SOTA continues to expand daily and this means we have more and more people activating summits for SOTA.
It seems a lot of people have forgotten or maybe never even knew that activating from a car is against the rules. A first time offence carries a warning, second or repeat offences will get you banned from SOTA.
- You cannot be sat in your vehicle.
- You cannot power your SOTA equipment from the vehicle battery.
- You cannot attach your antenna to the vehicle.
A simple test to see if your setup is legal when you and your vehicle are in the activation area is to do the following. Setup your station. If you can then drive your vehicle away from your station and you station is still functioning then you are probably going to be legal.
Likewise driving on private roads, parking on private land without demonstrable permission could get your activation invalidated. Private roads include those across farmland, shooting estates, transmitter access roads. These may be gated or not but there is normally some sign saying “No Unauthorised Vehicles” or “Private, no public access” or similar. If you are questioned by the MT and you cannot demonstrate you had permission then expect your log to be deleted.
Please make sure you know the SOTA rules and operate in accordance with them.