SOTAMĀT SOTA / POTA Spotting

Brian Mathews

About this app

SOTAMĀT is for licensed amateur radio operators (ham radio) who want to self-spot, self-alert, or send predefined SMS messages from remote areas where there is no cellular service, no internet, and who don't have access to a satellite communicator. If you enjoy Summits-On-The-Air (SOTA) or Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) this app is for you! The app encodes your commands into specially computed FT8/PSK31/RTTY messages composed of your callsign plus a suffix. Worldwide monitoring stations (skimmers) pick up your HF transmission and relay it to PSK Reporter, which forwards the message to the SOTAMĀT server where the suffix is decoded into a command. SOTAMĀT then connects to the official SOTA or POTA or SMS services to carry out your instructions. The amazing thing is that you don't need a computer (use your phone or tablet!) and you don't need special cables (use your phone's speaker directly into your HF radio's microphone input). The app not only computes the FT8/PSK/RTTY message, but can also generate FT8 audio directly (no computer needed, no dongles, no cables, and no sound-card interfaces!). See the https://SOTAmat.com web site for details.

The app also comes with reference information on how to use additional 2-way services when you DO have internet, or cellular, or satellite service. The instructions can help you:
* Post a Self-spot
* Post a Self-alert
* Get a list of recent spots
* Get SOTA/POTA information (weather, callinfo, peak info, park info)
* ...and more.

Again, check out the web site for complete details:
https://SOTAMAT.com

Ratings and reviews

I get a fatal error upon starting the app. 'Can't initialize the database. Object reference not set to an instance of an object'. Uninstalling and reinstalling the app changes nothing. Update: I finally figured out how to clean out the previous app data by erasing all data in android app info and now I can use the app. The interface remains tedious and awkward but I can now generate a FT8 message from my setup in the app.

Great solution to send SOTA spots when you're off-the-grid. Highly recommended for SOTA enthusiasts that activate in remote areas!

Neat bit of software. very useful when out of cell phone coverage.

What’s new

V2.1.0 is a rewrite of SOTAMAT, with new features. Thanks for testing!

1. Adds spotting via Internet, SMS, and eMail

2. Copy Lat/Long to clipboard (if you downloaded the Peaks/Parks Db)

3. Improved support for SOTACAT

4. Reformatted UI

Thank-you Beta testers!