All posts by Thomas Witherspoon

Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy

April 29, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 12 Comments

by Micah (N4MJL)

It’s not every day that I get the chance to do a POTA activation from the radio room of a battleship. But thanks to the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club, I was able to do a POTA activation of US-6831 from the radio room of (BB-55) USS North Carolina in Wilmington, NC.

If you would like the chance to be a guest radio operator for the BB-55, check out http://ac4rc.org to set up your activation.

The below-deck self-guided tour takes you through Radio Central. The radio room that the radio club utilizes can be seen from Radio Central; however, it is separated from public access by a clear plexiglass bulkhead door. Because the public can watch from the other side of the glass, be aware that it can be very noisy.

To make things more distracting, there is a loudspeaker in the radio room central playing pre-recorded Morse code for ambiance.

Radio Central is located a couple of floors down in the belly of the iron-armored beast, so be sure to schedule your activation on the POTA page. There is no cell phone reception below decks.

The radio club has an IC-756 Pro III available for use. I am not sure about the status of the other WWII vintage radios. I definitely recommend you bring your own key! They had a Bencher paddle thrown in the filing cabinet; it was not usable due to the contacts being bent way out of position. Fortunately, I brought my BaMakey TP-III key with me. If you are using a 3.5mm stereo plug, make sure to bring a 1/4” plug adapter for use with the IC-756 key/headset jacks.

The radio club has the IC-756 and external tuner hooked up to one of the battleship’s original long wire antennas. During the activation, I only operated on 20M. I did attempt to tune 17m and 15m, but I was unsuccessful in getting a match. However, that may have been operator error on my end since I was unfamiliar with the radio and that particular external tuner.

After a minute or so of calling CQ, the Reverse Beacon Network did its magic, and I was blown away by an insane pileup. I realized that I am used to operating QRP with somewhat compromised antennas. In sheer panic, I started looking to see how to turn the power down from 100 watts to, say, 2 watts!!!!

In that moment, I saw a vision of a seasoned Navy Radio OP sitting beside me. He reached over and smacked me on the back of my head and said, “Listen, kid, you’re not some hippie tree hugger operating QRP on some windswept mountaintop. You are operating from the battleship USS North Carolina. She has participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operation during WWII. Now stand tall, run full power, and work ’em all!”

With that old-school counseling session complete, I began to work the pileup. After being on the air for one hour and fifty-three minutes, I worked 67 stations, with two duplicates and one busted call sign (that I know about). Eventually, no one responded back to my CQ, and I sent “Last call fer POTA de N4MJL” twice. After no one responded to my second message, I quickly sent QRT and started breathing again!!!!!!

In addition to working SA4BLM from Sweden, one of the coolest contacts I got that day was from my dad, AC0UT, located in Missouri.

It’s not every ham that can say that their dad called them using CW while on a battleship.

CW actually runs in my family. I am a third-generation CW op. Continue reading Three Generations of CW Ops: Battleship North Carolina Activation and a Family Legacy →

News, Skills

Evacuation Packing: A Wildfire at Our Doorstep

April 27, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 19 Comments

by Thomas (K4SWL)

I want to start by saying: if you’ve tried contacting me by email lately, you’ve probably noticed I’m far behind. This winter and spring were always going to be busy, but Hurricane Helene increased everything by orders of magnitude. I’m struggling to keep up with correspondence, fitting in POTA activations, and finding free time. That said, I’m looking forward to taking a much-needed break for Four Days in May and Hamvention in a couple of weeks.

But that’s not the reason for this post. I wanted to share a little drama from our community this past week.

Forest Fire

April brought extremely dry weather to western North Carolina. In fact, much of this year we’ve been battling wildfires. Many of you have reached out after seeing the news — thank you. Until last week, the fires had stayed in other parts of our county or neighboring ones. Still, conditions have been perfect for fire: dry air, gusty winds, and an incredible amount of tree debris left behind after Helene.

On Monday, we drove to town to drop our daughters off at a class and run errands. Around 2:45 PM, just as I was about to pick them up, a neighbor called to tell me a wildfire had broken out on our road — just over a mile from our house. He didn’t have many details, only that firefighters were already on the scene thanks to an early alert from another neighbor.

