HOTA - an awards programme that originated with the Bo-Karoo Amateur Radio Club in South Africa - has its origins as Heliographs on the Air. The original concept, credited to Jannie Smith, ZS3CM, was to encourage amateur radio operators to activate sites where members of the military once sent coded messages to the troops by reflecting sunlight off mirrors. Other club members soon expanded the programme’s scope to focus on a broader array of historical sites. What was renamed History on the Air soon morphed into Heritage on the Air, the programme as it is known today. Using a spreadsheet developed by Steve Brooks ZS3SB, activators and chasers alike keep track of their contacts and ultimately their cumulative score which they submit at the end of each year.

Organisers believe that the exercise offers a greater opportunity to learn about history, either by chasing, activating or proposing new sites for inclusion. Proposals are required to be well-researched applications that explain the historical significance of the location, which must be connected to war, telecommunications or general history. The sites must have a significance dating back at least 75 years.

As for modes, well, that’s a nod to history too: operators can use SSB, AM, FM CW and yes, even heliographs. Of course.