Mt Defiance,  Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area,  July 6, 2013     page 12 / 15

Tom recently introduced me to Summits On The Air (SOTA). This is a program which encourages climbing to the tops of peaks and making contacts with their portable ham radio gear. The program is purely for fun.

SOTA started several years ago in the UK, and seems to be gaining popularity in the United States. Contacts are recorded on an internet database where users gain fame by being the first to make contact from a given peak. Points are awarded for multiple contacts, as well.

In the photo below, I made contact with my son, Tom (KD7LXL) to "activate" Mt. Defiance. I also earned six points for contacting three other hams from the summit.