Most of the family was with me, but Hazel, our sweet dog, was still at home. We raced back, hoping our road wouldn’t be closed.

From about 12 miles away on Interstate 40, we could already see plumes of smoke rising from our valley. It was a concerning sight. We also reached out to neighbors — many of whom were at home — to check in and share updates.

Fortunately, when we reached our road, one lane was still open for local traffic. Firefighters told us there were no immediate evacuation orders, but we needed to be ready.

Back at the house, we found Hazel peacefully sleeping through all the excitement — just as she did during Hurricane Helene. From the windows, we could clearly see smoke billowing from the nearby mountain.

Stage 1 Packing

Since January, my wife and I had discussed what we’d pack if a wildfire threatened. We spent about 15 minutes gathering:

Essential items: IDs, passports (most critical documents are already in a safety deposit box)
Hazel’s essentials
Laptops, tablets, phones, and backup drives
Important keepsakes like photos and our wedding certificate
My wife’s paintings
Clothes, toiletries, and medications for a few days

We were already in touch with Vlado (N3CZ). If we had to evacuate, we planned to go to his house instead of a hotel, so we packed accordingly.

There was no panic. Thanks to GMRS radios, we could share real-time updates with neighbors. (Side note: soon, our fire department will also be tied into our community GMRS system!)

Stage 2 Packing

After the essentials, we prepared “nice-to-have” items: radios, antennas, batteries, sentimental gear, and other things that would be difficult to replace. I also installed our Thule cargo box on the Subaru for extra space.

We packed essentials into the car and staged the rest inside for quick loading if needed.

Containment

By 6:00 PM, we heard the fire was about 50% contained — thanks to the quick, coordinated work of six or seven fire departments and the Forest Service, who were using Chinooks to drop water and bulldozing a fire break.

By 11:00 PM, the fire was fully contained, burning less than 20 acres in total. Rain moved into the area by 6:00 the next morning — our first real rain in ages — and thankfully continued for much of the week.

Lessons Learned

Western North Carolina usually has boring, predictable weather. Wildfires have always been extremely rare here — we’re in a humid subtropical and temperate zone, after all.

We are profoundly grateful to the firefighters and Forest Service who jumped on this fire early. Their swift action made all the difference. No homes were lost, and no personal property was damaged.

We were also pleased with how calmly and efficiently we packed. Our investment in GMRS radios really paid off, too — it kept communication open when it mattered most.

As for the cause of the fire? Frustratingly, it was completely preventable. A homeowner had burned brush and left it unattended for an extended time. When they returned, it had already spread into the forest. Hopefully, they learned a hard lesson (and will likely face a significant fine).

All’s well that ends well.

Radio Side Note

I’ve often wondered which radios I’d grab if I ever had to evacuate. Turns out, when it came time to act, there was no philosophical debate — I simply packed favorites, sentimental rigs, and anything difficult to replace.

After essentials were secured, I quickly packed radios into my favorite field backpacks. Fortunately, little QRP radios are easy to grab, and my shack was already organized.

Here’s what I packed:

All Elecraft radios (I also staged the KXPA100, but didn’t end up needing to unhook it)
All Mountain Toppers (MTR-3Bs and MTR-5B)
All Pennteks (TR-45L, TR-45L Skinny, and TR-35)
CFT1
Mission RGO One
Ten-Tec Argonaut VI

I also grabbed a few batteries and accessories like my RigExpert analyzer. Everything fit easily into my field packs — the vintage Swiss rucksack had impressive capacity!

You might wonder why I didn’t pack radios like my Yaesu FT-818ND, which I also love. I focused mainly on rarer, harder-to-replace gear. There are many more FT-817s and FT-818s floating around than there are Elecraft KX1s, Pennteks, Mountain Toppers, and Mission RGO Ones combined.

Moving Forward

We learned a lot. Here’s what we’ll do differently next time:

Prepare an empty storage box large enough to quickly hold essentials like laptops, backup drives, documents, and photos with a checklist and pencil inside.
Take Hazel with us, even on short trips, when wildfire conditions are high.
Set up a scanner to monitor fire communications in real-time (assuming they’re not encrypted).
Move even more documents and valuables into our safety deposit box.
Digitize more of our photo collection.

