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Hunting

The Hunt Contacts tab is your discovery hub for live POTA activations happening on the air right now. It's where you go to find stations to work.

[SCREENSHOT: Hunt Contacts tab showing the spot list panel beside the map with POTA activation markers]

Activating vs. Hunting​

If you're new to POTA, here's the key distinction:

  • Activator -- You travel to a qualifying park and operate your radio from there. You need at least 10 QSOs to count as a valid activation.
  • Hunter -- You contact activators from home (or anywhere). Every confirmed contact with an activator earns you hunter credit.

Both sides contribute to the program, and Hamtrax supports both workflows. This page covers hunting; see Activating for running your own activation.

Layout​

Hunt Contacts is a single unified view with the spot list on one side and the map on the other:

  • Spot list -- A scrollable list of every active spot (sorted by frequency by default; configurable), with band and mode chips and quick action buttons.
  • Map -- A live map showing the same spots as pins. Pan, zoom, and tap any pin to focus the corresponding spot.

The list and map stay in sync automatically -- selecting a spot in either view highlights it in the other. On smaller screens the list becomes a collapsible panel over the map.

On the iOS app, when a radio is connected via Radio Control, an FT8 Auto-Hunt card sits at the top of the activator list. It works matching FT8 activators hands-free through the rig -- see FT8 Auto-Hunt.

First-Run Walkthrough​

The first time you open the Hunt Contacts view, Hamtrax greets you with a short guided walkthrough that teaches how the app fits together: you make contacts here in Hunting (or in Activating), and your Logbook keeps every one of them, filed automatically. Using a clearly marked synthetic practice activator, it walks you through working a station and logging the contact, then lands you in your Logbook to see it already filed -- before returning you to the live hunting list to work a real one. The contact you log against the practice activator is cleaned up automatically -- it never stays in your real log. You can replay the walkthrough anytime from Settings > Help.

The walkthrough always gets first presentation priority. Hamtrax waits until it is finished or dismissed before showing the separate getting-started checklist, so the two onboarding experiences never compete for attention.

Browsing Parks on the Map​

  1. Open the Hunt Contacts tab. The hunting view is centered on POTA.
  2. Live spots appear as highlighted pins on the map; surrounding park locations from the POTA catalog show as smaller pins so you can scout the area.
  3. Zoom into a region to see individual parks.
  4. Tap any park pin to open the Park Detail modal.

The Park Detail modal shows:

  • Park reference (e.g., K-0001) and park name
  • The park's entity name and park type in the header subtitle
  • Location image (when available)
  • Distance and bearing from your location, with coordinates in the header subtitle
  • Stats: total activations, attempts, and QSOs at that park
  • Your activation count at the park (if any)
  • Recent activation history — or, for parks no one has activated yet, a "Never activated — be the first on the air from here" prompt
  • Activate Here button to start an activation at that park
  • Images link (Google Images) to see photos of the park
tip

Use the search bar to find a specific park by its reference code or name. Typing K-0001 or Pottawatomie will match the right park.

Reception Footprint​

The hunting map's controls pill has a signal-bars toggle that overlays your reception footprint -- the stations that reported hearing you in the last 30 minutes, from PSK Reporter. Flip it on to confirm your signal is actually getting out (and roughly where) before you keep calling. It needs a saved callsign, and it's a read-only overlay. See Reception Footprint for details.

Finding Live Activations​

Live spots appear as highlighted pins on the map, and as cards in the list below the hunt configuration — tap the live activator count at the top of the panel to jump straight down to the first card. Each spot shows:

  • Activator callsign and their frequency
  • Band and mode (e.g., 20m, CW)
  • Park reference and park name
  • Time since the spot was posted (e.g., 5m ago)

On a hover device, tapping a spot opens the activation detail modal directly. On touch devices, tapping a marker raises a popup with a see details link — read the label first, then expand into the full modal. Either way, the activation detail modal shows:

