I’m excited to share something I’ve been working on behind the scenes: the 2026 QRPer.com calendar is now live on Zazzle. They happen to be running sales right now, so it’s a good moment to grab one. Each month features a QRP field radio I’ve used and loved over the years, presented with a full photo and a short write-up.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I declared October, 2025 to be my Bug-Out Month. I did this primarily to motivate myself to get comfortable using a bug—a semi-automatic key—not just in the shack, but in the field as well. I was inspired by several things that happened over the past few months: my buddy Kevin gave me a vintage Skillman bug; I spent way too much time with friends at the Long Island CW Club booth…

by Thomas (K4SWL) The afternoon of Wednesday, September 17, 2025, was just calling out for a POTA activation. I didn’t have enough time in the day to travel further afield than my local Blue Ridge Parkway—my park-away-from-home these days—so I headed there with a field kit packed in the car. In mid-September, I was still dealing with some lower back pain.

Many thanks to my buddy George (KJ6VU) for spotting this: Bioenno is running a buy-one-get-one-free sale on their 12V 6Ah LiFePO4 battery packs. Here's the product link. To get the deal, add either two of the 6Ah batteries or the battery/charger combo to your cart, then apply the coupon code BOGO at checkout. The discount takes 50% off your subtotal.

Many thanks to Zach (K4ZSR), 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.  K4ZSR’s Elecraft KX3 Field Kit by Zach (K4ZSR) I acquired a new-to-me KX3 in 2023, but really didn’t use it much until the fall of 2024.

Many thanks to Scott (VA3EKR) who shares the following guest post which was originally posted on his blog: September 21, 2025, Beverly Swamp Conservation Area (CA-1312, VEFF-2551) by Scott (VA3EKR) I wanted to get the most of my Sunday, so I drove to Waterloo with my wife to visit my daughter. The next part of the plan was to then activate a POTA, and meet Chris, 

One year ago today—September 27, 2024—Hurricane Helene moved up from the Gulf of Mexico, swept across the Southeast, and struck Western North Carolina. Its impact was massive—its destruction, unprecedented. by Thomas (K4SWL) The Storm Arrives We’d been following weather reports in advance, expecting heavy rain, localized flooding, and some winds. That’s not unusual here—we often see the remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms.

By Steve (KV4AN) My XYL and her sister like to go yard sale-ing on Saturday morning (this is the practice of buying other people’s junk so you can throw it away for them), so I’ve had two beautiful Saturday mornings to do a pair of quick drive-up SOTA activations here in Northern Alabama.  The first Saturday, I went to Gunters Mountain, which is around an hour away near Swearengin, Alabama. 

On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, my wife, Hazel, and I were heading back from Greensboro, NC along Interstate 40 when I thought it fitting to make a short detour to Fort Dobbs State Historic Site for a quick POTA activation. Fortunately, both my wife and Hazel agreed. We all wanted to stretch our legs, and Fort Dobbs is a wonderful park to do just that.

by James (KI5OEB)  Testing, testing, testing!!! On September 22, I went out for a few hours at Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center Historic Site (US-10951), my closest park… I open this by stating the objective of this activation was testing the Ham Radio Duo “Just OK Mini” antenna. I set up the IC-705 with a desire to do an hour of SSB.

by Mark (KB2PIZ) I've been on another business trip to Seattle and had some free time to visit Saltwater State Park and complete an activation. I was here last year and only made one contact before I had to leave. This year, the plan was to stay until I completed the activation. To ensure success, I packed the trustworthy Chelegance MC-750 and the Chameleon end-fed sloper.

by Thomas (K4SWL) My wife and I hatched a plan for Labor Day weekend: pack the car, head to the Raleigh, NC area, and spend the long weekend with our daughters, who were just a few weeks into their first year at university. I’m sure they were glad to see their loving parents—but let’s be honest—they were most excited to see Hazel.

One of the joys of writing up field reports is reliving POTA and SOTA activations. Since our travels in Canada this summer, our family has had a lot of irons in the fire. My available time has been almost non-existent, so I’ve only managed a handful of POTA activations. What I didn’t get in quantity, though, I certainly made up for in quality.

There are few places on this earth that I love more than the region of Québec around the town of Tadoussac. Tadoussac sits where the Saguenay River—really, a dramatic fjord—meets the mighty St. Lawrence Estuary. Long before Europeans arrived, the Innu people had used this place—known to them as Totouskak—for thousands of years as a seasonal base for seal hunting and trade.

by Brian (K3ES) I am blessed to be able to afford a number of terrific QRP rigs to support my portable operating habit (or is it an addiction).  Every rig has its own advantages and disadvantages, and my operating skills grew as I became familiar with each of them. My first QRP rig was the sleek and rugged TX-500 from Lab599, and it still holds a special place in my heart. 

by Thomas (K4SWL) Lately, I’ve been receiving emails that look like they’re from ham radio friends — complete with their name and callsign in the “from” line. At first glance, they seem legitimate. But when you check the actual email address (not just the name that shows up in your inbox), it’s clearly not from them. For example, the "from" line might read, "Thomas (K4SWL)" but the email address is something more like abc4567@gmail.com.

