POTA® and EmComm

In reading your editorial in last month’s issue, you stated: “Think of Parks on the Air (POTA) as a critical training tool for ARES operators who may be tasked with deployment.” That is such an important point--there is no substitute for practical experience with actual operating and it is such a weak link for every emcomm group that I've participated with in my 50+ years. Once out of the drill-and-practice environment, with the usual strong-signal, low-interference comms, the information throughput drops dramatically. It's painful to listen to at times as operators struggle with the slightest bit of noise or unnecessary repeats. How can we get operators to train their ears?

POTA is a super way to exercise and practice those crucial skills and the field deployment skills, too. Another opportunity that we are missing is to use the VHF contest weekends to practice weak-signal operating--why is ARES not sponsoring a contest-within-a-contest for emcomm teams to use these operating events as training? —Ward Silver, NØAX, St.Charles, Missouri