getontheairRV and camping ham setups
POTA explicitly allows operating from a vehicle inside the park boundary — tailgate, RV slide-out, picnic table from the camper. SOTA does not allow vehicle-dependent stations in the activation zone. Know which program you are running before you deploy the hitch mount.
Program table: Programs · POTA vehicle rules on docs.pota.app
Why RV activations are popular
- Shelter from sun and rain
- 12 V power without hauling a separate battery farm
- 4WAVE or telescoping mast on hitch/ladder within minutes
- FT8 from a laptop with stable table space
Tradeoffs: ranger visibility, generator noise (verify park rules), and the temptation to never leave the asphalt — some parks require operating away from traffic lanes.
Antenna mounting options
Common patterns (Hitched4fun RV mast guide):
| Mount | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Hitch receiver | Stable, quick deploy | Must confirm park allows vehicle-adjacent setup |
| Ladder clamp | Height without hitch | Ladder rating and park tree rules |
| Tire mount | No drill | Awkward on slope |
| Ground stake / tripod | Away from rig | More packing |
Height beats brute power for VHF/UHF mobile; for HF POTA, an EFHW in nearby trees may outperform a compromised vertical if park rules allow wire in trees — many do not.
Field example: KB3CMT OTA-Camper
One working trailer pattern (KB3CMT’s OTA-Camper) is built around a 400 Ah house bank and about 400 W of solar. That Ah capacity can support a few days of boondocking if you are careful with loads; more solar would better match the battery size for cloudy stretches. Expect roughly 3–4 Ah per hour while the radio is on — so kill or unplug other DC loads while you operate.
Mounting: two 2″ receiver hitch mounts on the tongue — one for the HF antenna, one raised above the roof line for Starlink or a VHF/UHF antenna. RF path uses a mix of SGC-230 and ICOM AH-4 on a coax switch, four bulkhead connectors, and two permanent RG-8X runs — one to a roof Diamond X-30, one to the AH-4 at the rear.
The camper is intentionally a DC-first station. An inverter exists for convenience (coffee in the rain on a Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is fine), but never run the inverter while operating — inverter hash will trash HF receive.
12 V in the coach — current, not slogans
House-bank LiFePO4 is still a 4S pack. The radio wants the same ~20 A peak as it did on a picnic box; the coach wiring may not. Run a dedicated fused pair from the bank (or a DC-DC charger output) to a Powerpole distribution at the operating position. Do not share a lighting circuit with LED drivers. Cigarette-lighter leads still brown out a 100 W radio — same as the picnic table.
Ah math: radio receive is often 1–2 A; 100 W SSB average is much less than FT8 key-down. If the display says ~3–4 Ah per hour with the radio on and other loads killed, believe the meter, not the brochure. A 400 Ah bank sounds infinite until the inverter, the fridge, and Starlink join the party. Operate DC-first. Park the inverter until the pile is over.
Solar charge controllers and MPPT boxes can be noisy too. If the floor jumps when the sun hits the panels, you found it. Ferrite the DC leads; some ops shut the controller during a weak-signal hunt.
Voltage stop is still ~12.0 V under load for pack life — ethics. A coach BMS that cuts at 10 V will do it in the middle of a hunter’s callsign.
Ferrites on coax and USB near the radio. Bonding: RV metal shell can help or hurt; isolate audio interfaces if you hear alternator whine on TX. Wide braid between chassis, entry, and radio ground beats another random ground rod.
For extended boondocking activations, note which parks allow generator hours — many prohibit them entirely. Generator rules are park rules, not POTA rules — but SOTA still forbids fossil generators in the AZ.
VHF/UHF while traveling
Many RVers run a 50–75 W dual-band mobile with roof/ladder antenna for APRS, repeaters, and local coordination, plus a separate HF rig for POTA. Program the HT from the mobile channel list for hikes.
Park-on-whiskey-style overview: RV ham setup article
Logging and spotting from the camper
- Polo
SPOTME/QRVwhen cell allows — Calling CQ - Paper log when signal dies
- GPS grid from where the antenna sits, not where you slept last night 40 miles away
Campers and towables (non-motorized)
Teardrops and truck campers follow the same RF logic with less ladder real estate. Telescoping poles for EFHW or a drive-on mount replace hitch verticals when the tow vehicle is the only anchor.
Truck camper vs motorhome (noise and bonding)
Almost every camper and motorhome is electrically noisy unless it was built as a radio platform. Inverters are the usual villain; A/C, fans, and heaters join the party. Grounding and bonding are often afterthoughts — shell panels, chassis, and “ground” points that are not actually bonded together.
Work the noise sources one by one: kill the inverter, then fans, then chargers, and listen on a quiet band. Better bonding usually means better effective grounding — wide braid between chassis, entry panel, and radio ground is worth more than another random ground rod. Antenna orientation still matters; if you can deploy a dipole or delta loop away from the coach, do it. Verticals on the hitch work, but the coach is a compromise ground plane you will fight forever.
Etiquette
- Do not block fire lanes with coax or masts. Flag guy lines.
- Slide-outs and awnings vs guy lines — plan before you raise aluminum.
- Store food. Campground animals will take a sandwich and a length of RG-8X.
- You are visible — brief, friendly explanations to neighbors beat defensiveness. Check in with staff if the mast is tall or the generator is loud.
Related
Habits / gotchas / checklist (RV / camp)
Notes & edits
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