What is the Mad March Hare Event?
Descend headfirst into the curiously delicious and slightly bonkers world of the Mad March Hare this March, where calculators tremble in terror and every point you earn may or may not have been personally sniffed, poked, or enthusiastically glared at by a hare in the middle of a mild crisis, wearing a party hat and possibly watercress sandwiches. Expect random bonuses, improbable rules, and mild chaos at every turn. Grab your radios, mind your teacups, and hold onto your hats — it’s going to be gloriously unpredictable, delightfully ridiculous, and just a little bit hare-brained. If you’re already a bit confused… don’t worry, so are we, and frankly, that’s part of the fun.
Dates
The UKBOTA Mad March Hare event 2026 (MMH26) hops, skips, and tumbles throughout the entire month of March 2026. It was originally going to take place in April, but “Mad April Hare” sounded suspiciously like a rabbit with a calendar problem and in any case it was vetoed by the Easter Bunny, so March it is — more carrots, more chaos, and considerably fewer calendar-related existential crises.
Rules and Scoring
Participation
The event is open to anyone and everyone, even to hares.
Activators
Anyone with a valid amateur radio licence can activate (within the conditions of their licence) but only activations from bunkers on the UKBOTA Bunker List, as at 1st March 2026, are eligible.
Hunter and SWL
Anyone, anywhere, can take part as a hunter or SWL. Simply chase/hunt UKBOTA bunker activations and enjoy the chaos!
Activators
- Every activated UKBOTA bunker is worth 1 point, plus an additional 1 point bonus if it’s a Nightwatch or Dawnbuster activation. Note: Nightwatch and Dawnbuster can not be claimed on the same day.
- A valid activation is 25 QSO.
- No additional points for QSO on different bands or modes from the same bunker.
- No additional activator points for B2B QSO but the QSO does count for hunter points (see below)
- Every bunker activated with 100 valid QSO, or more, in the same activation (i.e. the same day) scores an additional point, a further point is scored for 200 valid QSO, in the same activation.
- Every day of March you activate a bunker with at least 25 QSO is worth 3 points (can only be claimed once each day)
- The activator can activate and score each bunker once in the month of March 2026. Other activators may activate the same bunker.
- Each UK region (G,GM,GW, GI, GD, GU and GJ) activated is worth 10 extra points (can only be claimed once in the month).
- Multi-bunker activations are permitted up to 5-fer.
Activator Example 1:
On 1st March, for your first activation of the day, you activate a single bunker: B/G-0371 and work 45 different stations between 1030 and 1200 utc.
Your score for the activation:
Base score: 1 point for each bunker (1)
Dawnbuster/Nightwatch bonus (0)
QSO Bonus (0)
Day Bonus (3) – your first MMH26 activation on 1st March 2026
Region Bonus (10) – your first MMH26 activation from England
Total points for the activation = 1 + 3 + 10 = 14
Activator Example 2:
On 3rd March, for your second activation of the day, you activate a 2-fer: B/G-1678 and B/G-1020 and work 107 different stations between 2000 and 2130 utc.
Your score for the activation:
Base score: 1 point for each bunker (2)
Dawnbuster/Nightwatch bonus (2) – Nightwatch
QSO Bonus (2)
Day Bonus (0) – it’s your second activation of the day
Region Bonus (0) – you already claimed the England bonus on 1st March 2026.
Total points for the activation = 2 + 2 + 2 = 6
🏆 Activator Award Tiers 🏆
Bronze: 10
Silver: 50
Gold: 100
Platinum: 200
Diamond: 400
Master: 700
Hunters and SWL
- Every UKBOTA bunker worked is worth 1 point, plus an additional 1 point bonus if it’s a Nightwatch or Dawnbuster activation. Note: Nightwatch and Dawnbuster can not be claimed on the same day.
- Each UKBOTA bunker can be worked multiple times, including on the same day, if with a different activator – additional QSO with the same bunker, on the same day, with the same activator but on a different band or mode do not score extra points. QSO with the same activator at the same bunker, but on a different day do not score additional points.
- Every day of March you hunt a UKBOTA bunker with at least 25 QSO is worth 3 points (can only be claimed once each day)
- Each UK region (G,GM,GW, GI, GD, GU and GJ) worked is worth 10 extra points (can only be claimed once in the month).
Hunter Example 1
On 1st March, you work 27 UKBOTA bunkers, 3 of them are before xxx and 2 after xxx utc. You worked bunkers in England, Wales and Scotland.
Your score for the day:
Base score: 1 point for each bunker (27)
Dawnbuster/Nightwatch bonuses (5)
Day Bonus (3)
Region Bonus (3 x 10 = 30) – England, Wales and Scotland
Total hunter points for the activation = 27 + 5 + 3 + 30 = 65
Hunter Example 2
On 4th March, you work 16 UKBOTA bunkers, 2 of them are before xxx and 0 after xxx utc. You worked bunkers in England, Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland (it is the first time you have worked a B/GI bunker during MMH26.
Your score for the day:
Base score: 1 point for each bunker (16)
Dawnbuster/Nightwatch bonuses (2)
Day Bonus (3)
Region Bonus (1 x 10 = 10) – Northern Ireland
Total hunter points for the day = 27 + 5 + 3 + 10 = 31
🏆 Hunter Award Tiers 🏆
Bronze: 25
Silver: 100
Gold: 200
Platinum: 400
Diamond: 600
Master: 1000
Random additional bonuses and sandwich fillings
The Mad March Hare isn’t just mad — he’s spectacularly, gloriously, hop-off-the-walls bonkers.
At completely unpredictable moments (and quite possibly during a heated argument with his own reflection), this mildly mal-adjusted mammal may suddenly announce a random and utterly ridiculous bonus. Will it be for activators? Hunters? Or perhaps in honour of his current favourite sandwich filling (which changes hourly)? Frankly… nobody knows. Least of all the hare. As his trusted friend the badger confirmed, shaking his head and hiding the cutlery, “There’s something not quite right with that hare.”
So keep your ears twitching, your eyes peeled (or maybe the other way round), and your radio warmed up. When the announcement comes, it will come without warning, logic, or any obvious connection to reality.
The hare has not been medicated, you’ve been warned!
Logging Activations, hunts and Claiming Awards
Activators
Activators are free to log however they wish – we strongly recommend using Ham2K PoLo or Station Master GO for portable logging. We request that all Activation ADI (adif) log files are uploaded to UKBOTA BunkerBase (using the Activator Dashboard on this site).
Hunters and Short Wave Listeners
If hunters are happy to rely on activator logs being uploaded they need to do nothing – their QSOs will be extracted from activator logs and your score will be calculated accordingly. However, hunters may also wish to manually record QSOs on the Bunkerbase Hunter dashboard, in this way you will get credit for every QSO (our system will deal with any duplicates from Activator Logs) and will also get real-time visibility of your current score and progress.
A ‘widget’ will be displayed on both Activator and Hunter Dashboards, on UKBOTA’s website giving current score and progress for all.
Claiming Awards
MMH26 Award eligibility is determined by your event score on UKBOTA Bunkerbase. An awards claim matrix will appear after the event through which you can apply for and download your award certificates. MMH26 Awards can not be claimed by email.
And Finally ...
If by now you think this all sounds wonderfully confusing and weird — perfect, the hare will be absolutely thrilled! Should events tumble into chaos or generally defy all sense, the hare is entirely, unquestionably, and gleefully to blame.