On Sunday, July 6, 2025, I ventured out in the morning—despite the forecast calling for wet weather—to my favorite local activation site near our home base in St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Québec: Cap Tourmente (CA-0012). The day before, we had learned that my father-in-law had been admitted to the hospital. Details were still forthcoming, but we knew we’d need to adjust our travel schedule and return home earlier than planned.

by Bob Leichner (WO6W) Are you a dedicated bug user? Do you miss your bug while out on a POTA or SOTA activation? Would you like to operate mobile using a bug? Do you want to keep a small bug in your go bag for impromptu operations? Are you just learning to use a bug? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, this bug emulator may be of interest.

Many thanks to Richard (MM0RGM) and Markku (VA3MK) for noting that Icom has released a firmware update for the venerable Icom IC-705. Changes from Version 1.32 Improved the importing repeater list. Supported importing repeater list while retaining the existing order. Added the ability to select other near repeaters using the dial after entering an access repeater using the Near Repeater Search function on the DR screen.

Many thanks to Scott (KA9P), who writes: Thomas, while I’m generally loath to advertise for anyone, I think the recent price change for Gigaparts’ Explorer pouches might interest the portable radio crowd. Many probably know that Gigaparts offers a recently revised Explorer backpack. This dedicated radio backpack uses a loop field to accept hook-backed accessory pouches for many popular radios. (Hook and loop is the generic description of VELCRO-brand fastening materials.)

On Saturday, July 5, 2025, we drove into the Charlevoix region of Québec to visit one of our favorite parks in North America: Parc national des Grands-Jardins. In all of our years traveling to Québec, we’ve always made time for at least one excursion to this park—it’s just that beautiful. Parc national des Grands-Jardins (CA-0499) has been protected since 1981 and is part of the Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve (CA-0015).

As I write this, I’m sitting at Philadelphia International Airport waiting for the last, short leg of my flight to Worcester, Massachusetts. This weekend I’ll be at the Northeast HamX (Ham Exposition) in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It’s my first time attending this event, and I’ve been eager to experience it. I’ll also be presenting at the conference—my session is Friday at 1:00 p.m.—and on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.

You might recall that on the morning of Wednesday, June 25, 2025, I fit in a brilliant little POTA activation with the CFT1 at Cap Tourmente. I performed that activation early in the morning knowin…

by Ken (WR7D) I’m a member of the All-Idaho Contest Club (AI7ID) in Southwest Idaho. Occasionally, we plan other ham-related activities. In June, we started discussing a potential trip through the Magruder Corridor in North-Central Idaho for some POTA and SOTA action. The Magruder Corridor is a rough, single-lane road between Grangeville, ID, and Darby, MT. It separates the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area and the Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness Area.

We woke up to beautiful weather on the morning of Wednesday, June 25, 2025—POTA was in the air! Cap Tourmente, my local POTA park, opened its gates at 8:30, and I planned to arrive shortly thereafter to fit in a casual activation before my wife, daughters, and I made our way to Québec City later that morning (where—hee hee—I had another activation planned!).

I’ve mentioned my good buddy Mike (KE8PTX) in previous posts—he’s designed some very cool 3D-printed accessories for portable operators. Just a day before our family left on our multi-week trip to …

On Sunday, June 22, we spent the day in Québec City enjoying a local farmer’s market, visiting a café, catching up with friends, and taking a long walk in the woods. Somehow, we managed to return t…

As many of you know, our family has been traveling quite a bit this summer. A few weeks ago, I received a couple of surprise items in the mail that each gave me a good chuckle—for entirely differen…

Besides radio, one thing I love to geek out about is bags, pouches, backpacks—and more specifically—how and what I pack. In fact, some of my favorite YouTube videos are those where the host shows how they pack for, say, summer travels in Asia, a one-week business trip to Helsinki, or what's in their Everyday Carry (EDC). Although this is one of my favorite types of videos, I don't make enough of them about my own philosophy of packing: what I take, how I pack it, and how it all works in the field.

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In this episode, our resident expert on writing ham radio gear reviews, Thomas, K4SWL, walks us through the process of writing a good ham radio review. How can you tell a good review from a bad one and tips for how you can write good content. Vince gives us some great tips when it comes to buying used gear. How do you find it, evaluate it and figure out a fair price.

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…

Elecraft AX3 Field Report By: Conrad Trautmann (N2YCH) My new Elecraft AX3 antenna arrived in the mail. The weather when it arrived was 73° F and sunny with a slight breeze. Space weather was calm.  It seemed like the perfect recipe for a POTA expedition to the unofficial antenna testing range at Silver Sands State Park (US-1716) here in Connecticut on the Northern shoreline of Long Island Sound to try out the AX3.