I collect notes on how to get started in SOTA here…

• I’m in a hurry. What do I have to do to activate a summit?
• For your first summit, pick out a summit that is near home, get out there and try to activate it. If it doesn’t go well, you haven’t invested a lot in it. Pay attention to what worked and what didn’t. You’ll learn a lot from your first attempt. Then, adjust your plan so that the next time goes better.
• What do I need to take to the summit? I’m planning to watch someone else activate.
• What do I need to take to the summit? I’m planning to activate the summit myself.
• A sample activation trip plan
• Spotting
• Propagation forecasts
• 4 Wheel Drive
• Rain or Snow
• Contests
• Download USGS Topographic Maps
• Read the word-wide SOTA reflector
• Read and subscribe to the North American SOTA Mailing List
  • In addition to reading current posts, go back and read a year’s worth of history, so you won’t appear to be a newbie when you post.
• If you’re in the Southeast:
  • http://k4kpk.com/content/sota-trip-library
  • Patrick’s GPS Traces from his activations (Patrick is an awesome activator.)
  • Forest Service road closures in GA - http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/conf/alerts-notices
  • Winter bonus is 3 points on 8 and 10 point summits from December 01 through March 15 in Georgia.
• Major SOTA Web Sites:
  • http://sotadata.org.uk/
  • http://sotawatch.org/
  • http://sotamaps..org/
• Can I activate the same hill twice? Yes. You can activate a hill for points once per calendar year. You can activate the hill a hundred times a week if you want – but you can’t get more points for it until the next calendar year.