Could even get summit to summit points in some cases… Hope Mountain has a 70cm repeater on it… but I’m not sure the tower base is in the AZ…
Pressing the ptt once and listen to the repeater answer will be enough to consider it a QSO ?
In some places it will be very easy to have the four QSO in less than a minute!..
I understand the point but I’m in favour of today’s rules. It’s gonna be difficult to get to “an honourable compromise” but who knows ?
VY 73 de Pedro, CT1DBS/CU3HF
I suspect Brian may be joking (?)… I certainly am!
Please leave it as it is.
Darn it - rumbled!
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Well…I am! 
73
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The idea of counting the repeater as a QSO occurred to me, too, but it doesn’t work. You can’t exchange information with the repeater during the QSO. You might listen for its ID, but it isn’t listening to yours in any meaningful sense.
wunder
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We was only kiddin’… 
I actually didn’t know that existed, which is bad ! That is line of sight from me in the valley, literally.
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My first thought was setting up a temporary repeater on a summit. That’s when I decided it wouldn’t qualify.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, we have a lot of “talking clock” repeaters. There is a really nice linked repeater network on 1.2 GHz that goes from here to Lake Tahoe. A few guys chat on it each morning.
But we have some very active repeaters. N6NFI has the “9AM Talk Net” weekdays, which goes until 11AM or later. You can always find someone there. W6CX is on top of Mount Diablo (W6/CC-045). That one is loud and clear in the Sierra foothills, 100-150 miles away.
EchoLink is up on N6NFI during the 9AM Talk Net, everyone is welcome. I think it is up on W6CX almost all the time.
There are a few more repeaters with a fair amount of traffic, and some extensive linked systems, like Bay-Net (http://bay-net.org/).
wunder
Just what did people do in the Amateur Radio World before repeaters ever came onto the air waves?
What did people do in the Amateur Radio World do before FM ever came onto the air-waves ?
I was there on the air with AM and No Repeaters ( Simple ) We talked Antenna to Antenna with NO aid of anything execpt a good Antenna.
Everything has rules and rules are made for everyone. Just like working Contest VHF or UHF (NO Repeaters)
Simplex is a very simple operation.Operation between Stations Antenna to Antenna with NO aid between.
Spend more time on your Antenna system and your operation Skills and you will be a better operator and you will enjoy the hobby much more.
Dow W4DOW) Licensed for 56 Years (EX WA4HMX for 53 Years)
Chaser in W4V (Virginia)
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I’ve often thought about a magic ‘SOTA Box’.
You hike to the summit of your chosen hill, remove the magic SOTA box from your pack, unfurl it’s antenna and press the ‘on’ button.
Time can then be spent eating sandwiches, enjoying the view, chatting with fellow summiteers etc. When you’ve had enough, you gather up the magic SOTA box and hike back down from the summit.
Once at home, your ‘magic SOTA box’ recognises your WiFi connection and automatically uploads your log to the SOTA database. The system also sends you a copy of your log to your email so you can see who you have worked, if you are at all interested.
Maybe it would be possible to train an animal (dog?) to carry the magic SOTA box to the summit and deploy it - a pleasant afternoon could be spent reading RadCom in the car.
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How about a MTR pre programmed with CQ de YOURCALL.
- Unfurl antenna, press send.
- Pack away. Take photos, sunbathe, eat lunch (or soup)
- Return home.
- Check RBN
- Download spots complete with signal report.
- Upload to Database.
4,5 and 6 could be easily scripted/automated with an app called “WholeRBN”
A goat or two would help with transport.
For a mind numbing alternative, you could incorporate pskreporter vice RBN, work JT65 whilst watching the paint dry on the nearby trigpoint, or if you take the paint with you, operate WSPR whilst yielding a brush.
JT65A - don’t knock it Pete. Think of the positives. You could use the mode for a completely silent activation. Wouldn’t even need to carry a pair of headphones, key or mic. Run a bit of power and use a ground-mounted antenna so no pole to carry either. Ideal set up for those crowded summits with lots of Joe Public about. Better make sure the wire is of a colour that blends in with the ground or vegetation (preselect to suit summit) to minimise visual disturbance. Nothing to see except your backpack (rig kept inside), so you can leave your camera at home. Hmm, sounds quite an interesting approach to stealth activating…
“Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.” Gawd, ain’t that just the truth!
Why leave the shack. Install a program in the repeater control circuit to occasionally contact other repeaters and exchange serial numbers or ages. Then send posts to eqsl and apply for awards. WholeRBN, very good reversal…
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To add a little excitement, you could have a few rogue repeaters programmed as trolls to inject blocks of banal data 
SOTA meets Robot wars…
It brings a whole new meaning to “S2S” … “Squeaky to Squeaky”!
73,
Walt
How about a nice little drone instead? Gets to all the hard summits and can hold up the end of a vertical antenna, too.
Reminds me first encounter from the Aurora contacts many years ago. 
karl