Rules

  • Please follow SOTA and POTA protocols during your activation.

  • Leave no trace. Avoid any damage to fragile resources, especially during the erection of antennas.

  • Respect other trail users and follow all local rules concerning use of the Trail.

  • Beforehand, check for Trail updates at: https://appalachiantrail.org/trail-upd

  • Chasers can also participate by contacting SOTA, POTA and WWFF stations along the A.T.

  • SOTA activators please note: This is also the day of “W7A 10 pt s2s MADNESS” so expect plenty of activity on the higher HF bands!

  • SOTA chasers, PLEASE RESPECT THE “s2s” PROTOCOL and standby when summits are calling other summits!!

  • All participants should note that the California QSO Party begins at 1600Z on October 2nd, so expect contest activity on 20M and 15M bands after noon. This may require CW operators to move higher up the band to avoid contest activity.

In accordance with an opinion by AT Conservancy, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail consists of “the A.T. footpath and designated viewpoints, shelters, campsites, water sources, and spur trails linking these features” — in other words, part of the white blazed main Trail, or the blue blazed side trails to shelters, campsites, summits, etc. This is especially helpful to POTA activators who need to be within 100′ of the Trail. POTA also accepts activations from trailheads along the national trail.

  • The PLANNED ACTIVATIONS page shows Alerts submitted prior to 2300Z on Friday. Refer to the SOTA or POTA websites for the lastest Alerts.

  • IMPORTANT: If you include a SOTA, POTA or WWFF designator in your Alert email, that indicates you intend to submit your log(s) to the appropriate organization. This will help chasers know if they can expect to get credit for the contact.

  • I will try to post an updated spreadsheet .pdf at regular intervals beforehand. This list will be arranged by state showing planned activations. Always refer to the SOTA, POTA or WWFF websites or FB page for the latest scheduled activations.

Operating Protocol

Operations should comply with all FCC regulations and conform to the usual SOTA and POTA protocol. You may wish to add “AT” or “Appalachian Trail” to your CQ phrase and also to your on-air summit or park reference to indicate your participation in this event.

Note to SOTA chasers: PLEASE RESPECT THE “s2s” PROTOCOL and standby when summits are calling other summits. Likewise, if you hear POTA stations calling “p2p”.

Logs and Activity Report

  • After the event, activators should submit their logs to either SOTA and/or POTA and/or WWFF respectively. SOTA chasers may also submit their logs to SOTA.

  • Note: POTA and WWFF chasers do not submit logs and must rely on the activator log.

  • We encourage SOTA activators to also submit their logs to POTA for POTA K-4556. Please review the POTA FAQ regarding log file format as it differs slightly from SOTA. Likewise, we encourage SOTA and POTA activators to also submit their logs to WWFF-KFF.

  • If you listed a SOTA/POTA/WWFF designation in your Alert, this indicates that you intend to submit your log(s) to the appropriate organization.

  • “Two-fer” POTA parks, where an activator wants credit for two or more simultaneous parks, require that separate log files must be submitted to POTA for each entity;

  • POTA activators please be sure to log yourself as you identified yourself (as /P or /M) so your log identity matches other submittals;

  • POTA Activators when submitting logs for K-4556 PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR STATE !!

  • Refer to POTA FAQ about activating national trails.

  • In addition to logs, please email your Activity Report to ATontheair@gmail.com.

  • For ACTIVATORS, the subject line of the email should be your CALLSIGN with the appropriate SOTA, POTA or KFF designator. The text of the email should be comma-separated with [CALLSIGN], [STATE], [SOTA SUMMIT (if any)], [POTA PARK (if any)], [WWFF KFF entity (if any)], [total # of contacts], [# of s2s contacts along the trail], [# of p2p contacts along the trail],[total # of s2s or p2p contacts] [brief comment]. Empty fields should contain a zero. ** revised 2021-1003

  • For CHASERS, the subject line of the email should by your CALLSIGN followed by the words AT-]CHASER. The text of the email should be comma-separated with [CALLSIGN], [STATE], [total # of contacts], [# SOTA summits], [# POTA parks],[ # KFF entities], [brief comment]. Empty fields should contain a zero as placeholder.

  • Feel free to e-mail me any photos, anecdotes or comments in a separate e-mail.

  • We plan to tabulate this data as a SUMMARY REPORT and post it on this website.