Leave-the-park closeout

The pile is done. Paper pages are photographed. Now leave the park with a file that will not fail the uploader — and a Recap card that is not the same file.

Homepage close-out order and First activation §5 already say it: Doctor first (the files), Recap second (the picture), then pota.app My Log Uploads. This page is the short ops card for that sequence. It is independent. Not affiliated with Parks on the Air, ARRL, or any awards body. Floors and upload paths live on docs.pota.app and pota.app — confirm before you treat a habit as a rule.

Ordered closeout

1. Export from the logger — Polo on the phone, N3FJP in the truck, or paper → typed ADIF. Keep the paper photos until the upload sticks.
2. ADIF Doctor — diagnose parks / grids / 2-fers, explode comma lists, emit the POTA-oriented pack (and Full). Nothing leaves the browser.
3. Recap — open from Doctor’s Full ADIF (or “Open Recap with Full”). Shareable card for you — not a substitute for upload.
4. Upload on pota.app — My Log Uploads with the POTA pack, not a random Full dump. Activator uploads; hunters do not (Programs).
5. Optional: LoTW / QRZ from Full (or Doctor’s LoTW split) when you chase confirmations — that is a different job than pota.app credit.

Same posture as Activate — closeout and the homepage “Close-out order” card.

Polo Full vs POTA-export

Polo ships two export families. Mixing them up is the classic parking-lot mistake.

Doctor’s own close-out table says the same: POTA pack → pota.app; Full → Recap / LoTW / QRZ. If you only have one file from an older logger, run Doctor anyway — it will tell you what it can emit.

2-fer note (overlap, then explode)

POTA allows 2-fers / 3-fers when you sit in the overlap of every claimed unit for the whole sitting — a fence line between two parks is inside neither (Programs — Dual-credit). Old “pick one park” wording is stale.

Logging habit on this site (not a new award rule):

• One physical QSO per hunter, duplicated in ADIF once per park.
• ADIF Doctor explodes comma park lists into separate files.
• Polo: two POTA activities on one operation → two POTA export files (plus Full). Do not expect one POTA dump to cover both parks.
• Confirm current matching / P2P windows on docs.pota.app.

This page is not a logger. Use Polo / N3FJP / paper in the field; Doctor at the kitchen table.

Soft checklist (leave the lot)

• Last call said; end time UTC noted (Activate)
• Paper pages photographed; Field Sheet still in the binder (Field Sheet)
• Spot updated or cleared when you have data (Dead cell if not)
• Export → Doctor → Recap from Full → POTA pack to My Log Uploads
• 2-fer day: overlap was real; Doctor explode / two Polo POTA exports done
• France FR- day: reference was Active that morning (planning freshness)

Related

• ADIF Doctor · Recap · Field Sheet
• Club or group log (club call + OPERATOR, club-account upload): Support Your Parks ops card
• Activate · First POTA activation
• Programs · POTA upload · ADIF & grids
• Parking-lot paper companion: Parking-lot Field Sheet pack

Explicit non-goals

• Not a contest logger (see Contesting for Cabrillo hand-off orientation).
• Not a spots page or skimmer.
• Not an awards authority — pota.app / docs.pota.app win on credit, floors, and replacements (Request Help on My Log Uploads — do not email the area coordinator as the normal path).
• Does not replace Polo, N3FJP, or paper in the field.

Notes & edits

Comments and proposed markdown sit in a queue. Nothing is public until it is reviewed. How this works.