At the end of the day, we’re just so grateful: to the neighbors who spotted the fire early, to the fire departments who attacked it hard, and to the rain that gave our dry region a much-needed break.

If you’ve ever had to go through a process like this, I’m curious to hear what lessons you might have to share with us. Feel free to comment.

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, People, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

QRP with Friends: Brian (K3ES) Joins Me for a Two-Fer POTA Activation!

April 25, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 3 Comments

On the activator side of things, Parks On The Air is often a solitary pursuit for me. I typically squeeze in activations as my schedule allows—usually at random times during the day in parks that happen to be along my daily route.

But every once in a while, the stars align and I get the chance to activate with a friend. When that happens, it only amplifies the radio fun. Saturday, March 22, 2025, was one of those special days. My dear friend—and frequent field report contributor—Brian (K3ES), along with his amazing wife and photographer, Becky, stopped by Asheville en route to the Outer Banks.

I was so happy everything came together and we were able to meet up for a short, relaxed, and thoroughly enjoyable activation.

Two-Fer Time!

When out-of-state activators come through the area, I always try to offer them the option of a two-fer—activating two parks at once—to maximize their POTA opportunities. I’m not sure Brian had strong feelings about this either way, but it was simply too easy to pair the Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378) with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (US-8313). Since we were meeting at the Folk Art Center, all it took was picking the right picnic table near the MST.

In my rush to leave the QTH that morning, I realized halfway down the driveway that I’d forgotten to pack my antenna. I could’ve turned around, but I knew Brian would have a few antenna options stowed in his field kit—and of course, he did!

He chose to deploy a homebrew end-fed random wire with a 29.5’ radiator and 17’ counterpoise. We paired it with my Elecraft K1 transceiver–a radio I knew Brian had never operated.

The only drawback of this particular picnic table is its proximity to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. When deploying a wire antenna, you have to be careful not to obstruct the path for hikers. We positioned the wire in a near-vertical configuration above the table and kept the throw line tucked away on the opposite side from the trail.

We were also quite conspicuous—another reason I usually avoid this picnic table when activating solo. On a busy day, it’s not unusual to have a dozen people stop by to ask what you’re up to. It’s a great outreach opportunity, but a string of interruptions can make it difficult to complete exchanges—especially while sending CW. Sadly, my internal CPU isn’t optimized for multitasking!

Right to Left: Brian (K3ES) and Thomas (K4SWL)

But when there are two of you taking turns at the key, it works beautifully—one person can handle the questions while the other shows just how cool Morse code still is in the 21st century.

It was a fairly quiet day at the Folk Art Center, but one curious family did stop by to chat with us during Brian’s turn at the key—and I really enjoyed the interaction.

Gear

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Radio

Elecraft K1 (four band version with optional ATU and internal AA battery pack)

Key

Antenna and Throw Line

K3ES Homebrew 29.5′ End-Fed Random Wire with 17′ Counterpoise
15 ft RG-316 feedline with BNC male connectors at each end
Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag

Pack and Case

Logging Supplies

Battery

Bioenno 3 Ah LiFePo Battery (Model BLF-1203AB)

Camera/Audio Gear

DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod
DJI Wireless Microphones

On The Air

Brian kicked things off, knowing that band conditions had been flaky of late. He tuned up on 20 meters using the K1’s ATU and started calling CQ POTA. Continue reading QRP with Friends: Brian (K3ES) Joins Me for a Two-Fer POTA Activation! →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Videos

Philip’s Field Impressions of the Xiegu G106

April 24, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 5 Comments

Many thanks to Philip (KA4KOE) who shares the following report:

Xiegu G106 Report

by Philip (KA4KOE)

Recent developments and other drivers pushed me to purchase a Xiegu G106.

This radio has dropped significantly in price recently. I figured, “Why not?!” given the paltry sum Radioddity was asking.

