“Valleys on the Air” Program Created By Acrophobic Ham Operator

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By K5PO, on the scene

BANTON, Colo.
— Willie Wilcox, 56, of eastern Banton, is an avid outdoorsman and amateur radio operator. Willie was inspired by his daughter Wendy, also an ham, into creating a new on-the-air activity.

valleysontheair“Lately, Wendy has really gotten into a popular ham activity called ‘Summits on the Air’, or SOTA.” said Mr. Wilcox. “On these SOTA activations, she climbs way up into these mountains and works all kinds of stations. She sends me all these colorful photographs from some of Colorado’s highest peaks. Here is one from Pikes P..P…Peak,” Wilcox says with a fearful hesitation, as he shows me a picturesque scene he’s printed.

As much as Wilcox enjoys spending time with Wendy, he won’t be joining her on any SOTA activations anytime soon. Wilcox suffers from acrophobia, or a fear of heights, and the mere thought of Colorado’s high elevations makes sweat begin to bead up on his forehead.

“I’m proud of Wendy and her bravery, but I just can’t… whew… can’t do that!” said a worried Wilcox. “Last week she sent me a video of her operating on Bravado Pass and I fainted while watching it. But when I woke up, I had an idea. Why not flip this up! You see, I like to be low. I mean real low. So what about valleys? Why couldn’t we activate those too?”

With that, Mr. Wilcox founded  the “Valleys on the Air” program, or VOTA. “The lower you go, the more points. You can even earn extra by trying to activate areas that are underwater!” said Wilcox. He admits the VOTA program lacks some of the excitement of SOTA, and creates some unique challenges.

“In the valley, your signal just doesn’t get out. It took us three activations of the Plataria Ravine in Cavalara County to have a QSO. And in the end, the only way it worked was Wendy walked to the top of the hill with her HT and aimed her portable yagi down at me. I’m not sure if that even counts for QSO credit, frankly.” said Wilcox.

So far, the program hasn’t exactly risen to the top. “I’ve not got much website traffic yet,” said Wilcox, and no one has tried to activate any other valleys as far as he’s aware. Still, Wilcox is pressing on with the program, mentioning that a VLF activation of the Mariana Trench might just be the ticket to lift the program to new heights.

### www.hamhijinks.com

10 comments

  • How many points for activating death valley?

    • Depends of if you live or not?

  • one million!

  • This is great! I'm going to start working on my VLF antenna now. If only I can find enough wire.

  • Bravo! Great initiative. Here in West Virginia it is basically all mountains and valleys. Much easier to set up in a valley than to struggle to climb a mountain!! Now how exactly does the signal get out of these steep valleys?? Hi!

    • Nvis bounces off the ionosphere over your head and you can actually get out pretty good not necessarily oversees but you can certainly go a few hundred miles

  • As a member of Hotels On the AIr, I think this is a terrible idea. Valleys have the same problem that most summits have, which is to say a lack of amenities like room service and jacuzzis. The true ham spirit is best served in a hotel with an antenna hanging out the window and a cool drink with an umbrella sitting next to the microphone.

  • I like the way you think, KI4ZNV!

  • I've always thought that Traffic Islands On The Air (TIOTA) would be a great program, they are everywhere and those traffic islands located in high traffic areas that are very narrow would surely move up the most wanted list. Of course in some parts of the US, this program might be confused with a Japanese car of a similar name.

  • Myself and a handful of others have been saying it for a few years: White Castle’s On The Air – you activate, make 5 contacts, eat two sliders, and then you move on to the next one.

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