I worked a contest station today on G/SE-001, well in the activation zone but they were operating from a vehicle.
Does this count as a chase for the summit?
The rules say the chaser must make a QSO with the summit expedition, but for an expedition to be considered valid operations must not be in or in close proximity to a vehicle - so I think the answer is no 
Hi Pete,
Apologies, but if this contest station on Walbury Hill G/SE-001 was operating from within the activation zone, but from inside a vehicle, this is not valid for SOTA.
Jimmy M0HGY
G - Association Manager
IMO, No.
Who were the muggles?
It was M0HNA/P. They (it was a group) and they weren’t claiming to be activating the summit, I was just wondering if I could claim the chase.
Pete, that’s a shame.
They are on the same summit for most GHz contests, and depending on the band, may be in the car, or away from it. Always worth asking where they are operating.
I have previously worked them on 5 & 10 GHz and Barry (G4SJH) was kind enough to provide proof of SOTA conformance.
Stuart, is that dish, tripod, table, etc yours or theirs? I would imagine it would be hard for a solo activator to carry all that GHz kit, and in any case one would need to pick an easy-walk summit.
Theirs. It’s the proof they were not operating from a car on those bands.
Okay, got it. I fuss about anything that won’t fit in my rucksack. I would need a team of Sherpas for that table, tripod and dish.
You drive your car to the location. Unload the gear. Drive the car away. Setup and operate. Drive car back. Take down and load car. Drive home.
Seems more like a POTA if you needed to drive off road to get within or very close to the AZ. The last SOTA I activated was Rombalds Moor. I walked to the trig point but you could park on a public road there and walk only a short distance into the AZ although not flat enough there for GHz.
3.5 Guidelines for the definition of a Summit
3.5.4. Summits that are accessible by road can still be included in the programme, although
operation from within vehicles or the near vicinity of activator’s vehicles is not
permitted
If the rule is about not sitting in the vehicle or having an electrical connection with it (which makes perfect sense to me) why bother even driving the vehicle away to be rule compliant (when “near” is not quantified)? I can see why you might want to move that large metal object out of the antenna’s near field, but otherwise… ?
plonk
Andy, your usual insulting retort when you don’t have a proper answer. My questions were just curiosity nothing else.
…what are muggles?
Geoff vk3sq
I’m not a Harry Potter fan but apparently it’s a reference to non-wizards ie ordinary folk. And in the SOTA context I’ve seen it used to refer to non SOTA hillwalkers at the summit especially the ones who suggest daft explanations as to what the activator is doing with that strange-looking equipment.
The usual rule of thumb employed is that the car should be able to be driven away and the activation continue unimpacted. Ie, no part of the station can be attached to it, you can’t be in it, and it can’t be used to shelter from the wind or rain.
Near is not defined because near means different things eg to an activator in a wheelchair vs a 0% body fat, chiselled-abs triathlete (let me know if you ever see a ham like that). SOTA aims to be inclusive for all abilities.
Thanks for the clarification. That all makes sense.
As per previous comments, it is their gear.
It is an easy walk-up summit, but they have permission to park in the field.
Below picture is my equipment used for the contact from G/SP-013 Gun moor. Another easy walk up summit.
The antenna to the left seems to look thru the antenna on the right. If they look in the same direction, I’d place them side by side, minimising interference.
Just my 2pennies.
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
