by Thomas (K4SWL) On Monday, December 1, 2025, I managed to squeeze in a last-minute, impromptu--and very speedy--activation of the North Carolina Transportation Museum State Historic Site. It was a short activation, but one that perfectly demonstrates why I value having a radio as compact, self-contained, and quick to deploy as the Elecraft KH1. This activation came on the heels of the Thanksgiving break here in the Witherspoon household.

by Adam (KD9ZAB) Last Saturday (December 20, 2025) was one of those activations that remind you why QRP is addictive. I activated US-1788 for Parks on the Air and W0M/SF-001 for Summits on the Air from Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, running my Elecraft KX2 at 10 watts QRP into a very compromised AX2 antenna. No tower. No beam. No perfect ground.

by Thomas (K4SWL) It’s Christmas Eve as I write this, sipping my first cup of morning coffee, the house is still quiet, and I’ve had a few thoughts on my mind that I’d like to explore--if you’ll indulge me for a moment. One of the things I love most about QRP is how naturally it encourages me to slow down and be present in the moment.

While Scott (VA3EKR) was visiting western North Carolina, we decided that Monday, November 17, 2025, would be devoted entirely to a three‑park POTA rove. Our first stop was Lake James State Park (you can read that field report here). From there we moved on to the Table Rock Fish Hatchery (field report here). The final--and very satisfying--stop of the day was South Mountain State Park (US-2753).

A Warthog and a Rhino by Bryce (KD9YEY) Winter has settled firmly over Indiana. As the temperatures drop and daylight fades, most people retreat indoors to enjoy the cozy activities neglected during warmer months. For this crew of two, however, winter presents the perfect opportunity to get outside and activate for Parks on the Air (POTA). My POTA partner, W9NVY, and I (KD9YEY) have one glaring gap in our POTA accomplishments: we have yet to earn any of the Rover Awards.

A Long Kilo on the North Country Trail by Brian (K3ES) The North Country Trail (NCT), US-4239, is the longest National Scenic Trail in America.  It stretches 4800 miles across eight states, from Lake Sakakawea State Park in North Dakota to its intersection with the Appalachian Trail at Willard Gap in Vermont.  My first Parks on the Air (POTA) contacts along the NCT came by accident. 

Yesterday, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, I managed to squeeze in a very impromptu Summits on the Air activation. My wife and I had been away from the QTH for nearly two weeks. One of those weeks was spent on the coast of North Carolina in Carolina Beach with our daughters, enjoying some much-needed family relaxation time. Yesterday morning, we packed up and started the drive home, which takes about six hours.

On Monday, November 17, 2025, Scott (VA3EKR) and I decided to do a small POTA rove in western North Carolina. Our first stop was Lake James State Park (you can read that field report here). As I mentioned in that post, we truly couldn’t have picked a more beautiful day for these activations. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was just about perfect.

Many thanks to Paolo (K1PAP) for sharing the following field report--a follow-up to this one--which was also published on his blog: Second Attempt to Activate SOTA for the First Time by Paolo (K1PAP) Well, 2nd time lucky! As always, I will start with the thank-yous! This time, a huge thank-you goes to Mike K6STR and his wife, Lorene W6LOR, for their guidance, education, and encouragement!

On Monday, November 17, 2025, my buddy Scott (VA3EKR) was still visiting us here in Western North Carolina. You might recall that the previous Friday, Scott, Vlado (N3CZ), and I activated Dogback Mountain together. After that activation, Scott and I plotted out a full day of Parks on the Air for Monday. Vlado would have joined us, but he had a full workday ahead of him, so this one would just be Scott and me.

Many thanks to Paolo (K1PAP) for sharing this very honest and thoughtful field report from what was meant to be his first SOTA activation. I especially appreciate Paolo’s willingness to be so open about a non-ideal situation — one that could have become serious very quickly — and to share it publicly so others can learn from the experience. It takes real courage to put yourself out there like this, and his motivation is clearly rooted in helping fellow activators think, prepare, and plan more carefully for their own outings.

Many thanks to Adam (K2CAT), who recently reached out to let me know about a new iOS/macOS app he’s developed for amateur radio operators called QRV. Adam designed QRV as a sort of Swiss Army Knife app for operating, with a strong emphasis on mobile and field use — quick in, quick out, and all the information you typically need in one place.

