Many thanks to Ian (EI3LH), who shares the following post, originally posted on his blog: New year, new radio. Taking the Elecraft KH1 for a test drive. by Ian (EI3LH) Radios are, in my opinion, more often than not, somewhat bland aesthetic affairs. Usually, lumps of various shades of black/grey/insertboringcolourschemeasapplicable and fairly tedious to behold. The Elecraft KH1 fits that bill, yet it isn’t the aesthetics that made it so attractive to me.

by Thomas (K4SWL) On Thursday, January 15, 2026, I finally set aside time to activate a park that had been on my bucket list for a very long time: the North Carolina State Capitol State Historic Site (US-6852). Living in North Carolina, this one has always felt like a must-do activation. After all, it’s the state capitol, right in the heart of downtown Raleigh--about as iconic as it gets for a state historic site.

by Mark (KB2PIZ) After the snowstorm on the 26th of January, my work took me up the road to College Station, Texas and then to Dallas, Texas for one day. Looking at the map, I saw that if I headed west from College Station, I would pick up Route 45 and head north to Dallas. Right off 45 was Fort Boggy State Park (US-3009).

by Mark (KB2PIZ) Every year, when I go to Houston for a conference, I manage to squeeze in an amazing eyeball QSO with Mark Tyler (K5GQ). Mark is my CWOPS Instructor and mentor, instrumental in bringing my CW skills up to speed. We had originally planned to meet on Sunday, but a major blizzard was headed towards Houston, and we decided to activate W.

by Thomas (K4SWL) On Wednesday morning, January 14, I decided to squeeze in another Parks on the Air activation while spending a few days in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. This time, I set my sights on Clemmons Educational State Forest (US-4853), which is about a 25-minute drive from where we usually stay when we’re in Raleigh. I brought along my new…

My friend Alan (W2AEW) has just posted a video of his new Elecraft KX2 field kit built into a Hidden Woodsmen Haversack M55: Click here to view on YouTube. I love your field kit, Alan! I especially appreciate the number of antenna options you’ve managed to pack into what is still a very compact setup. It’s also great to see that the main pouch can house your iPad for logging. Thanks for the shout-out, too — especially the “I have to thank/blame Thomas!” 😂

by Matt (W7MDN) The Perfect Combination When my work schedule allows, I try to marry up trail running with a SOTA activation, which adds to the adventure aspect of Summits on the Air. I’ve been tweaking my ultralight SOTA kit recently, with the goal of reducing weight and space to just the essentials needed for a quick activation that can be done during a run.

by Thomas (K4SWL) On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, I was in Raleigh, North Carolina for the week, trying to fit in as many Parks on the Air activations as possible while my wife and I ran errands and worked through a handful of projects around town. That afternoon, we found ourselves in North Raleigh, and my wife wanted to stop by a (large) thrift store in the area.

By Thomas (K4SWL) One of the question I’m asked often by readers—especially those looking for a highly capable, do-it-all field radio—is this: “Which radio should I buy: the Elecraft KH1 or the Elecraft KX2?” I’ve talked about this briefly in some of my activation videos over the years, but usually in passing and often while I’m in the middle of an activation.

Many thanks to Scott (VA3EKR) for sharing this recent episode of Adam Savage's Tested, where he and his guests (Alex Hao and Andreas Bastian of Lumafield) take a close look at CT scans of 18650 lithium batteries, uncovering battery manufacturing defects and quality control inconsistencies: Click here to view on YouTube.

by Mark (KB2PIZ) After finishing one of the most amazing, serendipitous activations in Jerome State Historical Park, our journey had us heading up 89A towards Kanab, Utah. Looking at the map, five minutes from where I was going to work was the Greenhalgh Trail BLM Recreation Area (US-5986). Not only was this a POTA spot, but it had only been activated nine times!

by Thomas (K4SWL) Earlier this month, my wife and I dropped our daughters off at their universities to start their spring terms, then decided to spend a week in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. While we did have a few projects to tackle during the week, it also opened the door to quite a few Parks on the Air activations.