I will not delve deeply into the technical aspects of this radio, as others have covered this subject in great detail. In my opinion, the G106 is a viable QRP radio and excels at CW and FT8. I also made contacts using SSB, but given the lack of speech processing, I found the effort, shall we say, challenging. The firmware on my particular radio is Version 1.3.

I checked the spectral purity using the panadapter on my Flex 6300. I realize the Flex is not a lab-quality instrument, but the serious spurs and other trash around the carrier, noted by others, on a 5-watt CW signal appear to be minimal now and compliant with current FCC regulations.

Some get all caught up in demanding the absolute best specifications, performance, looks, etc., or whatever you find important in your personal metrics for a radio. As an engineer, I approach this philosophy from a different mindset. Often, striving for those final few percentage points of improvement is only noticeable under the most stringent of band conditions. The situation is essentially a cost/benefits analysis. So, my personal rationale is “good enough.”

Indeed, the Xiegu G106 is “good enough” for QRP field activations, provided one also deploys a good antenna. Here’s an analogy: will a steel sledgehammer or solid gold one (ignore gold’s softness in this example), of the same mass, both do the same job? The answer is “yes.”

The only issue I have noted, as have others, is that the radio’s AGC recovery isn’t quite correct. Occasionally, the audio will “pop” when switching from transmit to receive. Hopefully, the G106 will improve if Xiegu issues firmware updates beyond Version 1.3. The radio doesn’t exhibit this annoying behavior every time one switches from TX to RX.

I recently activated US-2190, Magnolia Springs State Park, near Augusta, Georgia.

Band conditions degraded over the course of the day due to coronal holes present on the earthward-facing side of the sun. I did manage to make 25 CW and 8 SSB contacts on 40 and 20 meters using a sloping 40–10 meter N9SAB End Fed Half Wave, supported on one end from a 32’ carbon fiber pole. See the QSO map below:

Here’s my activation video:

Bottom line: I like the G106.

Thank you for your kind consideration and attention.

Philip Neidlinger, PE

KA4KOE

Gailey (WV2P) and Frank (NM9X), pictured above, also accompanied me on this activation.

Check out their QSL cars below:

Field Radio Kits, News, Portable, QRP

Field Radio Kit Gallery: KO6BYB’s Compact Watertight Elecraft KX2 Kit

April 22, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 5 Comments

Many thanks to Cameron (KO6BYB), for sharing 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.

Elecraft KX2 Field Kit

by Cameron (KO6BYB)

I wanted to share a tiny KX2 kit I made to fit the Seahorse SE56 (QRPer affiliate link) case. Just upgraded to my General and finally got the HF transceiver of my dreams. Haven’t made it out to the field since I got it last weekend, but I had some spare time (that I should have been sleeping) and whipped this up. Fits basically a whole station in the case:

Components:

Seahorse SE56 watertight case
Elecraft KX2
KXPD2 paddles
Microphone
KXBT2 Battery
AX2 antenna + 40m extender
Ground wire
Pen

If you’re only going to do CW, maybe there’s something clever to put in the place of the mic, but I am still working on my Morse. Slowly but surely.

Inserts can be downloaded on Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7010681

Articles, Field Reports, Guest Posts, Mobile, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SOTA, Travel

From the Badlands to Mesa Verde: QRP Across America’s National Parks

April 21, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 18 Comments

Activating on the Road: National Parks

by Brian (K3ES)

This article continues my series from our 2024 road trip across the United States (Six Weeks and 7300 Miles: Activating on the Road). I hope to wrap up the series with one last article soon. In this report, I will cover the six National Parks (NPs) that we visited during our trip. I activated five of them for the Parks on the Air (POTA) program using CW mode at 5 watts. A previous report on Stealth Activating with the KX1 Antenna System provided activation details for three of the parks (Badlands NP, Yellowstone NP, and Grand Canyon NP), so I will not reproduce activation details here, but I will include more of Becky’s pictures.

Each of these NPs is spectacular in its own right, and also distinctly different from each of the others. We were able to see some of the sights, but by no means had enough time to do them justice. In fact, as we completed our drive through Yellowstone NP, Becky and I committed ourselves to going back again and spending much more time to see its wonders.