  • Park header at the top: park name, an Images link (Google Images), and the park reference followed by region codes. When a park spans multiple regions (e.g. US-IA, US-IL, US-NE), the list collapses to US-IA… — tap to expand the full set
  • Hero image of the park, displayed as a thumbnail beside the station card
  • Per-activator station card for each station currently activating the park: frequency · mode on the first row, callsign + operator name (looked up in the background) on the next
  • Spotter map showing where stations that spotted this activator are located. The map draws arcs from the activator's park out to every spotter so the listener spread is obvious at a glance. Toggle between list and map view using the List / Map buttons; the list shows each spotter's state, country, and spot comments
  • Contacted button (green) to log a QSO in one tap
  • Tried button (orange) to mark an attempted contact you couldn't complete
  • Try Later button (purple) to flag the activator for follow-up so you can come back to them later

In the hunting list, each spot row also shows these three action buttons so you can mark status without opening the detail modal. Whether a hunter spot is also posted to POTA.app when you tap Contacted is governed by the Auto-spot toggle in the Hunt configuration card (on by default).

After tapping Contacted, Tried, or Try Later, the action buttons are replaced by a status badge showing the current state. A small undo button on the badge lets you revert the action if you change your mind.

Contacted comes from saved hunt QSOs in the live 10-hour window. Deleting a contact — individually or with its folder — clears the badge once no matching recent QSO remains.

Setting Where You're Hunting From​

Distance and nearby-park suggestions are measured from your location. Tap Hunting from at the top of the hunt panel to set it: pull it from your callsign, use device GPS, or enter it manually — search for a place (a city, park, or landmark), drop in a grid square, or type coordinates. It's the same location picker as Settings, so a location set in one place is the location everywhere.

A manual hunting location can be temporary: choose an auto-revert window (1, 4, 8, or 24 hours, or Never Revert) and Hamtrax counts down and switches back to your callsign's location when it expires — handy when you're hunting away from home for the day.

Signed out, the hunt panel shows your country (detected from your browser language) so parks and distances are still roughly right before you sign in.

Filtering Spots​

Use the inline Band and Mode dropdowns in the spot list panel to narrow the feed:

  • Band -- Show only activations on specific bands (e.g., 40m, 20m)
  • Mode -- Filter by CW, SSB, FT8, or other modes
tip

Combine filters across dimensions for precision. For example, show only CW activations on 20m.

info

POTA spots refresh every few minutes. If an activator just posted a spot and you don't see it yet, give it a moment.

Real-Time Updates​

The live feed refreshes automatically in the background. Spots and activations update without you needing to reload, and the live count flashes when the feed changes. Tapping the live count scrolls the panel straight down to the first activator card.

Logging a Hunt Contact​

When you tap an active spot in the list or on the map, the activation detail modal opens with a Contacted button. Tapping it creates a QSO record with the activator's callsign, frequency, band, mode, and park reference pre-filled -- no separate form needed. Logging a hunt contact requires a callsign on your account; if yours isn't set, Hamtrax prompts you to add one in Settings → Account first.

If you already logged that activator at that park earlier the same UTC day, tapping Contacted again is blocked with an "Already logged today" notice instead of double-counting the hunt — the same once-per-activator, per-park, per-UTC-day rule the importer applies.

If the Auto-spot toggle in the Hunt configuration card is on (default), a hunter spot is also submitted to POTA.app confirming you worked the activator.

If you attempted a contact but couldn't complete it, tap Tried to record the attempt, or tap Try Later to flag the activator to come back to later. Once you tap any action, the modal shows a status badge -- tap the undo button on the badge to revert.

info

On iOS with a connected radio, FT8 Auto-Hunt can set Contacted and Tried for you automatically as it works FT8 activators hands-free. It uses the exact same status system, so an auto-hunted contact lands in your monthly Hunting folder just like one you tapped by hand.

FT8 Auto-Hunt​

FT8 Auto-Hunt works FT8 activators for you, hands-free, straight through a connected radio. When a radio is connected, an FT8 Auto-Hunt card appears at the top of the hunting activator list -- directly under the hunt filters and above the manual-contact card. Press Start Auto-Hunt and Hamtrax tunes the rig to each matching FT8 spot, listens for the activator, completes the standard FT8 exchange, and logs the contact.

