Rules & Scoring

Eligible tower definition

To be included in the TOTA programme, a structure must meet all five conditions:

1. Permanent structure fixed to the ground.
2. Man-made construction. Natural formations alone are not considered towers. An exception may apply where a natural feature includes a permanent viewing structure (e.g. a viewing platform, not merely a safety railing) intended for visitors.
3. Viewing function of the surrounding landscape.
4. Public accessibility permanently, seasonally, or occasionally.
5. Independent structure. Communication towers, radio masts, or water towers without a viewing platform are not considered towers.

Usually not eligible: natural viewpoints without construction, radio masts without viewing platform, water towers without viewing function, temporary structures. Some structures may be accepted after individual evaluation.

Basic rules

1. Contacts can be made on all amateur radio bands using any mode of operation.
2. To be valid for the award, the operator must transmit from the lookout tower or within a maximum distance of 200 metres from the tower (applies to activators).
3. Contacts made via active terrestrial repeaters are not allowed. Contacts via amateur satellites are permitted.
4. The QSO must include call sign, report, name, and QTH (it is recommended to give the name and reference of the lookout tower; not required in contests or when operating abroad). Name and QTH are not required in CW. However, the activator must include the lookout tower reference in the log submitted to the website.
5. Contacts with the same station may be repeated, but only from a different tower (the combination of Tower / Activator / Hunter must be unique).
6. Contacts from newly built towers are also valid, provided they are added to the official list of towers.
7. Activations of towers may be combined with other programmes such as WWFF, GMA, SOTA, POTA, BOTA, and others.

Recommended operating

• 2m calling frequency: 145.525 MHz
• 40m portable segments: 7.032 / 7.118 MHz
• CW: "CQ TOTA"
• SSB / FM: "Towers On The Air call" or "TOTA call"

Scoring

Activator

To qualify as a valid activation (for the Special diploma), the following minimum is required:

• VHF category: 3 valid QSOs
• HF category: 13 valid QSOs

• A contact from an activated lookout tower = 1 activation point (Sprint and Alltime diplomas)
• Multiple activations of the same tower are allowed, but scoring requires a unique combination of Tower / Activator / Hunter
• On VHF only, the requirement is a unique combination of Tower / Activator / Hunter / Band
• A unique activation counts towards the Special diploma (the number of different activated lookout towers)

Hunter

• 1 unique QSO (Tower / Activator / Hunter) = 1 point
• For the Special diploma: the number of hunted (worked) different lookout towers

Bonus contacts

• Contact with the diploma issuer OK2IH or pilot station "TOWER" OL1TWR = 5 points (activators and hunters)
• Tower-to-Tower contact = 3 points

Award categories

The diploma is awarded separately for HF and VHF in the following categories:

• Activator - person transmitting from the lookout tower
• Hunter - person calling the lookout tower

And in the following variants:

• Sprint - yearly points evaluation
• Alltime - overall points total (no time limit)
• Special - uniquely activated lookout towers

Activator thresholds

• Sprint: 50, 100, 200, 500 points per calendar year
• Alltime: 100, 200, 300, 500 points (no time limit)
• Special: 100, 200, 300, 500 towers activated

Hunter thresholds

• Sprint: 50, 100, 200, 500 points per calendar year
• Alltime: 100, 200, 300, 500 points (no time limit)
• Special: 100, 200, 300, 500 unique towers worked

Once a diploma worth 500 points is awarded in any category, new levels are added in multiples of 500.

R2R Awards - Tower to Tower

Granted for unique contacts between two different towers, where both operators are transmitting from a tower.

• Yearly (Sprint): Bronze 25, Silver 50, Gold 75 contacts
• Alltime: Bronze 50, Silver 100, Gold 200 contacts

Only unique tower-to-tower combinations are counted. All contacts must be properly logged in the TOTA system.

Tower reference scheme

Malaysian towers use the 9MT-#### reference format, consistent with the TOTA scheme:

• 9M - Malaysia ITU callsign prefix
• T - Towers (English, matching the Czech OKR and Slovak OMR pattern)
• #### - 4-digit sequential number (0001-0018)

See the towers list for each tower's reference number.

ADIF log format

The activator log must contain at least:

QSO_DATE      YYYYMMDD date when the QSO started
TIME_ON       HHMM or HHMMSS in UTC
BAND          QSO Band
MODE          QSO Mode
RST_SENT      signal report sent
RST_RCVD      signal report received
CALL          callsign of the other station
STATION_CALLSIGN   own callsign (used in QSO)
MY_SIG        my activity - TOTA
MY_SIG_INFO   my TOWER reference (e.g. 9MT-0001)

Optional fields:

SIG           activity of the other station (TOTA, WWFF, GMA, SOTA, BOTA, WCA, ...)
SIG_INFO      TOWER reference number of the other station (for Tower-to-Tower)
OPERATOR      operator callsign

For logging, Fast Log Entry (FLE v3) and PoLo (Portable Logger) have been tested using the POTA setting, which supports the TOTA reference format. The resulting .adi file can be imported directly.