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Summits on the Air (SOTA) is an international award program that combines amateur radio with hillwalking and mountaineering. Operators earn points by carrying a radio to the top of qualifying summits and making contacts, or by contacting those summit stations from elsewhere. The program operates in over 100 countries across every continent.
SOTA was founded in 2002 by John Linford (G3WGV) and Richard Sillitto (GM4ZFZ) and has grown into one of the most active portable operating programs in amateur radio. It appeals to operators who enjoy the outdoors and the challenge of setting up a station in sometimes difficult conditions.
Like POTA, SOTA is built around two complementary roles:
Activators hike to the summit of a qualifying peak and make radio contacts. To score a valid activation, the activator must operate from within the activation zone (the area within 25 vertical metres of the summit) and log at least four contacts with different stations. The activator then receives the point value assigned to that summit.
Chasers contact activators from any location. Each unique summit contacted earns the chaser one point, regardless of the summit's assigned value.
Both activators and chasers accumulate points toward progressive award thresholds.
SOTA maintains a comprehensive database of qualifying summits organized by association (typically one per country or region) and region (a geographic subdivision within the association). Each summit has a unique reference, such as:
A summit qualifies if it has at least 150 metres of topographic prominence — meaning it rises at least 150 metres above the lowest contour encircling it and no higher peak. This ensures that only distinct, significant peaks are included, not minor bumps on a ridgeline.
The full database is available at sotadata.org.uk and through the SOTAwatch spotting system.
Each summit is assigned a point value based on its elevation:
| Elevation | Points |
|---|---|
| 150–299 m (492–980 ft) | 1 |
| 300–499 m (984–1,637 ft) | 2 |
| 500–699 m (1,640–2,293 ft) | 4 |
| 700–999 m (2,296–3,277 ft) | 6 |
| 1000–1499 m (3,280–4,920 ft) | 8 |
| 1500 m+ (4,921 ft+) | 10 |
Winter bonus: In many associations, activations during the designated winter period earn an additional 3 points. The winter period is defined by each association and typically covers the months when conditions are most challenging.
Activators receive the summit's full point value for each valid activation. A summit can be activated for points once per calendar year by the same operator — repeat activations within the same year do not earn additional activator points (though the contacts still count for chasers).
SOTA demands lightweight, portable equipment because everything must be carried to the summit on foot. No motorised transport is allowed to reach the activation zone. Typical SOTA kits include:
Total radio kit weight for a minimal SOTA setup can be under 2 kg (4.4 lbs), leaving room in your pack for water, food, warm clothing, and safety equipment.
Upload your log to the SOTA database at sotadata.org.uk. Logs are entered manually or imported from a CSV file. Chasers independently log their contacts, and the system matches them.
Chasing SOTA activators from your home station (or any location) is straightforward:
Each unique summit you contact earns you one chaser point. Some chasers aim to work specific summits, complete all summits in a region, or accumulate as many unique summits as possible.
Summit-to-summit (S2S) contacts — where both stations are on qualifying summits — are especially prized and tracked separately by the database.
SOTA awards are earned based on cumulative points:
Activator awards:
Additional recognitions:
All awards are tracked automatically by the SOTA database. There are no fees for the awards themselves, though some associations produce physical certificates or trophies.
SOTA involves real outdoor activity in mountainous terrain. Safety must always come first:
SOTA and POTA are complementary programs with different characters: