How cold is it?

 An annotated thermometer (amended for amateur radio, KL7J).

 

50F

  • Miami rotators need heat applied

  • Southern Californians wear jackets to install radials

  • Alaskan moose find browse instead of guywires

40F

  • Californians guywires shiver uncontrollably

  • Florida hams burn radio ads for heat

  • Minnesotans go on field day

35F

  • Italian coax breaks

  • Alaska time for tower work with no mosquitoes

  • Spain has shack heaters on high setting

32F

  • Clean Water freezes, some frost on guy wires

  • Arizona grass dies and reveals radials

  • Mississippi antenna work stops

30F

  • You can see your breath freezing to the tower

  • You plan your DX vacation to Hawaii

  • Montana hams put on field day jackets

25F

  • Californians turn on car heater instead of radio

  • Wisconsin hams think of finalizing antenna work

  • Cat tries sleeping on your radio

20F

  • You can hear the antenna rotator groan

  • Miami radio operators frozen in place

  • Canadians still having antenna parties

15F

  • You plan a warm DX vacation.

  • Cat insists sleeping on your radio

  • Dog sleeps near the amp

10F

  • Hawaii coax breaks

  • Minnesota hams finish up antenna work

  • Alaskans still building antennas before winter

5F

  • You QRO your amp to heat the shack

  • You look up to see why the antenna seems slow rotating

  • Ice detunes your yagi

0F

  • Mobile radio LCD will not work

  • Alaskans put on jacket to work on antennas

  • Coax freezes to the side of the house

-15F

  • Alaskans build a field day igloo

  • North Dakota hams turn heat up in shack

  • Miami hams cease to exist

-20F

  • Cat moves to sleeping on the amp

  • Reading the technical manual becomes informative

  • Antenna rotators are very slow

-25F

  • Too cold to operate without feet on keyed amp

  • You need more than a new country to get DX'ers excited

  • You burn the old radio ads for heat

-30F

  • You scrape ice off the inside of the shack windows

  • You think of metal fatigue as the tower groans

  • You learn something new reading the manual's small print

-40F

  • Remote antenna coax switches fail

  • Antenna rotators are frozen

  • Canadian hams note C or F doesn't matter, -40C = -40F

-50F

  • Congressional hot air about band reallocation freezes

  • Alaskans note the shack window has thick ice on the inside

  • Alaskan shack inside window sill freezes beer

-80F

  • Alaskan rotators refuse to turn
       (-82 F recorded without wind chill)

  • Yukon coax breaks if moved

  • Alaska Vibroplex Key paddles are frozen solid