SOTA — Summits On The Air

New in 1.8 (May 2026)

The SOTA module is complete. Local summit DB, Activator/Chaser workflow, live spots feed, map, awards. Structurally parallel to the POTA module.

Quick Overview

• Activator / Chaser modes selectable when creating a SOTA session
• Summit auto-complete from the official sotadata.org.uk database (~181,000 summits worldwide, local SQLite, one-time ~15 MB download)
• Multi-summit hopping: multiple summit refs per session (comma list)
• 4-QSO activation counter with live display in the QSO form
• Winter bonus display: for summits with bonus points the status bar shows 10 + 3 p during the winter window (NH: Dec 1 – Mar 15, SH: Jun 1 – Sep 15)
• S2S detection (Summit-to-Summit): Their Summit field with points lookup
• SOTA spots feed: live stream from api2.sota.org.uk instead of regular DX cluster spots, with filter, Copy button and optional CAT QSY
• SOTA Map tab: summit pins (with elevation + points in the tooltip) + DX pins + lines summit → DX, S2S indicator per QSO
• SOTA awards in the Awards tab: Activator summits, Chaser summits, S2S count, Chaser points aggregated across all logs
• ADIF conformance: MY_SOTA_REF, SOTA_REF, MY_SIG=SOTA, MY_SIG_INFO, plus the proprietary APP_HAMTOOLS_THEIR_SOTA_POINTS for re-import without a summit DB lookup

Load the Summit DB Once

Before your first activation the summit DB has to be downloaded:

1. Settings → Data → SOTA Summit Database
2. Click "Load Now" → download of summitslist.csv
3. Parsing takes ~3-5 sec, after that the database is ready in ~/Documents/HAM-Tools/Cache/summits.sqlite
4. Refresh reminder after 30 days (the summit list is relatively stable)

Creating a SOTA Session

1. Top bar → New Log → SOTA Session → opens the SOTA wizard
2. Pick Activator or Chaser
3. Enter your own summit (Activator) — auto-complete searches the summit DB, showing elevation and points per suggestion
4. Optional: hopping summits as a comma list (HB/BE-002, HB/VS-001)
5. Create → the log is created, the SOTA form goes active

Logging a QSO

As soon as a SOTA log is active, the QSO panel renders the lean SOTA form:

• Status bar shows UTC · frequency/band · mode · power · log name · my summit with points (e.g. Activator · HB/BE-001 · 10+3p with winter bonus)
• Their Call with QRZ/HamQTH lookup (auto-fill after ~600 ms)
• Their Summit with auto-complete for S2S — points are fetched automatically and stored in the QSO as theirSotaPoints
• 4-QSO counter bottom right: red up to 3 QSOs, green with an "Activation valid" badge from 4 QSOs on
• Dupe marking: same call+band+mode in the log → orange banner instead of green "saved" (an activation pile-up on one frequency stays clearly recognizable)

SOTA Spots Tab

When a SOTA log is active, the lower "DX Clusters" tab automatically switches to the SOTA spots feed:

• Polling every 60 sec from api2.sota.org.uk/api/spots/50/all
• Filter: band, mode, association prefix (HB, DM, G/LD …)
• "Manual only" toggle hides automatic RBN spots (RBNHole)
• Sort by time or frequency
• Copy button fills Activator call + summit ref + frequency into the SOTA form. When CAT is connected and the QSY toggle is on, the rig jumps to the spot frequency

SOTA Map

• Dedicated "SOTA Map" tab in the lower tab bar (mountain icon)
• Summit pins for all summit refs of the QSOs in the active log
• DX pins for worked stations with grid resolution
• Lines summit → DX optional (toggle in the filter bar)
• Band filter persistent across app restarts
• Info popup per QSO shows the mode color + S2S counter summit (if present) in SOTA orange

Awards Tab

The Awards tab has a dedicated SOTA sub-tab (automatically selected as soon as a SOTA log is active):

• Activator summits: unique refs from mySotaRef + mySotaRefs
• Chaser summits: unique theirSotaRef values
• Summit-to-Summit: QSOs with both fields set
• Chaser points: sum of theirSotaPoints across all QSOs

Activator points aggregation

Activator points (base + winter bonus, per activation) are currently only shown live in the QSO form, not aggregated. The Awards tab evaluation including activation dates and bonuses is coming with Phase 6 (upload path).

ADIF Export

On ADIF export the following fields are written for SOTA QSOs:

<CALL:6>DL1ABC <BAND:3>20m <MODE:3>SSB
<MY_SIG:4>SOTA <MY_SIG_INFO:9>HB/BE-001 <MY_SOTA_REF:9>HB/BE-001
<MY_GRIDSQUARE:6>JN46pn
<SIG:4>SOTA <SIG_INFO:9>HB/AG-001 <SOTA_REF:9>HB/AG-001
<APP_HAMTOOLS_THEIR_SOTA_POINTS:1>1
<EOR>

• MY_SIG=SOTA + MY_SOTA_REF for the Activator
• SIG=SOTA + SOTA_REF for Chaser/S2S
• APP_HAMTOOLS_THEIR_SOTA_POINTS is proprietary — enables re-import without another summit DB lookup
• MY_GRIDSQUARE from the app settings (Station tab → grid)

Dual Program (SOTA + POTA/WWFF/BOTA) 🆕

Many summits sit inside a POTA park and/or WWFF area. When creating a session (activator), the SOTA wizard offers optional fields for POTA, WWFF and BOTA refs — every logged QSO is then tagged for all programs:

• "SOTA CSV…" exports for sotadata.org.uk as usual
• "Export ADIF" appears additionally and writes a separate file set per ADIF program (conformant for pota.app / wwff.co / wwbota.net, exactly one MY_SIG each)

Details and example: POTA → Dual Program.

Known Limitations

• Upload to sotadata.org.uk is not yet implemented — coming with Phase 6. Until then export ADIF and upload manually at sotadata.org.uk/admin/activator_log_upload.aspx.
• Self-spotting (posting your own spot on SOTAwatch) is Phase 6.
• Activator points total is currently not aggregated across all logs — the QSO form shows base+bonus per active activation, the Awards tab shows only Chaser points. Per-activation aggregation comes with Phase 6.

Comparison SOTA ↔ POTA

Aspect	SOTA	POTA
Data source	sotadata.org.uk CSV	pota.app CSV
Refs	HB/BE-001 (assoc/region code)	K-1234, HB-0001
Modes	Activator / Chaser	Activator / Hunter
Activation valid from	4 QSOs	10 QSOs
Points system	1–10 base + 3 winter bonus	no points (park count)
S2S / P2P	Summit-to-Summit	Park-to-Park
Spots API	api2.sota.org.uk (MHz)	api.pota.app (kHz)
ADIF field	MY_SOTA_REF / SOTA_REF	MY_POTA_REF / POTA_REF

Operating style

Both programs work similarly — anyone who knows POTA finds their way around SOTA right away. The app reflects that: identical tab bar, identical form layout, identical map style.