BOTA — Bunkers On The Air (WWBOTA)

BOTA module

Activation of historic bunkers, fortresses and military installations under the WWBOTA program (wwbota.net). Structurally parallel to POTA/SOTA/WWFF — Activator/Hunter, worldwide bunker DB, live spots from the DX cluster, map, awards.

Quick Overview

• Activator / Hunter modes with multi-bunker hopping
• Bunker auto-complete from the worldwide WWBOTA database (~26,700 refs)
• B2B detection (Bunker-to-Bunker)
• BOTA spots feed: filtered from the DX cluster, matched against the local bunker DB (the pattern alone would be too generic and would catch POTA/WWFF refs)
• BOTA Map with shield pins + DX pins + lines
• BOTA awards with Activator/Hunter counter, B2B + programs

Data Source: WWBOTA

BOTA in HAM-Tools follows the global WWBOTA program:

• Source: WWBOTA Master Reference List via https://api.wwbota.org/bunkers/?format=CSV — ~26,700 bunkers worldwide.
• Automatic download: on first launch or on demand, with an ETag cache (no re-download if nothing has changed). An initial snapshot ships in the app bundle so the DB is available immediately.
• Storage: local SQLite under ~/Documents/HAM-Tools/Cache/.
• CSV import remains available as a fallback/override for your own lists.

Ref Format

WWBOTA references follow the scheme B/XX-NNNN — the global prefix B/ is constitutive, followed by a country/region code and number:

B/9A-0001   (Croatia)
B/G-1524    (England)
B/DL-0123   (Germany)

On CSV import a missing B/ prefix is added automatically; spots sent on the DX cluster without B/ are prefixed too.

Creating a BOTA Session

1. Settings → Data → BOTA Reference Database — the WWBOTA list loads automatically (or via "Load Now"); a CSV import as an override is optionally possible
2. Top bar → New Log → BOTA Session → wizard
3. Pick Activator / Hunter
4. Your own bunker (Activator) with auto-complete including country + type
5. Optional: hopping bunkers as a comma list

Logging a QSO

• Status bar with bunker ref + country
• Their Bunker field with DB lookup for B2B
• Enter saves directly
• Dupe marking like in the other programs

BOTA Spots Tab

The "BOTA Spots" tab filters the DX cluster stream:

• Pattern detection [A-Z]{1,4}-\d{3,5} in the spot comment
• Additionally each match is checked against the local bunker DB — only refs actually on file count. This keeps POTA refs (K-1234) or WWFF refs (DLFF-0001) out of the BOTA filter
• Filter as with POTA/SOTA: band, mode, program prefix
• Copy button + CAT QSY analogously

BOTA Map

• Bunker pins (shield icon, subtle gray-blue)
• DX pins with mode color
• B2B indicator in the sidebar row and info popup

Awards Tab

Sub-tab BOTA with stats:

• Activator bunkers (+ QSOs)
• Hunter bunkers (+ QSOs)
• Bunker-to-Bunker (B2B)
• Programs (unique country prefixes like DE, HB, F, PL, …)

ADIF Export

BOTA is exported standards-compliant per the WWBOTA ADIF guide (wwbota.net/adifguide) — with MY_SIG=WWBOTA + MY_SIG_INFO (or SIG/SIG_INFO for hunted bunkers):

<MY_SIG:6>WWBOTA <MY_SIG_INFO:8>B/DL-0123
<SIG:6>WWBOTA <SIG_INFO:8>B/G-1524

That way external loggers recognize BOTA QSOs correctly. In addition the app writes its own APP_HAMTOOLS_* fields so the re-import roundtrip is lossless — those are ignored by third-party software but do no harm.

Multi-Ref Split

Multiple bunkers in one session → the export writes one ADIF file per bunker, each with a single MY_SIG_INFO (filename scheme HB9HJI@B/DL-0123 20260518.adi). Bundled with MacADIF in the ADIFCore.OutdoorExporter library (like POTA/WWFF).

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

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

• "Export ADIF" writes a separate file set per ADIF program (conformant for wwbota.net / pota.app / wwff.co)
• With a SOTA ref, the "SOTA CSV…" button appears additionally (sotadata.org.uk requires CSV)

Details and example: POTA → Dual Program.

Known Limitations

• No open spots API — BOTA spots are filtered from the DX cluster and matched against the local DB
• Self-spotting / upload to wwbota.net not in the app yet

Comparison of the Four Award Programs

Aspect	POTA	SOTA	WWFF	BOTA
Activation from	10 QSOs	4 QSOs	44 QSOs	1 QSO
Refs	K-1234	HB/BE-001	DLFF-0001	B/DL-0123
Points	✗	1–10 + winter bonus	✗	✗
Data source	open API	open API	URL + file	open API (WWBOTA)
Spots	dedicated	dedicated	DX cluster filter	DX cluster + DB match
ADIF	standard	standard	standard	standard (MY_SIG=WWBOTA)