Great to see folks having so much fun with the hobby. I admire the enthusiasm. Maybe slightly off-topic, but how would you assess the popularity of activities like SOTA and POTA? I would guess being in the great outdoors is a factor. I was a very avid hiker for a number of years and loved it, even if the weather was not always the best. Is living in antenna restricted locations another big factor? If you are an avid fan of these activities, would be interested in reading your response to the popularity of this segment of the hobby.
Unthinkable in cause of the missing OMs/YLs who are intrested in. At next here are more the dutch mountains than anything else. Maybe in the south of Germany there are operators, who are living near to the Alps, which are intrested in SOTA is more possibel. But I never heard about such big things like this here. Its more the Foxhunt to peek some objects which are hidden. Here I know, that in the south they have once or twice in a year, a so called "Großraum Fuchsjagd" (Conurbation Foxhunt) which is around Munich and more.
I think your guess is spot-on. In addition, there's the "competitive" aspect, as in attaining awards in the programs. I truly enjoy working POTA and SOTA stations, although I am not (yet) registered as a "hunter" in POTA (are there hunter awards in SOTA?). After many months of hunting, I very well could qualify for some sort of hunter award. I may register in POTA one of these days to see exactly how many stations I've worked. I enjoy working the stations, knowing I am helping their activation totals. And I enjoy looking up their locations to see photos and information about those locations. Long before POTA, I often operated from parks when camping or simply "day camping." My reasons aligned with your observation about being in the great outdoors and, having lived in apartments with limited antenna options at the time, being able to get on-the-air with better results than were attained from my fixed station(s). Now, I vicariously enjoy being in the great outdoors and operating ham radio through POTA and SOTA hunting because I am no longer able to do so. I guess it simply comes down to: it's just plain fun!
