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Care for the Environment

For the vast majority of people it is the quality of the mountain or hill environmentthat attracts them to hill tops. SOTA activators need to share that environment in asensitive way. If weather conditions or any other reasons do not allow this then youshould not go ahead with the activation . As radio amateurs it is easy to forgetin the excitement of the moment, perhaps while working some rare DX, that shouting into amicrophone is viewed by most people as an unacceptable activity - especially in the hills.Aerials and wires are alien features on hill tops (well most hill tops anyway) and must besensitively sited. Straining to hear a weak CW signal and turning the loudspeaker volumeup to do so is just more "urban" noise to everyone else. Ideally, non-amateurswill either never notice us or leave with a positive impression of our hobby - if that isunlikely to be the case, then SOTA is not for you.

There is no need to operate from the exact summit itself (though you should perhapshave reached the summit before you start operating!). Our rules allow operation within 25metres vertically of any summit so in most cases there is plenty of leeway to allow you toset up a station unobtrusively and out of the wind.

Our environmental rules are clear:

Care for the environment

(copied from SOTA General Rules 3.7.3)

Activators must not cause any damage to the environment.   This includes damage to the mountain itself, walls, fences, livestock, buildings, etc.   Any Activator who is found to have deliberately or carelessly caused such damage may be, at the Programme Management Team’s discretion, excluded from the programme.

Activators are required to operate in a manner that is in keeping with the spirit of the Programme.

Activators must operate with due consideration for other people on the hills.   Excessive noise, inconsiderate siting of equipment and antennas, etc. is not acceptable and potentially brings the Programme into disrepute.   Evidence of such behaviour may result, at the Programme Management Team’s discretion, in exclusion from the programme.

One of your *x*x!!! SOTA operators spoilt my day's walking...

We hope that this never happens but if you are not an amateur and have arrived here tomake a complaint, you are in the right place. Please e-mail the SOTA Committee with thedate, place and time of the incident together with some brief details of what happened. Wewill investigate and will take appropriate action we will also let you know what we havedone. . Thank you for your help.

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Copyright ? 2002 Summits on the Air. Summits on the Air and SOTA are trademarks of the Programme. S OTA is not responsible for the information of information on third party web sites. Participation in the SOTA programme is at the risk of the participator.
Last modified: October 13, 2003