Beaches On The Air (BOTA)

[IK0ZCW]

Beaches On The Air (BOTA) is an award scheme for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation from beaches. There are awards for activators (those who operate from the beaches) and chasers (those who contact activators from home or elsewhere). BOTA can be operated from any country or region across the world. Each country or region may have its own manager, who, among other things, co-operates in the preparation of the list of recognised beaches within that country or region, which must be approved by the central BOTA management team.

Activators and chasers accumulate points with each QSO. For activators, the total score is calculated by adding the square root of the number of QSOs made in each different activation. For chasers, the schore is calculated by adding the number of activations in which they have participated. Unlike in other programmes, activators can activate, and chasers can chase, the same beach as many times as they wish and they will always earn additional points for an extra QSO. The square-root rule, however, encourages the diversification of dates and beaches. Unlike other programmes too, Beaches On The Air does not put any restriction on how you get to the activation point or on the power source you use for your activation. It encourages energy efficiency, however, by creating a special category for QRP operations.

There are several rolls of honour, as well as certificates available for various scores, both for activators and chasers.

https://www.beachesontheair.com/