Requirements

FT8 Auto-Hunt appears only when all of these are true:

  • You're on the iOS app (it drives the radio over the network).
  • A radio is connected via Settings → Radio Control (currently the Icom IC-705 over Wi-Fi). No radio connected → no card, the same rule as the radio status pill in the navbar (green computer when connected, a pulsing red tower while the rig is transmitting).
  • You have a callsign on your profile -- it's transmitted on the air, so it's required to start.

It checks propagation first​

Before the first activator is called, Auto-Hunt confirms your signal is actually getting out. The Check propagation first toggle sits on the card and is on by default -- it resets to on every run, so it's never saved. With it on, Hamtrax runs a short preliminary test of up to three attempts. Each attempt sends one test CQ on the band's standard FT8 calling frequency (for example 14.074 MHz on 20m, where the world's monitoring receivers listen), then checks PSK Reporter every few seconds for a reception report of your callsign -- confirming the moment one appears rather than idling on a single delayed check. Each check also covers the earlier test transmissions, since PSK Reporter reports arrive with a delay. While it runs, the card reads "Preliminary test -- attempt N of 3" with a Broadcasting / Checking sub-status.

  • Heard on any attempt -- The test stops early and hunting starts immediately.
  • Unheard on all three attempts -- Auto-Hunt does not start, and the card reads "Auto-Hunt not started -- none of the 3 test transmissions appeared on PSK Reporter. Please adjust your radio or antenna and try again."
  • PSK Reporter isn't returning data (two checks in a row fail -- a network or service outage, not an antenna problem) -- The test stops early and the hunt proceeds anyway, with an amber notice on the card that the propagation check was skipped rather than passed.

It uses your current hunt filters​

Auto-Hunt targets the FT8 activators that match the Band and Mode filters set above the card -- the same filters that scope your live activator list. Before you start, a highlighted strip spells out the scope: "It will call all N FT8 activators currently matching your filters," and lists the matching callsigns. If zero activators match, the card tells you to widen your filters. Already-contacted activators are excluded from the target list.

How it marks contacts​

Auto-Hunt uses the exact same status system as the manual Contacted / Tried buttons above:

  • Contacted -- The FT8 exchange completed (the activator sent RR73 / 73). A real QSO is saved to your monthly Hunting folder with the actual exchanged signal reports as RST sent/received, the park reference, and equipment stamping -- the standard hunt-contact path, including the optional confirming auto-spot to POTA.app.
  • Tried -- Hamtrax transmitted calls but never completed the exchange.
  • Unmarked -- Activators that were never called (never heard on the air, or heard but never free to call) are left alone.

It hunts opportunistically​

FT8 decodes every station in the passband at once, so Auto-Hunt doesn't wear blinders while it waits: every 15-second cycle, it checks the decoded messages for all of your queued targets, not just the one it's currently working. Its per-cycle decisions mirror what an experienced hunter does at the dial:

  • Any transmission from the activator is an opening. A CQ -- or an RR73/73 finishing someone else's contact -- gets your call on the very next cycle. Auto-Hunt never waits for a clean "CQ POTA": the moment an activator signs off with another hunter is exactly when a call should land.
  • Mid-exchange means hold, not skip. An activator heard working another hunter is provably workable; Auto-Hunt shows the copied signal report and pounces the instant their current contact ends. It won't waste calls into the middle of someone else's exchange.
  • Dead air means look around. If the current activator has given nothing while another queued target is on the air in the same passband, Auto-Hunt jumps: a target that answered you beats one calling CQ, which beats one that's audible but busy -- and a busy target only wins the jump when the current one was never copied at all. Ties go to the strongest signal, a jump never retunes the radio, and the passed-over activator returns to the front of the queue. A jumped-to target that's free is called on the very next cycle -- timing and signal already known; a busy one is held for its sign-off.
  • A written-off activator gets a second chance. "Not heard" and "Heard, never free" aren't final verdicts while the run lives: those stations stay on the watchlist, and the moment one of them is decoded again -- propagation shifts by the minute -- it rejoins the queue, jumped to immediately if the current target is dead air. A Tried station is never called again automatically, but its late RR73 still completes and logs the exchange you already transmitted.

