Good evening everyone.
I have a question about activating a summit on the same day with several callsigns.
Is it possible for me to activate with my own callsign and change callsigns during this time? For example, I would like to take part in a contest from a summit and combine an activation with it at the same time. Now I am on the mountain earlier and make QSOs with my own callsign. The contest starts and I continue transmitting with a different callsign.
Is this generally allowed for an activation and if so, how can I upload the log so that both callsigns can be seen for activation in the database?
73 Marcel DM3FAM
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Unfortunately you cannot. The DB only allows one callsign in an activation and you can only upload one activation for a summit per day.
Essentially this means you can only use a single callsign for the activation.
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Recently I took part in the VHF/UHF+ activity contest. Just did some 2m FM QSO with the Yagi turned vertical before the contest begun to activate the summit for SOTA.
And then run SSB on 2m for the contest stations. They don’t care for SOTA so don’t mess around. Keep it seperated is my approach. There is no added benefit in it.
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Thanks for the info Andy @MM0FMF. Then everything is clear . For us, that would now mean either “Hüh or Hott” 
Unfortunately, I can’t translate that literally into English. It is a saying that there is only one way and not here and there.
73 Marcel DM3FAM
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Yes, I know. Not many people in the contest are interested in it. But of course it’s interesting for your own QSO count… 
But now it’s settled, one callsign with one activation on one day and that’s it. You are spoiled for choice
73 Marcel DM3FAM
Hi Andy,
Can you clarify this for me please.
My understanding is that you can activate a summit with any legitimate callsign but the activation points go to the operator and his registered SOTA
callsign.
I don’t understand why one could not bundle all contacts made by one operator in an activation under the operators callsign even when different calls were used.
Except for the 10 m challenge any more than 4 contacts don’t count for anything so is it the 10 m challenge that has raised your objection?
73
Ron
VK3AFW
It’s to do with the way the database was set up in 2003. Callsigns are attached to the activation as a whole, not to the invidual QSOs. Therefore, whatever you input first, is what gets stored, and everything else is dropped.
I’d have to study the code in more detail to remind myself if the CSV/ADIF parsing triggers a new activation on a changed callsign (like it does if you change the summit).
With the benefit of 20 years of hindsight, maybe a different approach might be taken with the database schema if we started from scratch, but we’re not about to do that now.
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It does not. So you could change the callsign in the CSV and it’ll still be the same activation, but only the first callsign is stored in the database.
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I’ve faced this problem too…
When I used DL20SOTA, I wanted to be active longer at the summit with my call DL6GCA.
(I only had the call sign DL20SOTA for a certain time window. Then it was used by another OP at another summit.)
I would not have been able to enter the further QSOs into the database as DL6GCA.
73 Armin
I remember we did have a similar situation, oh 10+ years back. Someone used a club callsign for the activation and saved the calls in his own account. All well and good. However, the club was not licenced to use 60m, it was when you needed special change to your licence in the UK. The activator used his own call for the 60m operation. In the end we advised him to log the activation under his club call but to add a comment to every QSO made with his own call. Not perfect but the best we could do given the original design limits.
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