSO rows in the ADIF.
• A SOTA summit inside a POTA unit: add both activities. Meet both rule sets (vehicle, power, AZ) or you are lying to one program. See program comparison.
• WWFF on the same fence line is a third activity and a third export.
• Other activities Polo already ships (GMA, WWBOTA, SiOTA, ZLOTA, AMSAT, custom SIG_INFO programs): Supported activities.

Gridsquare in Polo

Yours:

1. If the activity is a park or summit, Polo fills a grid from the centroid of that reference. A long trail that crosses a grid line will be wrong. Override with device GPS or type the Maidenhead in Operation → Location.
2. Confirm the 6-character grid on the Operation tab before CQ. Write it on the field sheet.
3. No location set → Polo’s map warns you. Full ADIF → MY_GRIDSQUARE.

Theirs:

1. Paid QRZ XML returns GRIDSQUARE. Free QRZ does not. HamDB covers US/CA/DE only.
2. Free-QRZ maps collapse hunters to country or state centroids (vanity calls often land in the middle of the Lower 48). That is not a Recap bug.
3. After cell returns: QSO list ellipsis → Lookup All.
4. Still wrong: QSO → More → edit gridsquare by hand.
5. Or they give it (SOTA more than POTA SSB).

POTA export: grids stripped. That is intentional. Deep dive: ADIF fields & grids. Official: Mapping FAQ.

CAT, Bluetooth, and not fighting the radio

Polo can follow frequency/mode from a radio when you set that up (Hamlib / supported BLE, depending on platform and radio). If CAT is flaky in the sun, set band/mode manually with the shortcuts above and keep logging. A wrong band in the ADIF is worse than no CAT.

IC-705 USB audio is a separate problem from CAT. For Net Scribe, pick the 705 USB codec; for Polo, you only need CAT if you want the frequency filled for you.

After the sitting

1. Export POTA (per park) → pota.app (or run the POTA pack out of ADIF Doctor if you need explode/stamp).
2. Export Full → files app / email to yourself / USB.
3. If you also ran WSJT-X or FLdigi, merge that ADIF with Full in Doctor (de-dupe). Do not upload two overlapping files to pota.app.
4. Open Full (or Doctor → Open Recap with Full) in Recap. Empty map = you fed it the privacy-stripped POTA export.
5. Import Full into N3FJP AC Log at home (File → Import).
6. TQSL the home-log ADIF with a Station Location that matches this grid.

Paper log stays in the kit until the ADIF has survived a test open in a text editor. Search for MY_SIG_INFO and <EOR>.

What Polo will not do

• It will not be your LoTW Station Location.
• It will not be N3FJP’s Other-field mapping.
• It will not remember a park you forgot to add as an activity.
• It is not HAMRS. This guide does not cover HAMRS.

Next: N3FJP AC Log · Shortcut sheet (Polo + AC Log) · ADIF & grids

Habits / gotchas / checklist (Polo)

• Operator callsign set. QRZ login is callsign + password, Check Credentials.
• Activity = this park before CQ. GPS / location is this pin, not the park centroid on a long trail.
• Band/mode set on the QSO tab. 20m + Send if CAT is flaky.
• P2P in the their-park field on that QSO (2518 is enough). Comma 2-fer hunter parks expand to extra rows.
• Two POTA activities = two POTA export files + one Full. Do not merge POTA files in a text editor.
• POTA file → pota.app (no grids). Full → Doctor / Recap / AC Log / TQSL (grids). Empty Recap map = you fed it POTA export.
• Merge WSJT ADIF in Doctor. Photograph paper pages. SPOTME needs data.