I have yet to do any POTA, but I intend to start soon. My question is, do I need to submit an ADIF file to both POTA and LOTW? If I do, then do they have to be different ones? I noticed in the app when you export you get two different options and thats where the confusion comes from. Thank you for the help.
Let’s start from an activator (the ham in the park) perspective. So, you can go out to a park and not submit to either POTA or LOTW, but it’s encouraged to do both. When you upload to the POTA site you are insuring your hunters (the hams you talk to) get credit for the contacts in the POTA system. It also helps your awards.
For hunters, you don’t need to upload the file to the POTA site. That’s all based on the activators logs.
LOTW is simply another way to confirm contacts and work toward awards. They get a modified ADIF file that has been signed.
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