Queued activators that have been heard on the air also get worked before ones that haven't, and if a target you called earlier confirms late with an RR73, the contact is logged the moment it arrives. In short: an activator you can provably work right now always beats one you're still hoping to hear.

While it's running​

Each activator shows a live status, with the spot's frequency and the park's location (US state, or country for DX parks) in small text beside the callsign. The station currently being worked displays a three-step progress strip -- an ear (heard them on the air), a speech bubble (calling them), and a handshake (confirming the contact) -- with completed steps lit and the active step pulsing. Auto-Hunt never calls blind: the ear fills only after the activator's own FT8 transmission is decoded, and the signal report you copied them at appears beside the strip the moment they're first decoded, including while they're still busy with another hunter. A queued station that has already been heard shows an ear with its signal report -- it's next in line. A queued station that only ever appears as the addressee of decoded messages shows Hunters calling them: other hunters are reaching that activator, but your station hasn't decoded the activator itself yet -- a one-way path, and Auto-Hunt never calls a station it can't copy (the contact could never be confirmed). Other waiting and finished stations show a word instead: Queued, Contacted, Tried, Not heard (or Heard only their hunters, when the pileup was audible but the activator never was), Heard, never free (copied on the air but never free to call), or Skipped -- and a skipped row spends its frequency/location slot on a short red reason instead (bad spot data, tune failed, or radio never keyed), so a skip is never a mystery. A red pulsing Transmitting indicator lights whenever the rig is actually keyed -- confirmed by the rig itself, not assumed. A Stop button ends the run at any time. The card's caption reminds you: "Transmits over your radio as <CALLSIGN> -- stay at the controls."

You can also edit the queue mid-run: every still-queued row has a small ✕ to its left that drops that activator from the run. Dropped activators collect in red at the bottom of the list, below a divider, where each one's ✕ puts it back at the end of the queue. The station currently being worked can't be dropped (that's what Stop is for), and finished ones are already history.

At the bottom of the card, See history opens a scrollable log of everything on the air during the run: every decoded message from any station, plus every message your rig actually transmitted (marked TX), each with its time and signal report. Rows involving the activators you're targeting are highlighted blue; anything you sent or that names your callsign is highlighted green -- so your own QSO thread pops out of the pileup at a glance. The log sticks around after the run ends so you can review it, and clears when a new hunt starts.

One reading tip: FT8 messages put the addressee first and the sender second -- K2L KG7OH DM33 is KG7OH calling K2L, not K2L transmitting. A blue row often means another hunter calling your target, so blue alone doesn't mean the activator is reaching you; the per-station statuses above tell you whether the activator itself has been decoded.

A hunt never just vanishes: when a run ends for any reason -- the queue finished, you pressed Stop, the connection closed while the app was in the background, or the rig stopped responding -- the card explains why it ended along with the final contacted and tried tally and the clock window the run covered (for example 0 contacted · 0 tried · 2:32 PM – 2:41 PM), and the history log stays open for review until you start the next hunt.

Stay at the controls

Auto-Hunt transmits on your license. The hunt keeps running while you browse other parts of Hamtrax -- the navbar radio pill turns into a pulsing red tower whenever the rig is actually keyed, so you always know your transmitter is on the air, and returning to the hunting panel lands on the live run. It stops automatically if the radio link drops (including when the radio goes silent -- the app detects a dead link within seconds) or if the radio stops confirming tune commands. Backgrounding the app cancels any transmission instantly (the radio is never left keyed) and pauses the hunt -- Auto-Hunt only sequences contacts while Hamtrax is in the foreground. Your radio connection stays alive in the background, so when you come back the rig is still connected and you can start hunting again right away; you never have to reconnect first. You're responsible for the transmission, so stay nearby.

Auto-Hunt is different from the mic-based FT8 Decoder tool: the decoder listens through your phone's microphone and only decodes and displays messages with a manual Log button. Auto-Hunt uses the radio's own network audio, transmits, completes QSOs itself, and marks spots for you.

  • Activating -- Start, log, and finish your own POTA activation.
  • Folders & Labels -- How monthly Hunting folders organize your contacts.
  • 2D Map -- Map interaction, overlays, and the reception footprint.