As I reflect on our visits to NPs on our trip, it occurs to me how beneficial it was to buy an Annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass before we left on our trip.

The pass costs $80 for a year, and generally covers the admission of one vehicle and its occupants. We were able to save on admission costs several times over, making this one of the best NP values going. Having now completed 62 trips around the sun, when we next visit NPs, I am eligible for an even better value, the $80 Senior Lifetime America the Beautiful Pass.

Badlands NP

The first NP we visited on our trip was Badlands NP in South Dakota. We spent a couple of nights and days based nearby in the town of Wall, so we were able to take two drives through the park. There is a stark transition from rolling plateau north of the park to the spectacular peaks and canyons of the badlands. Rapid erosion has been shaping the terrain for about 500,000 years with the Cheyenne and White Rivers cutting their way through the terrain. The resulting landscape is both beautiful and severe.

While visiting the park, we were privileged to see a variety of wildlife. We saw a number of bison, ranging from small herds grazing in fields along the road, to an individualist who took a liking to the taste of grass beside one of the overlook parking areas. There were also bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope wandering other parts of the park. There was abundant bird life, from a disoriented prairie chicken that accepted water from concerned visitors, to birds of prey soaring high above. Becky particularly enjoyed the frenetic activity of the residents of Roberts Prairie Dog Town.

This bison had no problem napping in the middle of the Prairie Dog Town

This prairie chicken appreciated shade and water in the parking lot

During our visit, we stopped at an overlook parking area for Becky to take pictures of the spectacular scenery, including the aforementioned bison. While she was doing this, I took the opportunity to do a stealth activation of the park, which is documented in an earlier Field Report here on QRPer.com, linked as K3ES: Stealth activating with the AX1 Antenna System.

I managed to catch the photographer in action during a lull in my activation

Of course, Becky caught me in action, too

Yellowstone NP

We knew when planning our trip, that we would not have time for a proper visit to Yellowstone NP. In fact, we intended to hold off on visiting until we had time for a dedicated trip. But throughout our drive, Becky kept searching the available maps for opportunities and possibilities. As we traveled through Montana, she noticed that we could fit in an abbreviated trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs if we adjusted our route. Consequently, we found ourselves spending the next night in Gardiner, MT, just outside the north entrance to the park. Continue reading From the Badlands to Mesa Verde: QRP Across America’s National Parks →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, QRP Radios, Videos

First Field Outing with My New-to-Me Elecraft K1!

April 18, 2025 Thomas Witherspoon 4 Comments

In the chaos of the past two months, I managed to post a few field reports out of chronological order. I’m probably the only one who notices—these aren’t sequential stories, after all—but since I was there for each activation, it feels odd when the timeline’s off.

Case in point: you might recall this recent post where I shared how I finally landed an Elecraft K1 field-portable transceiver. I’d been hunting for a K1 for years, so I was thrilled when this one popped up locally in North Carolina.

Last month, I published this field report where I paired the K1 with my AX1 antenna for a low-profile (but high-performance) activation in Pisgah National Forest.

But here’s the thing: that was actually my second activation with the venerable K1. The first one? It took place along the Blue Ridge Parkway on February 24, 2025.

Taking the K1 to the Field!

It’s always exciting to take a new radio to the field—especially one I’d been chasing for so long. I purchased the K1 back in August of last year. As soon as it arrived, I tested it and realized it was in serious need of alignment.

I brought it over to my friend Vlado (N3CZ), hoping to use his signal generator to sort it out. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time that day, so I left the rig at his QTH. Then Hurricane Helene hit, and… well, suddenly it was 2025.

We finally got around to the alignment in February. As soon as it was dialed in, I hit the field.

Blue Ridge Parkway (US-3378)

I made my way to a familiar spot along the Blue Ridge Parkway—the Folk Art Center—and set up the K1.

Mine is a four-bander (40, 30, 20, and 15 meters) with both the optional internal ATU and AA battery pack. To give the internal tuner a little workout, I paired it with my trusty Tufteln 9:1 End-Fed Random Wire antenna.

Once deployed, I hit the ATU button, and the K1 quickly found a solid 1:1 match. With logs at the ready, it was time to hit the airwaves!