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 Yukon coax breaks if moved Alaska Vibroplex Key paddles are frozen solid |