SOTA is a great way to combine the hobbies of Amateur radio and mountain walking. Just a simple VHF hand held transceiver will get you started.
SOTA in the UK uses the Marilyn reference for qualifying summits. These have a 150m prominence separate from surrounding peaks.
HF is very popular, there is a good range of small, light compact radio's suitable for carrying up mountains.
Plenty of information and discussions on radio's, antennas and equipment can be found on SOTA's reflector page.
Points are gained by activators, chasers and SWL alike, reference manuals showing qualifying summits can be downloaded from the SOTA Web Site.
SOTA activities are posted on SOTAWatch. Which also provides useful discussions on various equipment tested and used.
SOTA is growing internationally. If your
country does not participate and you would like more details on
setting up a SOTA Association in your country please
contact G3VQO
73
Roger MW0IDX Welsh Association Manager
Info for
Wales:
Met Office
weather for Wales
www.visitwales.com
Snowdonia Webcams
Events North Wales
SOTA Activators Web-Sites:
Tom M1EYP's SOTA Site
GM4ZFZ Mountain Adventures with a
Radio
MW0IDX
SOTA
Equipment:
SOTA Beams
Quadruple Quad for
70cm by GW0VMW
2 Element
Portable Yagi for 2m by GW0VMW
"IDX" Portable Beam for 2m by
MW0IDX
Simple Portable Dipole for 2m by MW0IDX
Mid Wales
South Wales