Category Archives: Funny

Another Feline Fan!

Many thanks to Steve (VA3FLF) who shares the photo above and notes:

Even kittens read QRPer!!

Her name is Jolene, Jojo for short. We have had her about 3 weeks and she is a Devon Rex. She is a very inquisitive kitten already.

Well we think she is on the track track if she’s interested in QRP! We have a history of felines who enjoy field radio. Thank you so much for sharing, Steve! She’s a cutie!

Guest Post: Scott also names his radios

Many thanks to Scott (KK4Z) who shares the following post from his blog KK4Z.com:


Naming Radios

by Scott (KK4Z)

Men in general, have a habit of naming things. All sorts of things, cars, body parts, you name it, we will cast our own nickname on it. I thought I would share some of the names I have given my radios. Typically, I don’t just throw a name on something. I am around it for a while, before I decide what I am going to call it. My poor dogs, when I first get them, I go through a plethora of names until I find one that fits. My latest dog, a boxer mix from the pound was named Hawkeye by them. I got him home. I had to get to know him.

He ended up being Andy but likes to be called pup-pup. Maybe his last owners called him that. He’s still very much a pup but is going to be a great dog.

I will start with my main radio which is an Icom IC-7610. It is my workhorse radio. It is probably the best radio I have ever owned. I have worked the world on it and it does everything I need it to do. I call it Zeus, the king of all my other radios. I believe there is not a radio out there that can do anything that Zeus cannot do. Any improvements over Zeus would be marginal.

Continue reading Guest Post: Scott also names his radios

QRPer Notes: HA8SA’s Homebrew Transceiver, BuddiHex Review, and “Marine Mobile” in Iowa?

Because I receive so many tips from readers here on QRPer, I wanted way to share them in a concise newsletter format.  To that end, welcome to QRPer Notes, a collection of links to interesting stories and tips making waves in the world of radio!


HA8SA Stay At Home Transceiver

Many thanks to Pete (WB9FLW) who shares a link to HA8SA’s compact homebrew transceiver. As Pete notes, it’s a “very simple design but with a load of features!”

Click here to check out details on HA8SA’s website.


Buddihex review

Many thanks to John (VE3IPS) who writes:

I think the QRPers will be happy see the BuddiHex review:

https://ve3ips.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/buddipole-buddihex-deployment/

John VE3IPS


“Marine Mobile” in Iowa?

Many thanks to Rand (W7UDT) who shares this brilliant little video from K0KLB’s YouTube channel:

Had a lot of fun experimenting RMOOTA (Random Metal Objects On The Air) with the boat today.. The winds were so strong (sorry about the annoying wind/mic noise) and the noise of the engine kept us from actually driving while making QSO’s.. It was a challenge just the same being stationary in one location.

It was a big contest weekend and the QRM and Pileups were massive.. With my 5w and Random Metal Object as an antenna, it was difficult to get contacts.. I was able to catch them when they were short on business and looking for calls, lol..

We only achieved 4 QSO’s out of the 10 we wanted.. (40%) but, I’m happy with that.. I felt lucky to get one call, LOL..

Thanks for watching everyone.. We (the Skipper and Mate) hope you enjoyed watching it as much as we did making it. 73, Kevin ~ k0klb

The Lyrics written and sung by K0KLB


Many thanks to everyone for sharing their tips here on QRPer Notes!

E21EJC and BG7XWF: Voice CW on RS-44

Many thanks to Dan (VR2HF) who writes:

Hi Thomas,

This is just too funny to keep to myself. My good friend, who I call Mr Satellite, Kob, E21EJC in Bangkok apparently was too bored to work BG7XWF on normal CW via the RS-44 linear (SSB/CW/FT-4) satellite again, so, they went to “voice CW (SSB).” You can even hear them adjusting for Doppler shift. 

E21EJC and BG7XWF Voice CW on RS-44:

Ain’t ham radio great!??

Yes it is, Dan! Ham radio is great!

This gave me a good chuckle–thank you for sharing!

What can go wrong? A box, a cat, and a little CW.

Many thanks to my buddy, Philip (N4HF), for sharing this video that made me chuckle:

Happy Thanksgiving: “Mike” on Ham Radio

Many thanks to Ray Novak for sharing this video from the ABC series Last Man Standing:

Happy Thanksgiving to all (even if you’re not State side)! And, please, savor your ham.
-K4SWL

A ham club at a bacon festival: what’s not to like?

(Source: Roanoke Times)
(Source: Roanoke Times)

Many thanks to the Southgate ARC for bringing this to my attention:

The Roanoke Times reports that radio hams were among those attending a bacon festival

The newspaper says hams from the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club, W4CA, showed up.

“It’s the ham club at the bacon festival,” club member Jim Martin AK4LB explained.

Read the full story at
http://m.roanoke.com/news/2192835-12/thousands-pig-out-at-bacon-festival-in-downtown.html

Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club
http://w4ca.com/

It’s CW time!

CW-clockWell, sort of…

With this clock, from DCI, you can read the time in Morse code.

Not a bad deal at $27 US on Amazon.com.

Amateur Radio & Velveeta Cheese make television debut

My guess? There must be a ham in the marketing department at Velveeta:

CW on the pirate bands

SantaWireless-187x300Last night, I captured the pirate radio station Dit Dah Radio on 6,935 kHz (+/-) USB. I published the audio on my shortwave radio blog, The SWLing Post, where I post quite a lot of shortwave radio recordings.

I’m well aware that no law-abiding ham radio operator would ever broadcast as a pirate radio station. So this must be a non-ham, right? (OK, fess up!!!  Who was it???)

You’ll especially like their CW preamble (or, interval signal, I suppose) which they follow with The Capris’ 1960’s hit, Morse Code of LoveClick here to download, or listen in the embedded player below:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!