hi all earlier today i contacted iu1aug/ix1 on a sota ref i/va476 but it is not in the known summit locations ,this summit was clearly given out and was also reported on the hrd cluster from hb9drv-9 can anyone help as i would like to log it
regards dave m6kvj
In reply to M6KVJ:
In addition to the “international” SOTA list there seems to be a national Italian list.
For VA have a look at http://www.sotaitalia.it/valle_daosta.html
73, Hans PB2T
In reply to M6KVJ:
Hello Dave,
After you worked the station, if you had then spotted the station, then any ambiguity about the reference would most likely have been resolved by other chasers making a correction if need be.
Mike
In reply to PB2T:
thanks hanz , i have found it on that link its mount roisetta just need to see if it will be recognised here this site
regards dave m6kvj
In reply to M6KVJ:
There are two Italian SOTA organisations, the official SOTA Association and an independant (or is that “pirate”?) group that use the SOTA name and even logo without permission and have rather eccentric rules and a summit list that owes nothing to the usual SOTA parameters. At present the official Italian summit list is a bit of a mess, with a LOT of valid summits missing and quite a few invalid summits listed, plus a lot of incorrect locations. This may have to be sorted out by the MT, rather than by the usual procedures, in which case it will probably take a long time as the priority is getting new Associations up and running.
I think you probably worked an activation by one of the pirate group.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
There are two Italian SOTA organisations, the official SOTA
Association and an independant (or is that “pirate”?) group that use
the SOTA name and even logo without permission and have rather
eccentric rules and a summit list that owes nothing to the usual SOTA
parameters.
Sounds like there is even more than I thought in common between SOTA and geocaching.
Sorry, couldn’t resist… 
—73 Karl KA3RCS
In reply to KA3RCS:
That`s lost on me, Karl, I grew out of “hunt the slipper” sixty years ago! 
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
an independant (or is that “pirate”?) group that use
the SOTA name and even logo without permission
If this is actually the case then the MT should contact the ISP of the pirate site and request that the web site be taken down until the offending use has been removed.
Colin G8TMV
Hoping to have a go at my first summit this coming Sunday (or monday). Not sure if I will be able to self spot but will try 40m, 20m and 2m all ssb this time. Graham G4NMD
In reply to G8TMV:
That would be the correct step to take from the legal point of view, Colin, but I look at it from the diplomatic point of view - they are hams and mountaineers, they would be welcomed if and when they come in out of the cold and join the authentic and original SOTA, so why generate bad feeling?
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
That would be the correct step to take from the legal point of view,
Indeed, I hope the MT have also considered that by letting unauthorized use continue they are actually jeopardizing their ownership of the ‘brand’.
they would be welcomed if and when they come in
out of the cold and join the authentic and original SOTA, so why
generate bad feeling?
I think this has been going on long enough that it’s a forlorn hope that anything will happen unless they are firmly prodded with the law.
My suggestion would be a take-down notice and then an immediate offer to help them sort it out, which would show them that the MT are serious about protecting the SOTA name but they were not out to kill off the Italian SOTA community.
Colin G8TMV
In reply to G8TMV:
Its actually more complex than that. My memory is that we welcomed a seperate group into SOTA but the Sotaitalia website (via Google translate) seems to suggest that at some point there has been a merger of the groups. Be that as may, the SOTA list for I/VA goes up to VA-326 and their website goes up to VA-582, giving over 250 summits on their list for this region that are not yet official. As I understand it there will be no official expansion of the Italian SOTA list until the identified problems have been sorted out, and if there has been any recent progress I havent heard about it. More I cannot say, Im not working on that problem!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G4NMD:
This didnt end up where I thought … also thought I’d put the correct reference for Lord’s Seat in the Lake District.
G
In reply to G8TMV:
Colin, when the former leader of the country is a scoundrel, it’s hardly surprising to see large numbers of the population behaving with scant regard to laws about copyright etc.
What is very likely to happen is that all of Italy with be withdrawn and a smaller association based on the summits listed so far which are known to be accurate will replace it. Following that, and when time permits, new summits will be added including those listed which have the wrong position followed by the ones not listed. My colleague Brian is much more diplomatic but Italy and the difficulty of setting it up and then managing it has been a running sore for a long time.
However, if you wish to have search for all the SOTA Italia wbesites, and do a ‘whois’ etc. and find their registrant, registrar and host and send it to me, I will hold ready should we decide to go for the nuclear option. I do feel that it will likely end up as a game of whack-a-mole but you never know!
Andy
MM0FMF/p IO78
Haha! Had to look that one up…somehow I don’t recall ever being exposed to any of the permutations thereof (though hide and seek is similar). According to the ultimate authority (Wikipedia), geocaching is a ‘modern and more adult variation’ of that game. 
My comment was based on the fact that there is one ‘official’ geocaching site, along with a variety of much smaller alternative listing sites, and that the content between them differs considerably (though in the opposite way in this case, as the ‘official’ site has far more listings than the others).
I am apparently not the only person who has been drawn to both pursuits for similar reasons. Prior to discovering SOTA, geocaching provided my incentive to actually go out and hike, by presenting me with a destination. Both share the characteristic of involving going outdoors and getting exercise, while playing with high-tech gadgets, as well as the aspect of navigating to a specific location. Interestingly, all of the local hams I know who have become interested in SOTA were already into geocaching as well.
To prove I’m not the only one, here is a cool video I found a while back of a SOTA activator finding several geocaches on his way up to a summit:
[M0RSF/P SOTA activation of G/SP-005 Pendle Hill][1]
—73 Karl KA3RCS
[1]: G/SP-005 Pendle Hill 2M FM SOTA activation - YouTube
Aye, I got involved in geocaching sometime round the back end of 2001, when there were fewer than 200 geocaches in the whole of the UK, and a geocaching day often involved driving a fair distance. These days I think I there are over 200 geocaches listed within five miles of home, so they’ve somewhat lost their “get out hiking” appeal…
SOTA summits, however, don’t have quite the same proliferation possibilities (except, unofficially, in Italy, it seems) so stand a chance of retaining that “get out hiking” appeal.
73, Rick M0LEP
SOTA summits won’t proliferate but we have “fellow traveller” programs that add possibilities: HuMPs, Wainrights etc, and in Germany they have the GMA program, and I’m sure more will appear around the world - and I reckon the more the merrier!
Brian G8ADD