Many thanks to everyone who ordered this year’s QRPer.com calendar — 53 copies have already shipped out! Unfortunately, Zazzle has now removed the calendar from their marketplace after flagging one of my photos for a supposed trademark issue. Just to be clear: there was no violation on my part. My calendar design and field photos are fully compliant with their content guidelines.

Many thanks to Joel (KR4GEL) who reached out to me over email with the following question. He's very kindly allowing me to share it here on QRPer.com so the wider community might share advice that could help him on his CW journey: Hi Thomas, I need your advice please. I am trying to learn CW and increase my speed simultaneously. I was going to use the Long Island CW club, however, I do not own a computer and their program does not work on an iPad.

Many thanks to Jonathan (KM4CFT) who notes that his new straight key kit is now available for purchase at HamGadgets. Here's the description: Straight Key KIT, easy to build and FUN to use, very lightweight (1.3 oz). with embedded rubber strips on the bottom to hold better on smooth surfaces or just hold in your hand for POTA or SOTA use.

On Friday, November 14, 2025, my friend Scott, VA3EKR (a.k.a. KK7TMS State side), was visiting western North Carolina during his travels. He had contacted me ahead of time, asking if we could meet up for some field radio, and--because he happened to choose a week that was strangely wide open for me--I jumped at the opportunity. Scott’s a good friend, and I knew it’d be fun to get some time together playing radio in the field.

by Thomas (K4SWL) The FCC just handed us a new gift, and we're keeping the one we already had, too. Keep in mind, this is my interpretation of the following FCC Report and Order FCC 25-60, released December 9, 2025 (click here to read the full PDF copy). Please correct me if you discover any of these points are inaccurate.

Many thanks to a number of you who have reached out to share some unfortunate news about POTA sites in Virginia that have been removed from the POTA network. This news was posted by Sean Pyne (W4BKR) who is the mapping coordinator for Virginia for Parks On The Air. He shared the following on Facebook: Hey POTA folks—your friendly Virginia Map Guy checking in.

by Dale (N3HXZ) In the spring and autumn, there is a Trans-Atlantic SOTA summit-to-summit event. The autumn event was held on November 1-2, 2025. This event is open to all amateur radio operators and focuses on summit activating and chasing  ‘across the pond’. Making summit-to-summit contacts is emphasized, but all chasers are welcome. A few of the SOTA activators in the W3 region coordinated activations at two summits for the first day of the event.

Please note that a version of the following post was originally published on the SOTA Reflector: My first JA activation - JA/KN-022 by George (M1GEO) A word of caution: this is more of a set of notes on what I did and how you may do similar, and less of an operating report, though there are some notes on operating toward the end.

I recently received a note from Ben Lloyd (GW4BML), who let me know about his newly published book, Summit of Dreams. While I haven’t read it myself, I’m always happy to help share projects from within the field radio community. Here’s how Ben describes Summit of Dreams: Summit of Dreams is no ordinary tale of mountains climbed and miles endured.

I was recently invited onto Techtonic, the weekly technology program on WFMU, hosted by Mark Hurst. If you’ve never listened to Techtonic, I encourage you to check it out—it’s one of the most thoughtful shows out there about how technology shapes our lives and communities. Techtonic homepage Episode featuring our conversation  Mark’s blog post about the episode Mark invited me to talk about amateur radio and its role after Hurricane Helene.

Many thanks to Dan (NM3A) who shares the following article about his portable field radio kit which will be featured on our Field Kit Gallery page. If you would like to share your field kit with the QRPer community, read this post. Dan writes: SOTA (tr)uSDX Field Go Kit by Dan (NM3A) Effective Field Go Kits vary from the “everything from my shack to the back of my truck” monstrosity to K6ARK’s ultra small Pixie style transceiver and wire of less than 2 ounces.

Dear QRPer family, First and foremost, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the outpouring of kindness following Hazel’s passing last week. Your comments, messages, stories, and virtual hugs brought such comfort to our family. Reading your words reminded me how this community extends far beyond radio—it’s a circle of genuine care. Thank you so much. On a brighter note, I’m thrilled to share that your support for…

Friends, This has been a difficult week, and it’s taken me until now to share this with you. My sweet furry companion and POTA/SOTA dog, Hazel, passed away last Friday. If you want to know what happened, keep reading--and please forgive me in advance for this diversion from our normal content. I consider everyone here part of my radio family--you are my support community--and I know how many of you loved Hazel because you sent her letters and treats and regularly passed along greetings in CW exchanges.