The Perfect Afternoon: Coffee, CW, and 0.1 Watts at William B. Umstead State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Friday, January 16, 2026, after a morning of running errands around Raleigh, my wife and...
Category: MORSE CODE
Checking Off a Bucket-List Park: Pedestrian Mobile at the North Carolina State Capitol!
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Thursday, January 15, 2026, I finally set aside time to activate a park that had...
Heavy 40 Meter Morning Pileups from a Quiet North Carolina State Forest
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Wednesday morning, January 14, I decided to squeeze in another Parks on the Air activation...
Pairing the KX2 & AX1 for a Quickie Activation at Falls Lake State Recreational Area
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, I was in Raleigh, North Carolina for the week, trying to...
Hidden Woodsmen M55 Haversack & FT-818 Field Kit Test: POTA at William B. Umstead State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) Earlier this month, my wife and I dropped our daughters off at their universities to start...
A Coastal Finale: Pedestrian Mobile POTA at Fort Fisher State Historic Site!
by Thomas (K4SWL) You might recall that during my recent field reports, I was on the coast of North...
Vintage QRP with the Heathkit HW-8
by Matt (W6CSN) The Heathkit HW-8 has a certain mystique among QRP enthusiasts. This four-band direct conversion(D-C) solid-state transceiver,...
Two Wires, Five Watts, and a Cold Afternoon at Carolina Beach State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) On December 15, during our family’s weeklong vacation together at Carolina Beach, North Carolina, we set...
How the Field Radio Landscape Has Changed and Why There’s Never Been a Better Time to Jump In!
Over the past few months, I’ve received a steady stream of emails and comments that have all landed in...
Dating Your Vintage Bug Made Easy: A New Tool from W6JSV
Many thanks to Jay (W6JSV), who recently created a useful tool for those of us with vintage bugs. He...
A Window of Fine Weather: Early Morning Pedestrian Mobile on the Beach at Fort Fisher SRA
by Thomas (K4SWL) As I mentioned in recent field reports, my family and I took a weeklong, off-season vacation...
Vacation POTA: Pedestrian Portable at Carolina Beach State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Saturday morning, December 13, 2025, we had just begun a week-long vacation in Carolina Beach,...
A Coastal Break and Field Kit Reality Check at Carolina Beach State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) After my daughters finished their fall term at university, my wife and I picked them up...
EI3LH’s “Frivolous CW Superproject”
Many thanks to Ian (EI3LH), who shares the following post, originally posted on his blog: My frivolous CW superproject...
Impromptu POTA: A Cold, Windy Activation on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the KH1
by Thomas (K4SWL) Yesterday–December 29, 2025–I had a few errands to run in town. The plan was simple: make...
Quickie Activation: Nine Minutes of Radio Therapy at the NC Transportation Museum
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Monday, December 1, 2025, I managed to squeeze in a last-minute, impromptu–and very speedy–activation of...
Christmas Day QRP in the Dark (and Cold)
by Vince (VE6LK) As always, there are lots of links within the article. Click one! Click them all! Learn...
Ending Our POTA Rove on the Right Foot: South Mountain State Park with Scott VA3EKR
While Scott (VA3EKR) was visiting western North Carolina, we decided that Monday, November 17, 2025, would be devoted entirely...
Brian’s Journey to a POTA Kilo on the North Country Trail
A Long Kilo on the North Country Trail by Brian (K3ES) The North Country Trail (NCT), US-4239, is the...
Pedestrian Mobile at Its Best: An Impromptu KH1 SOTA Activation at Anderson Mountain
Yesterday, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, I managed to squeeze in a very impromptu Summits on the Air activation. My...
Still Roving: Our Second POTA Activation at Table Rock Fish Hatchery
On Monday, November 17, 2025, Scott (VA3EKR) and I decided to do a small POTA rove in western North...
Starting a Multi-Park Day Right: Lake James State Park (US-2739) with VA3EKR
On Monday, November 17, 2025, my buddy Scott (VA3EKR) was still visiting us here in Western North Carolina. You...
Learning CW on an iPad: Any Suggestions for Joel?
Many thanks to Joel (KR4GEL) who reached out to me over email with the following question. He’s very kindly...
SOTA with Friends and First Activation for Scott on Dogback Mountain!
On Friday, November 14, 2025, my friend Scott, VA3EKR (a.k.a. KK7TMS State side), was visiting western North Carolina during...
New Antenna, New Key, and New Friend: QRP POTA at William B. Umstead State Park
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Saturday, November 8, 2025, we had an afternoon planned with the family in the Raleigh...