New SOTA Group is Growing for West Malaysian Hams

Barely a month old, the West Malaysia SOTA Association is growing its membership and encouraging hams to join if they are interested in chasing or activating mountain summits as a portable operation. The association's manager, Piju, 9M2PJU, provides hams in Malaysia with an introduction to the history and importance of the worldwide award scheme, which began in 2002 in the UK. It now covers more than 150,000 summits around the globe. Piju is the Malaysian coordinator for communication with other SOTA organizations and his role is to ensure Malaysian SOTA ops follow all relevant regulations and standards. Piju said that the West Malaysia region has 373 summits.

He is encouraging interested hams in Malaysia to register and create a free account on the SOTA websites which provide lists of valid summits, their locations, elevation, and point values. The West Malaysia SOTA Association launched on the 1st of January and does not include the two Malaysian states that belong to the East Malaysia SOTA Association.

Bonuses will be given to hams who activate during the monsoon season or during other harsh-weather conditions.

Student Project Provides New Satellite for India

India's HAMSAT, the microsatellite decommissioned in 2016, has been replaced following the New Year's Eve launch of a small satellite created by students. The Somaiya (SO MAYA) Beliefsat-Ø takes its name from the K.J. Somaiya Institute of Technology. The project's faculty coordinator, Umesh (OO-MESH) Shinde (SHIN DAY), VU3CDI, told local media that he expected it to become “a crucial player in the realm of global amateur radio." The satellite has a UHF to VHF-FM repeater and a VHF digipeater sending APRS standard telemetry every 30 seconds.

Media Story - https://satproviders.com/news/somaiya-students-amateur-radio-satellite-takes-to-the-skies/219758/#gsc.tab=0