The goal of the Grids On The Air programme is for licensed amateur radio operators worldwide to establish two-way communication (QSOs) with, or for Shortwave Listeners – SWLs – to hear, as many gridsquares as possible as defined by the Maidenhead Locator System, and participate in Leaderboards and/or Awards as issued by GOTA.

There is no fee charged for participation in the GOTA programme.

Only QSOs made or heard after 1 January 2025 qualify for GOTA.

QSOs must be in PHONE (SSB, AM or FM) or CW, using the internationally recognised HF amateur radio bands 160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m.

Qualifying grids for GOTA consist of the Field and Square using the Maidenhead Locator System; that is, they consist of two letters (eg JO) and two numbers (eg 25), and the resulting grid square (in this example JO25) should be entered in the Gridsquare field of the log to be uploaded in ADIF form. If the full, six-character locator is entered, the software will automatically edit it to the required four-character format. There are 32,400 such gridsquares worldwide.

Participating operators first need to register on the GOTA website under Join at https://gridsontheair.com and verify their email address, which will not be used for any other purpose. Registering on the GOTA website explicitly confirms acceptance of these GOTA Rules.

To participate in the GOTA programme Leaderboards and eventually qualify for Awards, operators will need to upload their logs in ADIF format (.adi or .adif) using the Submit Logs feature on the website. Note: all QSOs before 1 January 2025 will be discarded and all qualifying QSOs will be tracked, regardless of whether they are confirmed or not. GOTA relies on the honour system and the tradition of Ham Spirit when calculating the Leaderboards.

In the event of any dispute, the decision of the GOTA Management Committee will be final.