by James (KI5OEB) It has been a few months since I have written about my adventures. I acquired a Xiegu G90 from my friend, Steve, KM9G, AKA Temporarily Offline from YouTube. It was a bargain, and for years I had recommended people purchase one if they wanted a sub-$500 transceiver. I know that referring to a radio I’ve never used and have only seen work once isn’t best practice.

by Thomas (K4SWL) You might recall that during my recent field reports, I was on the coast of North Carolina with my family for a pre-Christmas winter vacation. We spent about a week based in Carolina Beach, and it was a truly wonderful trip. During that time, I managed to activate several parks, many of which I’ve already shared in previous field reports.

by Ken (WR7D) A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the chance to go to the FCS Championship Football game in Nashville, TN. The reason we made the trek was because our daughter is in the marching band for Montana State. We try to go to every event where the marching band is playing. She’s the same daughter I travelled to Hungary with last year and wrote…

Our friend Alan (W2AEW) has posted an excellent how-to video for those wishing to install a mechanical filter in the Yaesu FT-857D: Click here to view on YouTube.

by Mark (KB2PIZ) Wow, the magic of Ham radio! As part of my work, I was driving from Tucson, Arizona, to Kanab, Utah. Route 179 passes right through Sedona, so my wife and I decided to take a 5-day mini vacation on the way to Kanab. During this trip, I previously activated Oracle State Park and did not think I would have time for another activation until Houston.

by Thomas (K4SWL) On December 15, during our family’s weeklong vacation together at Carolina Beach, North Carolina, we set out that morning for a day trip to Southport. My hope was to squeeze in an activation of the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site (US-6834) while we were there. Click here to read about my previous activation at Brunswick.

by Luca (IW2EPE) Hello, all QRP enthusiasts. What I'm going to tell you about is my experience with HF radio and how great it is to do QRP. One night earlier this month, I planned a short radio activity for my lunch break the following day. I had decided to use my new RHM-7350T antenna with a magnetic base on the roof of my station wagon.

Over the past few months, I’ve received a steady stream of emails and comments that have all landed in the same place in my mind: just how much the field radio space has changed, especially in the last five or six years. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that field operating may be the fastest-growing and most dynamic segment of amateur radio over the past decade.

Many thanks to Steve (KV4AN) and Dan (N7CQR) who note that Elecraft has just issued a firmware update that adds new functionality to the Elecraft KH1.  Steve notes: Thomas, Elecraft has released Firmware Version 1.27 (see  PDF) for the KH1, in case QRPer readers are interested. Attached is the change description. In summary, the updated firmware changes six things:

by Mike (VE3MKX) A ham radio "barn find" is discovering vintage piece of amateur radio gear (transmitters, receivers, test equipment) in barns, garages, attics or closets ! This story isn't anything out of the norm, just a fluke. It was a regular day at home, surfing the net while having breakfast. I eventually surfed onto the local swap site and found the listing:

Many thanks to Jay (W6JSV), who recently created a useful tool for those of us with vintage bugs. He notes: I also wanted to write you about a website I made that you might find useful: I got tired of looking up serial numbers on a PDF and figuring out which model I was looking at, so I made it into a website that does the searching for me!

by Thomas (K4SWL) As I mentioned in recent field reports, my family and I took a weeklong, off-season vacation on the North Carolina coast a couple of weeks before Christmas. I’ve already published two field reports from Carolina Beach State Park, but there were several other nearby parks I’d hoped to activate during our stay. On the morning of Sunday, December 14, 2025, I fully expected to wake up to torrential rain and a strong weather front pushing into the area.

…but instead, I’ve decided to hit the field! I’m in Raleigh, NC today and had planned to spend the morning putting together a field report and activation video. Instead, I looked outside, saw the sun (after quite a lot of driving in the rain yesterday), and decided my time would be better spent on the air. This morning, I’m taking my venerable Yaesu FT-818ND to the field.