NL VO1 Sota Association

Summits on the air association for VO1 started 1st july 2017 (Canada day) and covers the province of newfoundland. Newfoundland is IOTA NA27, In CQ zone 5 and ITU zone 9.

Below are various information for SOTA in newfoundland and traveling in and throughout the island.

Where is Newfoundland In Relation to the world
Summit Regions
Summit Maps
Coming to Newfoundland / getting here
Traveling in Newfoundland's terrain
Sota Association Documentation
Things To Do While In Newfoundland

Newfoundlands Location

Newfoundland is located in on the far north east of north america. It is Canada's farthest east province.

Summit Regions

Newfoundland SOTA association is divided into 5 regions. Shown below are:
NP - Northern Peninsula in RED
CE - Central in GREEN
WC - West Coast in BLUE
SC - South Coast in ORANGE
AV - Avalon in YELLOW

Summit Maps

Newfoundland has many summits. This first map shows summits locations using circles. With the size of the circle indicating the elevation. The highest point is The Cabox which is 2670 ft above sea level.

The below is a more interactive map showing the summits

Coming to Newfoundland / getting here

As Newfoundland is an island if your not already here then theres two choices...fly or ferry.

For travel by ferry, there are 3 main points of accessing the island.

From North Sydney Nova Soctia to Port Aux Basques
From North Sydney Nova Scotia to Argentia
From Blanc Sablon Quebec to St. Barbe

Port Aux Basques is on the south west coast of the island and Argentia is found on the south west side of the avalon peninsula. More information on the ferry crossings can be found on the marine atlantic website

St. Barbe is located near the north tip of the northern peninsula and more information on that ferry and its shedule can be found on the goverment of NL ferry services page.

If your planning to travel via air your primary landing airports will be St. John's (northeast avalon), Gander (eastern part of central), Deer Lake (west coast) and St. Anthony (north tip of northern peninsula)

Bear in mind while traveling that St-Pierre and Miquelon is offical french soil and are located just south of newfoundland, accessible from the fortune on the south coast or via air.

Traveling in Newfoundland's terrain

Newfoundland is commonly known as "the rock", For good reason. It is filled with thick forest, bogs and swamps, and many barren landscapes and small mountains and hills. The weather can be unpredictable at times. You may start your day with sun and end up with gale winds and fog...or worse!.

Be aware of the terrain and prepare your hike and trek with those things in mind.

Many summits may be accessible from old forest or service roads but these are often not maintained or not maintained well as they are like I said only service roads.

Cellphone coverage is also unpredictable. There is coverage for most inhabited areas but if you go far off the main highway you can easily find yourself without a signal. I have viewed service providers maps before but I have not found one that reflected a true signal pattern. I can certainly atest to the southern avalon which unless you are at hilltop you will not get service.

A good practise would be certainly talking to the local people in the area who would know the areas your want to hike and activate. Another great resource is the local search and rescue groups. Click here to go to the NLSARA.ORG site to get a team listing and map. These teams and indivuduals would know their areas very well...and not only could probably give advice on travel or access but you can let them know your intentions should the worse happen they can best assit you.

Sota Association Documentation

There are other information for the VO1 SOTA association. You can Download the association manual here. It will hold much information and is the official manual for the association. This site will be maintained as much as possible as well geared towards new people coming to the island and more information that just the ham radio site of hiking to a summit.

The main SOTA.ORG.UK website also holds information for the sota association for Newfoundland (VO1)

Things To Do While In Newfoundland

Newfoundland has an abundance to offer any traveler than just operating a summit. There are many festivals, events, museums, historic sites, places to stay, hunting, fishing, whale watching is very popular and if your lucky to come in early-mid summer you will hit peak iceburg season. I could list off everything I know but its a lot easier to head on over to the newfoundland and labrador website as they not only have pretty much everything you need but keep the listings maintained.