Summits On The Air In South Africa

SOTA for short - is an international Amateur Radio awards program that was launched in March 2002. SOTA issues certificates to amateurs who contact or activate a certain number of mountain summits. It is especially suited to South Africa since although we have relatively few islands we do have plenty of mountains, as well as excellent hiking weather throughout the year.

SOTA encourages portable operations by summit activators. Operations from vehicles are not permitted, and although a vehicle may be used to get to the mountain the method of final access to the summit must be "person powered" (e.g. hiking, mountain bike etc.) and all equipment must be carried to the site by the activator team. QRP operations are the rule, so this is a wonderful opportunity for all you homebrew and QRP enthusiasts to show off your portable equipment and operating prowess.

However since all bands and modes are permissible, you don't require a portable HF rig to activate a summit - a VHF HT is quite sufficient. There are a number of certificates for activators, culminating in the ultimate accolade - the "Mountain Goat" plaque.

For those of us who don't relish the prospect of lugging portable equipment to a windswept mountain summit there is always the challenge of various "chaser" certificates, culminating in the "Shack Sloth" plaque, which can be earned from the comfort of your favourite armchair by contacting summits. QSL cards are not required so you can apply for certificates and plaques as soon as you have earned the required number of points.

South African Hams on Summits