LLOTA — Lakes and Lagoons On The Air

LLOTA module

Activation of lakes, lagoons and reservoirs under the LLOTA program (llota.app) — the POTA alternative for bodies of water, launched in 2026 from Chile. Structurally parallel to POTA/SOTA/WWFF/BOTA — Activator/Hunter, worldwide lakes DB, its own live spots feed, map, awards.

Quick Overview

• Activator / Hunter modes with multi-lake hopping
• Lake auto-complete from the worldwide LLOTA database (~6,500 refs)
• L2L detection (Lake-to-Lake)
• LLOTA spots feed: live from the dedicated llota.app spots API (unlike BOTA, which filters from the DX cluster)
• LLOTA Map with wave pins + DX pins + lines
• LLOTA awards with Activator/Hunter counter, L2L + programs

Data Source: llota.app

LLOTA in HAM-Tools follows the global LLOTA program:

• Source: public LLOTA reference list via https://llota.app/api/public/references?version=lite — ~6,500 lakes worldwide.
• Automatic download: on first launch or on demand. 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

LLOTA references follow the scheme XX-NNNN — an ISO country/program prefix followed by a four- to five-digit number (no global prefix like BOTA's):

CH-0001   (Switzerland)
CL-0042   (Chile)
US-12345  (USA)

Activate within 200 m of the shore (or over the water, e.g. from a bridge). All bands/modes (SSB, CW, digi/FT8, FM simplex), hunting from anywhere.

Creating an LLOTA Session

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

Logging a QSO

• Status bar with lake ref + country
• Their Lake field with DB lookup for L2L
• Enter saves directly
• 10/10 counter: 10 QSOs/day activate a lake (llota.app rule)
• Dupe marking like in the other programs

LLOTA Spots Tab

Unlike BOTA, LLOTA runs its own spots API (comparable to pota.app):

• Live feed from https://llota.app/api/public/spots, auto-refresh every 2 minutes + a manual "Refresh" button
• QRT-marked spots are hidden
• Filter as with POTA/SOTA: band, mode, program prefix
• Copy button + CAT QSY analogously

LLOTA Map

• Lake pins (wave icon, water teal)
• DX pins with mode color
• L2L indicator in the sidebar row and info popup

Awards Tab

Sub-tab LLOTA with stats:

• Activator lakes (+ QSOs)
• Hunter lakes (+ QSOs)
• Lake-to-Lake (L2L)
• Programs (unique country prefixes like CH, CL, US, …)

ADIF Export

LLOTA is exported standards-compliant — with MY_SIG=LLOTA + MY_SIG_INFO (or SIG/SIG_INFO for hunted lakes). The convention is verified against Ham2K PoLo and llota.app:

<MY_SIG:5>LLOTA <MY_SIG_INFO:7>CH-0001
<SIG:5>LLOTA <SIG_INFO:7>CL-0042

That way external loggers recognize LLOTA QSOs correctly. In addition the app writes MY_LLOTA_REF/LLOTA_REF (PoLo interop) and its own APP_HAMTOOLS_* fields for a lossless re-import roundtrip.

Multi-Ref Split

Multiple lakes in one session → the export writes one ADIF file per lake, each with a single MY_SIG_INFO (filename scheme HB9HJI@CH-0001 20260613.adi), bundled with MacADIF in the ADIFCore.OutdoorExporter library (like POTA/WWFF/BOTA).

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

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

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

Details and example: POTA → Dual Program.

Known Limitations

• Self-spotting / upload to llota.app not in the app yet — LLOTA logs are uploaded to llota.app manually via ADIF export

Comparison of the Five Award Programs

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