Summits on the Air (SOTA)

What is SOTA?

Summits on the Air, or more commonly “SOTA”, is an Amateur Radio award scheme that aims to encourage licensed amateur radio operators to operate from mountain summits and hilltops. Those who operate from the summits are known as “Activators” and those that aim to communicate with the Activators are known as Chasers – although many activators also aim to make Summit to Summit (S2S) contacts too. Points are awarded based on the height of the summit, with “Seasonal Bonus” points being awarded for activations that take place in the winter.

What are the Rules?

SOTA is designed to be accessible to all and so there are only a few rules, the most pertinent of which are:

• The activation must be performed with the Activation Zone, which is typically within a closed contour line at the maximum vertical distance below the summit. This generally means you must be within 25 vertical meters of the summit. This ensures that the activation does not have to happen from the exact highest point, to ensure the operation does not disturb the enjoyment of the mountain by others.
• For an activation to qualify, a minimum of four contacts must be made, each of which must be with a different station. A contact should be made up of an exchange of callsigns and signal reports as a minimum.
• Contacts with stations on the same summit do not count.
• Contacts made via terrestrial repeaters do not count, although contacts via artificial satellites do.
• Operations must not be in, or in the close vicinity of, a motor vehicle. No part of the station may be connected in any way to the motor vehicle.
• All equipment must be carried to the site by the Activation team.
• All equipment must be operated from a portable power source, such as batteries or solar cells. Permanently installed power sources or fossil-fuel generators may not be used.

Whilst these make up the effective “mandatory minimum” many operators place additional restrictions on their own activation. For example, some mountains have “drive-on summits” and it may be possible to drive up to the activation zone by motor vehicle and dismount for a very short final movement into the activation zone and be within the SOTA rules as stated above. However some activators place an additional restriction on themselves, such as having a minimum hiking distance to cover, or a minimum hiking time, based on what they individually aim to get out of their own activations.

Which summits count?

Generally, the summit must have a prominence of 150 meters. Although the SOTA Atlas (SOTLAS) provides an interactive map of summits, including their locations, summit references, points value, and details of previous activation.

After Activation Reports

After each SOTA activation I write a report of how it went, this keep me accountable to what went well and what didn’t go well, gives you a taste of what it’s like to activate some of these summits, and offers tips such as parking and the route I used to other activators. You can read some example reports below: