I worked a German station /P today calling GMA and a summit reference. Hadn’t heard of this before and so looked it up. Turnes out to be a similar format to SOTA.
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If you look around, there are many schemes similar to SOTA. There are also a multitude of “Something” on the Air schemes where Castles, Mills, Churches, Parks and more or less anything built by man is the basis for the activity. Some require fully portable operating conditions, others can be from cars and buildings. Most will have a reference of one sort or another, which you may or may not wish to record.
I just like to work these stations doing whatever floats their boat. It’s good to see people operating from different locations, many of which may not have a home station. 
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GMA is for summits above 100m. SOTA references are valid for the scheme as are HEMA. I only know about it because a while back I was given what I thought was a German SOTA reference for an S2S but the database rejected it. It was a similar format but with a different prefix.
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GMA originally came about because’ due to a misunderstanding about prominance, initially there were a lot of non-compliant summits listed for the DM Association. There was a lot of resistance when the MT discovered the problem and insisted that the summit list was cleaned up, and GMA was formed to retain favourite but non SOTA compliant summits.
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Good summary Brian. Many of us don’t care about the motivation of the originators, only the beauty and stunning views these peaks offer. Many of my favourite VHF field day spots were spurned by SOTA but picked up by HEMA. So I can enjoy both award systems.
GL to all hill walkers. Radio optional
73
Ron
VK3AFW
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To split these out
GMA any summit above 100m ASL.
HEMA summits with a PROMINENCE of between 100 and 150 metres from the surrounding ground
SOTA (Generally) summits with a PROMINENCE of OVER 150 metres from the surrounding ground - I say Generally as there are some associations that only require 100m prominence as they are “flatter” countries (like Netherlands and Belgium).
Talking of OTA schemes - don’t forget the originals IOTA (Islands) and JOTA - that ones a bit different though, it’s Jamboree on the air - so the Scout’s annual event.
In my opinion, all are good as they are getting people out operating portable!
73 Ed.
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Yep I’ll work anybody to give them some points for what they are doing.
Just a new one on me.
No one on this thread has mentioned WOTA - Wainwrights On The Air. The award scheme is based on the 330 Wainwright Summits in Cumbria, many of which are also Marilyn SOTA Summits. This is a great localised scheme for fellwalking radio amateurs and chasers who are fond of the Lake District. Please sign up and start collecting points - your historic activations of SOTA Summits will count:
Website: Website
Reflector: Reflector
73 de Phil G4OBK
WOTA Awards Manager
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