Summits On The Air
Summits on the Air (SOTA) is an award scheme for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. SOTA has been carefully designed to make participation possible for everyone - this is not just for mountaineers! There are awards for activators (those who ascend to the summits) and chasers (who either operate from home, a local hilltop or are even Activators on other summits).
The Associations Manuals contain a list of qualifying summits, together with their locations. Each summit earns the activators and chasers a score which is related to the height of the summit. Certificates are available for various scores, leading to the prestigious "Mountain Goat" and "Shack Sloth" trophies. An Honour Roll for Activators and Chasers is maintained at the SOTA online database.
Activators need a radio station that is portable - operation from cars is not allowed. All bands and modes may be used - a 2m FM handy is ideal for a start. Chasers simply need a normal home station.
SOTA is International with schemes currently running in Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
For further information visit the SOTA website which may be found at www.sota.org.uk
Updated 07 October, 2009 11:51:15 GMT.