When I was a school kid

there were a couple  of things I always dragged around. One was the current issue of Sky & Telescope. The  other was either an ARRL Novice License Manual or a copy of QST, when I could get my hands on one. I know ....weird kid, right?  But those two ARRL publications played a big part in drawing me into the hobby.  Both were an odd size back then. They were bigger than TV Guide, but yet smaller than a regular magazine like Sky & Telescope. And the best thing inside them, IMHO, were the cartoons by Phil Gildersleeve. I had a few issues and spent many hours looking at these cartoons thinking that some day, "I want to be part of this!".

I can't explain why I loved these images so much!  For me, they seemed to resonate and  capture the essence and spirit of the hobby and it's Golden Age, just like a tuned circuit. Since Phil there have been many great cartoonists that have graced our hobby, but there will never be another "Gil".

But that being said, a couple of years ago,  Eric Nichols, KL7AJ and Jim Massara N2EST, two talented and excellent cartoonists in their own right, approached the ARRL about reviving the "Jeeves" cartoons. They were shot down. Maybe it was due to copyright law or some other issue, but they were turned down.  More's the pity, as I saw the cartoon image that they pitched. It was totally in the style and essence of Gil and had you seen it, you would have sworn that Gil himself had drawn it. Perhaps the ARRL thought that Jeeves was too old fashioned and would not appeal to a younger crowd, but some things are timeless.

However, the ARRL  did publish a book a few years back with a collection of Phil's work. I think it's still available. I have a copy down in the shack that I like to go through and peruse the images. It has become well worn.

The University of Delaware put together s page called "The Artwork of Phil Gildersleeve" with a small collection of some of his images. Click on the title to go there.

As far as the QRP Fox Hunts go, since this is Thanksgiving week, there are no "regular" Hunts. There is a 160 Meter Foxtravaganza, where all the Foxes and Hounds can try to work each other. I went on for a little while, not the whole 90 minutes and I worked two stations, Dean N2TNN in VA and Ron WU4G also in VA. I heard Jim W1FMR in NH calling "CQ FOX" but he could not hear me.

From the looks of the Reverse Beacon Map, you'd think I would have heard and worked some stations out towards the Midwest. Nope, only Virginia for QSOs and only NH for SWL'ing.

Both QSOs and the SWL'ing were done with the MFJ-1982HP.  The KX3 was able to find a decent match at about 1.7:1 on 160 Meters, which considering the antenna wasn't designed for the band, isn't bad. The HF9V would not load on 160 Meters. The KX3 could not find a match and displayed an "ANT ERR" message. That was strange as it used to load up with the old matching stub, but not this one. If I want to get on 160 Meters, which is a nice band, especially during the Winter months, I'll have to confine myself to using the MFJ.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Thanksgiving Day 2023

"Hurry with that Turkey, Jeeves. I'm awfully Hungary - and then bring Samoa!"

Technically, it's the day before Thanksgiving Day 2023, here in the USA. Tomorrow is going to be filled with cooking chores and last minute straightening up of the house, so I thought I'd post today. My wishes are for all of you to have a safe, happy and joyous holiday, with good food, family and friends. Marianne's brother and his wife are coming for dinner. My sister and her husband are having Thanksgiving at one of his brother's houses this year, so I'll miss being with my "big sis". Ahhhhhh ......maybe Christmas.

Thanksgiving is such an underrated holiday. Halloween and Christmas sandwich Thanksgiving and get much more attention and hype. But yet, in and of itself, the holiday is so important just on it's own. It is soooo much more than just the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It's so much more than the day before Black Friday.

I've so much to be thankful for. I do more than my share of kvetching and complaining about work, traffic, my commute and the other little annoyances of life, but they're just that - annoyances. I've made it to another Thanksgiving. I have a wonderful wife and two fantastic kids. Heck, I can't even call them kids anymore. They are young adults who are establishing themselves and striking out to embark upon their own careers. I imagine that sooner, rather than later, they'll both meet that special someone with whom they'll start their own families.

Marianne and I are reasonably healthy (besides the requisite growing older aches and pains), and for that I am most grateful. The kids are healthy, too and for that I am even more grateful. I'd rather have something happen to me than them. We have a warm house, food on the table and we have each other. We take that so much for granted and we proudly attribute the "things" we have to our own abilities, hard work and labor. But in the end, it's ALL a gift from God - without Him and His benevolence, we'd have nothing. Everything that we have belongs to Him, when all is said and done, and we are thankful for His most gracious "loan".

So I'll leave you with a little video of a Thanksgiving song, written and composed by Ben Rector. Thanksgiving deserves more songs like this. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - and oh, one last thing that I am so grateful for and do not wish to fail to mention- all of YOU, from all around the world who read this little blog and enjoy the best hobby in the world along with me - Amateur Radio. You folks are the best! And the hobby is too!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day ...... Post Mortem

There's nobody like Philip "Gil" Gildersleeve !!!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!