WCA — Castles On The Air (World Castles Award)

WCA module

Activation of castles, palaces and fortresses under the World Castles Award / COTA. Structurally parallel to POTA/SOTA/WWFF/BOTA/LLOTA — Activator/Hunter, worldwide castle DB, live spots from the DX cluster, map, awards.

Quick Overview

• Activator / Hunter modes with multi-castle hopping
• Castle auto-complete from the worldwide castle database (~20,500 refs)
• C2C detection (Castle-to-Castle)
• WCA spots feed: filtered from the DX cluster, matched against the local castle DB (the pattern alone would catch POTA refs)
• WCA Map with castle pins (columns icon) + DX pins + lines
• WCA awards with Activator/Hunter counter, C2C + programs

Data Source: WCA / GMA

The castle data comes from the machine-readable GMA castle database:

• Source: cqgma.org (gmamap/load_cota.php) — ~20,500 castles worldwide (~250 of them in Switzerland). Included: the global WCA code, the national COTA code, coordinates and locator.
• Bundle snapshot: the DB ships as a snapshot in the app bundle and is available immediately — no auto-download (the source has no clean bulk endpoint; updates ship with the next app release).
• Storage: local SQLite under ~/Documents/HAM-Tools/Cache/.
• CSV import as an override for your own / more recent lists under Settings → Data.

Ref Format

The primary key is the global WCA code <DXCC>-NNNNN (relevant for the award submission); the national COTA code is carried as an extra:

HB-00003   WCA code (Switzerland)   ·  COTA  DCS-AG003
DL-05412   WCA code (Germany)
45-125     WCA code (Monaco, legacy 3-digit)

Most WCA codes are 5 digits; some legacy entries are shorter. The COTA code (e.g. DCS-AG003, DCI-AR140) is national and is looked up from the DB for display in the app.

Creating a WCA Session

1. Settings → Data → WCA Reference Database — the bundle snapshot is active immediately; a CSV import as an override is optionally possible
2. Top bar → New Log → WCA Session → wizard
3. Pick Activator / Hunter
4. Your own castle (Activator) with auto-complete (name or WCA code, e.g. HB-)
5. Optional: hopping castles as a comma list

Logging a QSO

• Status bar with castle ref + name
• Their Castle field with DB lookup for C2C
• Enter saves directly
• Dupe marking like in the other programs

Activation rule

The WCA rule requires ≥ 50 QSOs per castle (and activation ≤ 1 km from the castle). The app shows this as a hint/counter — there is no hard block.

WCA Spots Tab

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

• Pattern detection [A-Z0-9]{1,4}-\d{3,5} in the spot comment
• Additionally each match is checked against the local castle DB — only refs actually on file count. This is the key protection against POTA confusion (POTA DL-0001 4-digit vs WCA DL-00001 5-digit)
• Filter as with BOTA: band, mode, program prefix
• Copy button + CAT QSY analogously
• Bonus: the GMA cluster cqgma.org:7300 additionally carries COTA spots — can be configured as another cluster node in the pool

WCA Map

• Castle pins (columns icon building.columns, burgundy tone)
• DX pins with mode color
• C2C indicator in the sidebar row and info popup

Awards Tab

Sub-tab WCA with stats:

• Activator castles (+ QSOs)
• Hunter castles (+ QSOs)
• Castle-to-Castle (C2C)
• Programs (unique country prefixes like DL, HB, F, OK, …)

ADIF Export

WCA is exported with MY_SIG=WCA + MY_SIG_INFO (or SIG/SIG_INFO for hunted castles) — the de-facto convention for the WCA award submission by mail:

<MY_SIG:3>WCA <MY_SIG_INFO:8>HB-00003 <MY_WCA_REF:8>HB-00003

In addition the app writes its own APP_HAMTOOLS_* fields for a lossless re-import roundtrip — third-party software ignores them.

Multi-Ref Split

Multiple castles in one session → the export writes one ADIF file per castle, each with a single MY_SIG_INFO (filename scheme HB9HJI@HB-00003 20260615.adi). Bundled via the ADIFCore.OutdoorExporter library (like POTA/WWFF/BOTA/LLOTA).

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

Castles often sit inside a POTA park or WWFF area. When creating a session (activator), the WCA wizard offers optional cross-ref fields for the other programs — every logged QSO is then tagged for all of them:

• "Export ADIF" writes a separate file set per ADIF program
• With a SOTA ref, the "SOTA CSV…" button appears additionally

Details and example: POTA → Dual Program.

Known Limitations

• No open spots API — WCA spots are filtered from the DX cluster and matched against the local DB
• Self-spotting / upload not in the app yet (submission via mail ADIF)
• The WCA cross-ref section is (for now) only in the WCA wizard itself — to additionally tag an existing POTA/SOTA/WWFF/BOTA/LLOTA session as WCA, use "Edit cross-refs" (pencil button) on the log

Comparison of the Six Award Programs

Aspect	POTA	SOTA	WWFF	BOTA	LLOTA	WCA
Activation from	10 QSOs	4 QSOs	44 QSOs	1 QSO	10 QSOs	50 QSOs*
Refs	K-1234	HB/BE-001	DLFF-0001	B/DL-0123	CL-0001	HB-00003
Points	✗	1–10 + winter bonus	✗	✗	✗	✗
Data source	open API	open API	URL + file	open API	open API	GMA bundle
Spots	dedicated	dedicated	DX cluster filter	DX + DB match	dedicated	DX + DB match
ADIF	standard	standard	standard	MY_SIG=WWBOTA	MY_SIG=LLOTA	MY_SIG=WCA

* hint/counter, no hard block.