Powermulti:
Battery max:
500maH X10
1000maH X5
2500maH X3
5000maH X2
7500maH X1,5
over 7500mah or charging of any kind X1
I hope for a little feedback on this as most of us don´t like contests while activating…
I am pretty sure we can find a few sponsors for prizes, I am thinking crowdfunding to raise money for postage etc.
I am happy to supply pictures etc for free use on any diplomas or for maketing.
What month is your preferred? July, August…? Feel free to add more…
Contest running from friday thru sunday, with the possibility to activate more than one summit, but SOTA-points are irrelevant…?
What have I missed?
Do we have to endure yet another contest jamming up the bands.
With another set of ornamented pieces of paper to stick up the wall ?
There are already various SOTA challenges from time to time which I think are sufficient to add a bit of extra interest for those whom wish to participate.
Hi Henning,
One of the basic SOTA principals is that SOTA itself is not a contest. It is a challenge to each person taking part to challenge themseles, whether chaser or activator (or both).
One could argue that the challenges are “sort of” contests and the fact that tables exist from the database that show who has the most points in a region - however this is more a-kin to the DXCC awards scheme.
No prizes are offered in SOTA, if you wish to have a certificate for reaching a particular level, you pay for that yourself (which brings a very small amount of operational costs offset to SOTA).
I can see you have put a LOT of thought and effort into what you would like to see in an event - so why not run the event yourself, independant of the SOTA MT as a QRP Portable contest, obviously a lot of your parameters rely on honesty and trust as I cannot see anyway that you can verify if someone was running 1w or 50w nor what size battery they used (on that point I believe you have the points in reverse as the larger a battery is, the heavier it is and hence more difficult to transport).
Good luck with this idea if you decide to progress it independant of the SOTA MT. You could perhaps extend the rules to allow activation from a SOTA summit or an WWFF park - just an idea.
Interesting idea. You have put a lot of effort into this but I think the proposal is too complex. Something that is band specific, has only phone/other and QRP (5 w) or open would be complex enough.
Repackaged as a challenge rather than a contest it might win more acceptance.
Interesting idea and thoughts and no doubt lot thought gone into it.
But turning it into a contest comes with a NO with me also.
Sota is contest free and likes that idea. It can be a challenge in its self and self rewarding for chasers and activators a like.
As for Work all Britain members has become attractive cause it covers WAB Squares in the UK along with Trig points and odd occasions an WFF site as my local summit is in a big one surrounding my Qth.
I like way Sota covers the year rarely a day there’s one NOT on air somewhere in Europe, let alone in the world. No need to make it into contest as too many on at moment most weekends.
Brave person bringing this to light and don’t be put off by the no’s and yet devlope into a better idea.
Contests were one of the BIG reasons I had a bit of a break from radio. In my view, not really a good idea, although it could be interesting on vhf/uhf! Second thoughts, no. Definitely not.
There are numerous reasons why this is inadvisable. I won’t list them all as most are already covered above.
What we do have is occasional SOTA Challenges, occasional S2S events, honour rolls for Activator, Chaser, SWL, Mountain Hunter, Mountain Explorer, Uniques, S2S etc. Some people (including myself) from time-to-time participate in a contest from a SOTA summit under SOTA activation qualifying conditions. Plenty of opportunities there to satisfy anyone’s competitive streak.
But SOTA itself, is not competitive - except perhaps against oneself - developing skills and equipment to improve one’s own achievements. It certainly appears from the responses above that there is little appetite for a SOTA contest, and I personally would not support such an idea.
Surely the contest in SOTA is to get up the hill / mountain, brave the elements and qualify the summit. That is sufficient for me. On occasion even that can be extremely challenging!
Just for the record, I agree broadly with the comments above. SOTA is a comprehensive programme, which offers a unique range of challenges for individual participants.
I am not against contests, but they are quite different, and I don’t see any merit in trying to merge SOTA with contesting.
Best wishes, though, and I hope to meet you on air, activating or chasing.
And I agree with Adrian G4AZS:[quote=“G4AZS, post:12, topic:14512”]
SOTA is a comprehensive programme, which offers a unique range of challenges for individual participants.
I am not against contests, but they are quite different, and I don’t see any merit in trying to merge SOTA with contesting.
[/quote]
A reminder for those who like contesting and would like to combine it with SOTA portable operating:
There is already a Fieldday contest (rules for region 1 here).
One could participate in a contest from a SOTA summit, obeying both contest rules, and SOTA rules (no car, battery power, etc). A group of activators willing to participate, could themselves take care of the ranking within their unofficial subcategory.
Yes, good point Fric. There is also RSGB Backpackers, UKACs, QRPTTF, Marconi 144MHz CW and others that combine well with SOTA activations. I have also done SOTA activations in the middle of the CQWW and IOTA contests and had plenty of fun.
