Happy Thanksgiving!

Here in the States, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving today. It’s my favorite holiday because it’s all about giving thanks and spending time with friends. family, and (of course) eating some amazing food.

In the spirit of gratitude, I’d like to thank all of you for making what I do here on QRPer.com and YouTube possible.

I’ll admit that I get a real thrill out of sharing what I learn and even taking you along on my various field activations in videos and field reports.

It’s funny, but I’ve made activation videos long enough now that the camera feels more like a companion–with you there at my side–as I enjoy field activations. In the early days, I used to cringe a bit with each video I posted. I knew they weren’t polished, they weren’t edited, and they certainly weren’t ever going to be mainstream on YouTube (and I’m 100% fine with that). Typical YouTube viewers don’t care to watch videos that happen in real time without editing.

In the beginning, I thought I’d be laughed off of YouTube (and I was prepared to face that) but instead, it’s been completely the opposite. I receive kind comments from subscribers on a daily basis and I appreciate each and every one.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m happy if I even play a small positive role in someone’s radio journey.

Back in 2008 when I put QRPer.com on the web, it was always my intention to make it a space to share everyone’s radio journey, not just mine alone. That’s the reason I chose the name QRPer instead of my callsign for the website.

I strongly believe that radio enthusiasm is infectious and we’re all radio ambassadors when we put ourselves out there in a positive and encouraging way. The contributors and guest posts here on QRPer have proven this over and over again. I’ve learned so much from you and I’m most grateful. Thank you.

Grateful…

Again, thank you dear readers for making QRPer.com such a welcoming community. This is a true labor of love, and it’s an honor to serve it up to you!

I’d especially like to thank our Patrons, Producers, Executive Producers and Coffee Fund contributors. Your financial support helps keep this a dynamic radio space over the long haul!

Happy Thanksgiving!

13 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving!”

  1. Thomas, Thank you for your prodigious amount of work and the quality of your presentations. They are frequent sources of both distraction and great education. Always good to see a new post. God Bless you and your family.

  2. Have a great Thanksgiving day and yes we should give thanks for our families and friends and our faith. Enjoy the day and time spent together. Thank you, for all your blog articles and your amazing videos. You are an inspiration to many of us out here in POTA/SOTA land!! (especially us newbies)

    God Bless
    Fr Richard
    wb8yxf.com

  3. Happy Thanksgiving Thomas. I appreciate you sharing your adventures with us. I also appreciate that you are willing to share some of my content on your website. I feel we share the same philosophy. I’m not after big numbers, just trying to help other hams have fun. Cheers.

  4. Thomas,

    Thanks for all you do. You show us couch potatoes (and radio shack sloths) that we could actually do what you do if we only try.

    This summer our club publicity director sent out a notice that next Tuesday we would have our project night in the local park (bordering on Grand Traverse Bay where there used to be a coal fired power plant). That was with 3 days notice! So on Tuesday night we had 4 stations from 40 meters up to satellite attempts and had a ball. It took me less than an hour to throw my stuff in the car and 30 minutes to set up an antenna and rig. So we all showed ourselves we could do it.

    So, Couch Potatoes UNITE and get out in the world and play radio. We can do it!

    Dave K8WPE

  5. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and friends Thomas! I really appreciate (and I am thankful) being invited along with you on your adventures. Your knowledgeable yet humble approach to this wonderful hobby is an inspiration in so many ways. I Look forward to catching up with you on the air again soon.

    Don, KD5REW

  6. Happy Thanksgiving Thomas to you and your family. Your videos have definitely been and inspiration to me and I thank you very much for that. 73!

  7. Happy Thanksgiving Thomas to you and your family. Many thanks for all the great qrp stories on this page as I enjoy all of them. God Bless and take care!

    Dave KN4OK

  8. Happy Thanksgiving Tom. I am thankful for what you do for the ham community. Sorry you missed being in the Asheville Radio Museum holiday photo. Hope to see you soon.
    Ron ? WB4OQL

  9. Thanks, Thomas for continuing promote, inspire and just add so much to this great hobby! I read so many comments stating it was your videos that inspired them to get on the air with CW, and you know I was one of them.

    Enjoy this great holiday with your family and always looking forward to our next QSO! 73 for now.

    Michael – N7CCD

  10. Nearly every morning I welcome you into my home and read the daily blog entry. Thank you. Thanks for what you do. Thanks for how you do it. POTA ON! K7AOZ CN84lx

  11. Thank you for your excellent videos and posts. Being an avid QRPer since 1974, I love all of the info on portable antennas and am amazed by some of the new technology that you share! A true inspiration for me to get back out there .

    Fr. John
    WI2C

  12. Happy holiday, everyone.

    Thomas, your videos are a great contrast to the typical You Tube ham radio videos. Often younger and less experienced guys, typically strong-ish production values, gratuitous music beds, and lots of stumbles on things they should know, especially during reviews (‘this button is marked “NB”, which I think means, errr… noise balancer…’). Oh, and shock-jock, click-bait thumbnails.

    I appreciate them taking the time and effort, do sometimes get useful info, and suspect they will “grow into” the content part. But, at least for ham radio topics, content is king, and flash is trash 🙂

    IMHO…

    Kevin

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