I cannot believe that it is already 22 years ago today when SOTA first started.
Jimmy M0HGY
22 Likes
This is what happened on Day 1 02/03/2002:
Then BOOM! SOTA went viral over time (and became a “bit of an obsession” for some of us…)
Heartfelt thanks from me to Richard @G3CWI and John @G3WGV for conceiving the greatest “OTA” scheme of all time… (With acknowledgement to the amazing SOTA Database and the Management Team members for the hours spent creating and improving SOTA over the last 22 years…)
73 Phil G4OBK
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Congratulations SOTA team management and participants in this hobby amazing effort by one and all. It’s not an easy thing to do for most people who activate summits with all the hiking and gear set up and access permission to some summits certainly an endurance activity trying to reach the awards in SOTA.
I am certainly still keen to do as many summits as possible again in 2024 once we get rain out in the bush.
Regards
Ian vk5cz …
9 Likes
Congratulations SOTA. Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns. Very Many Thanks to Activators and Chasers and of course to the MT. 73 de Paul M0CQE.
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This is my log from the first day, I struggled to qualify whilst in a white out. HB kit broke after my third contact then dipole broke and only made my fourth holding the broken element together by hand!
Roger MW0IDX
5 Likes
It was at VHF Field Day 2002 that I got to know about SOTA when chatting with Richard G3CWI. It took 4 years to get me (and other members of the De Montfort University ARS) out onto a summit. I was instantly hooked after just 17 QSOs in 4 hours on Walbury Hill G/CE-001. I didn’t actually work any of the other club members during that activation, but that didn’t matter. As they say, the rest is hsitory. 
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I got an email out of the blue in the summer of 2002. It was from Alan @M1EYO - who later become SOTA’s first ever MG. “Hi Tom”, he said, “Remember me? I sat next to you in the RAE. We’ve now got adjacent callsigns. I’ve been helping set this thing up called SOTA…”.
I thought little more about it until parked up near the Cat & Fiddle one weekend lunchtime and playing on my 230mW 2m FM handheld! I spoke to Shirley MW3GTE/P (later MW0YLS, and first ever female MG, and first GW MG, now sadly SK). She was activating Gyrn Moelfre GW/NW-049. Her enthusiasm and persuasivenesses talked me into getting out of my car and walking up Shining Tor G/SP-004 with Jimmy (9 years old) there and then!
She hung around on her summit for the S2S with me, and a 22 year life-changing obsession was born. Alan and Shirley both became good friends, Jimmy wanted to do the Foundation so he could get involved a couple of years later, becoming @M3EYP, @2E0EYP and @M0HGY - and of course G Association Manager!
SOTA has much to answer for!
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22 years of SOTA, what a time. I haven’t been around that long myself. My first activator QSO was in February 2016 and my first chaser QSO in September 2010 (I didn’t realize what kind of QSO I had until many years later… 
). I would never have thought that amateur radio - especially SOTA - would play such an important role in my hobby. Since then, SOTA has accompanied me whenever I’m on the road. Be it alone or with my family. A really nice and exciting amateur radio program with an interesting community of like-minded people.
Thanks to the organizers (Management Team) who provide technical support for the entire program and make it available to us and those who keep the program running… the many activators and chasers - we keep the program active and interesting. Cheers, to (at least) another 22 years 
73 Marcel DM3FAM
9 Likes
Hello,
Happy anniversary to all Sota ops, either activators or chasers. We both need each other to make this enormous & exciting scheme work.
Thanks everybody for supporting and bringing so much fun, extreme qso opportunities running low power with simple antennas, showing the magic of radio propagation and motivating people to bring some little radio gear in their luggage when planning some holidays to an exotic destination abroad or to a family trip.
Thanks to the frequent QSO we have in Sota, and to the chat and info exchange we have in the Reflector we end building a nice friendship, despite the distance between our countries.
Sota has the power to break the barrier of natural frontiers!
By chance, today is also my birthday (55 coil turns) , therefore I’m having a double celebration, so cheers and good health Sota!
73 Ignacio
13 Likes
It goes really fast when you’re having fun!
Enjoyed the personal stories.
From 1997-2000 I was fortunate to live near the Clywydian hills in NE Wales and operate as MW0AWC. At the time I did quite a lot of portable CW HF operating from various parks, summits in that area using a Wilderness Sierra QRP rig and various homemade dipoles. I had a great time - mostly hiking to locations, sometimes cycling, and trying to fit in one of the country pubs afterwards. Just a few years before SOTA started - I wish it had been in existence then or that I had thought up the idea myself.
I am now enjoying the experience once again from the summits around southern Vancouver Island and am thankful for the hard work that has been put into organizing SOTA around the world.
Larry VE7EA
6 Likes