I asked the question to the SOTA MT the other day and got a disappointing reply.
So I like to ask the question here to get and idea and opinions on what other participants of SOTA feel.
I am not trying to rock the boat here, but I do feel it is a missed opportunity to bring in a new award to stimulate some more interest.
I made a suggestion on some new awards for SOTA. The reason being it was that I have recently activated all but one of the WB summits and to my surprise several very serious chasers managed to get several unique summits out of some of my activations.
It was quite clear that some 1 pointer summits are being ignored because of the work involved in getting to the trig point and that you only get 1 point for all the effort, unless you use a 4x4 that is.
I asked if there could be an award for completing an area either by activation or by chasing.
I asked if there could be an award for completing an area either by activation or by chasing.
The answer is yes, there could be. Such awards would need to be Association sponsored awards - there would be far too many permutations, and thus administration and workload for them to be Programme-wide awards.
From the General Rules:
3.13.2 Association sponsored awards
In addition to Programme-wide certificates and trophies, Associations may specify their own award system, which is administered by the Association Manager. These award systems must be defined in the Association Reference Manual.
I understand that this point was made to you in your reply from MT. I think that some of the EU associations already have some Association sponsored awards in place. The association manager(s) would be the appropriate route of enquiry for you Steve.
It was quite clear that some 1 pointer summits are being ignored because of the work involved…
These become “Most Wanted” summits for chasers, and rare ones for activators to complete regions etc. The concept of “Uniques” awards was brought in partly to address this, and has been successful.
So I like to ask the question here to get and idea and opinions on
what other participants of SOTA feel.
The problem here Steve is that some summit groups have as few as 5 summits and some as many as several hundred. The playing field is like a steep slope. I’ve completed the CE’s, WB’s and SB’s and I’m one off completing the DC’s. My personal feeling on completing each of these groups was “great, that’s that lot done, now onto the next group!” The milestone was a personal one. I would say that I’m not one for self-congratulation, nor do I feel a particular need for awards, but I do understand that others appreciate the piece of paper that gives accord to the effort that has been expended.
to my surprise several very serious chasers managed to get several
unique summits out of some of my activations.
It happened to me as well when I did the WB’s despite the average activation count for each summit being quite reasonable. I was just pleased to be giving the chasers a unique.
It was quite clear that some 1 pointer summits are being ignored
because of the work involved in getting to the trig point…
I wholly agree here Steve. Some of the WB summits do require a measure of effort out of proportion to the points awarded, but that is the system we work with. I can cite worse cases in mid-Wales!
Although I’m not an award chaser, my feeling is that awards based on the number of activations undertaken rather than specific geographical areas are more relevant as they reflect effort expended. Perhaps others see this from a different point of view.
My humble opinion for what it’s worth, is that you put your question to the wrong direction, i.e. the MT. I think I’m correct in saying, and I stand corrected if I’m wrong when I say the G ARM manager has the power to introduce sutch an award if he/she deemed it a good idea.
Gerald does make a valid point though, some areas have 5 summits where others have hundreds.
I do feel the awards system (like so much of SOTA) is spot on and a
testament to those who thought out the rules in the first place.
Richard G4ERP
I have to agree that this sentiment was probably correct at the outset of SOTA Richard, BUT it has now become easily possible to hit 100 chaser points in a day and 1000 chaser points in a month or less is an easily achievable target now that SOTA has grown so much with all of the new associations on board.
The problem is, how can MT change the certificate targets now? With that in mind I would have to agree with you that it’s best left as is.
There is no doubt that SOTA chasing is much much ‘bigger’ than originally envisaged. I recall this being discussed as early as April 2004 when I was one of a batch of Shack Sloths passing through the 1000 points. It was apparent then that chaser scores were amassing at much greater rates than expected, and that was nothing compared to today’s efforts of the all-day multi-band multi-mode multi-antenna multi-association SOTAwatch-assisted superchasers!
However, the opinions at that time were of the “Well I’m not going to stop working activators - I enjoy it” nature, and the popular view was that additional structure to the awards system was not necessary.
Some time later, the MT recognised the significant continuing participation of many chasers, and even some particularly prolific activators, and introduced further certificates at 2500, 5000 and 10000 points. (Previously, there had only been the 100, 250 and 500 certficates ahead of the MG/SS). Further challenge was added with the addition of the ‘Uniques’ awards, and the Database programming to show Rolls of Honour according to Activator and Chaser Uniques.
I suppose it is possible that a clutch of chasers progressing to 25000 or 50000 points could prompt a review of whether to add yet further thresholds, but I would have thought it would be much more stimulating to be concentrating on Uniques by then! And judging by the response to my “Most Wanted” thread, the leading chasers are doing just that.
