Hello, newbie here.
Question:can 2 people activate a summit if they are there at the same time?
Thanks
See you on the air
73
Pete
ve3pvh
Definitely and done it many times.
You can have the same chasers although the second time the chaser doesn’t get the points.
Paul
You can also chase each other but you have to take turns each at descending below the 25m activation zone. Some folks frown on this but it’s not against the rules. That way both get the complete. Win Win!
Hello Pete it can be a bit tricky with two on the summit together make sure you ask the chasers to stick around to work the person going second. My usual friends I go to summits with don’t do cw so I let them activate first on ssb then I do cw and we both get a score that way. Its not usually a problem once your regular chasers become aware that there is more than one operator on the summit they stick around to make sure both qualify. I have asked this rule be changed a couple times in the past but Management say its there for a reason which escapes me at the moment. Not wanting to turn your topic into an argument fest over for or against .
Good luck with SOTA it’s a great part of the Amateur radio hobby.
Ian vk5cz …
What has worked well is one of the activators on CW and the other on phone ( or even digital) as you benefit from different pools of chasers.
Paul
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Hi Pete
Welcome to SOTA!
No problem with two activators on the same summit (or more - there have been mass activations with six or seven participants!). Needs a bit of thinking about siting antennas to avoid interaction, working different bands helps.
Gerald G4OIG and myself have done several hundred joint activations without issue, and having someone else along has many advantages for both safety and resilience - backup in case antenna breaks/radio dies/battery gives up/forgotten vital connector can be very useful 
Chance encounters with other activators seemingly hardly ever happen, but can be a very pleasant enhancement to the expedition when they do 
Enjoy your activating beware it’s addictive!
73 de Paul G4MD
Thanks very much for this the quick reply and information regarding activating! Looking forward to doing my first summit with my brother Paul VE1 PVH who has been very active with SOTA. I’ve been a ham operator since the mid 80’s but just getting into this side of the hobby.
Thanks again,
73
Peter
VE3 PVH
REPORT: This did not go as expected. After a long hike to a mountain top we found ourselves on Blueberry Mountain, a Km away from the SOTA summit of White Mountain. With dense woods and unknown terrain between us and it we decided to abort that activation. We did setup on Blueberry and did some successful chasing so Pete was able to get his first SOTA points and I think a taste of the fun.
Paul
P.S. Next time we visit I’ll get it right
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So close yet so far. Better luck next time.
73 Neil
Pete
That happened to me too early on in my SOTA adventure. It sucks but just move on and head to the next peak.
Paul
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