Many more milestones may be targeted and achieved, due to the strongly numerical nature of the SOTA Programme. Different participants have challenged themselves to achieve certain things. Examples include 100 activations of a single summit, fastest collection of 10000 chaser points, 500 SOTA activations, most activations in a week, qualifying summits with exclusively S2S QSOs, activation of a whole region in a day etc etc etc. None of these are recognised in the awards structure, but it doesn’t put people off trying to achieve them. I think the region completion (activator/chaser or SWL) concept falls into this category.
I am an award-chaser for 29 years and I´ve been working as an award-manager for 15 years now.
For me SOTA is a fine part of my hobby, a bit like a new “way of life”.
I am happy to reach my personal aims and to meet the many SOTA-friends on the air!
We could start with the following SOTA-Awards.
10 regions activated
100 regions activated
10 DXCC activated
all summits of a region activated
all summits of a region on 1-day activated
100 qso´s from 1 summit in 1 hour
10 DXCC´s worked from 1 summit
100 s2s-qso´s
1000 s2s-qso´s
10 summits activated naked
But, do you realy need an award for everything?
There is always the question what are you doing next when you reach the aim.
How about an own prize when you reach anything special?
For example a “summit-bbq” with friends or a bottle of Morsolin (Champagne) on your “celebration-activity”.
I did that when I got the 100th unique activated. I think G3CWI did the same to celebrate his MG on the “MG-summit”.
Just an idea, but anyway a nice souvenir and no more work for the poor awards-manager…
I personally think the present awards/trophies should be kept as they are, but there should be a possibility to apply for an extra award or trophy when reaching a milestone (supersloth - super MG - completing a full series of summits …).
This of course would bring more work for the awardsmanager
In reply to 2E0KPO:
I feel a little bemused by this concentration on awards! For me the hill is award enough, an activation (whether qualified or not) is a pleasant incident, something done whilst resting at the climax of a walk. If I activate say LD013 (not too hypothetical, I’m in the Coppermines Valley this weekend!) I don’t see me climbing the Old Man, activating and then hurrying off to the next Marilyn on the list. I am more likely to take in Wetherlam, Black Sails, Swirl How and Savin Hill and finish the horseshoe with a well-deserved rest in front of the radio, a great mountain day out by anyone’s standards. If I work someone on LD013 I will be re-living my previous ascents whilst waiting my turn, a much more pleasant reward than a handful of Chaser points!
Even a minor peak, one or two points, is for me more than a quick bomb up to the trig point, an activation and a scurry off to the next one. I enjoy the wild life, vertebrate and invertebrate, the botany, the geology and geomorphology and even the cloud patterns. To enjoy these to the full needs a leisurely and observant approach, the inclination to pause and enjoy a clump of saxifraga oppositifolia, a sunbathing adder or a group of foraging wheatears.
I am not criticising those who pack several activations into a day, if it rings their bell that’s fine with me, but you can see why I feel no enthusiasm for further tinkering with the award system. I believe in a holy allience between KISS and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” and letting people count coup in a manner tailored to their own inclinations.
I enjoy the wild life, vertebrate and invertebrate, the botany, the
geology and geomorphology and even the cloud patterns. To enjoy these
to the full needs a leisurely and observant approach, the inclination
to pause and enjoy a clump of saxifraga oppositifolia, a sunbathing
adder or a group of foraging wheatears.
73
Brian G8ADD
But Brian, one won’t find many of the aforementioned in the average chasers shack, that’s why the humble chaser seeks points, not foliage!!
I am not criticising those who pack several activations into a day, if
it rings their bell that’s fine with me, but you can see why I feel no
enthusiasm for further tinkering with the award system.
I agree with your sentiments Brian, even though I do pack in more than one summit in a day. At 300 miles and more per jaunt it is good economic sense… and I still manage to bump into Red Deer, Buzzards, Red Kites and other wildlife on the way up and down. These experiences, the exercise, the fresh air and the quiet are worth more to me than any award could ever be.
You’ve been too long offshore Derek… savouring Sighty Crag! Mind you, it is very pleasant once you’re up there.
Like you, I’m not fervently racing towards MG status. Just enjoying being out in the hills at locations that I wouldn’t be otherwise minded to visit were it not for SOTA. The only downside is that I have to be careful not to become a bore when socialising and the subject of what one does at the weekends comes up!
Salut Alain,
many tnx for your info.
You have so many Champagne-vignerons in your qth!
What about a SOTA-Meeting in Rilly-la-Montagne to taste the
real “Morsolin”(Champagne)
