SPRAT on a stick arrived here this week and I’ve begun the long mission of perusing each issue, beginning with the first.

SPRAT is a quarterly magazine which contains many circuits, technical hints and ideas for QRP construction projects, together with club news, contest and award information and other items of interest to QRP operators. SPRAT is an exclusive QRP journal and contains much practical information in each issue.

I’ve enjoyed receiving Sprat for many years and now having more than 180 editions (1974-2022) of the magazine at my fingertips is a real treat. Launched with the founding of the G-QRP Club by the Rev. George Dobbs, G3RJV (SK) the older issues provide a good look at the seminal days of this unique facet of amateur radio.

From typewritten and mimeographed pages to the modern slick pocket magazine in living color, I’ve no doubt these pages contain many secrets that help complete the big picture of the low-powered lifestyle.

For instance, did you know that the first American radio amateur to become a member of the G-QRP Club was Skip Westrich, WB8OWM from Canton, Ohio?

Skip was the perennial QRPer, always doing great things with low power. His phonetics for OWM were “Ocean Wireless Man”. He wrote a regular column for the Massillon Amateur Radio Club for many years titled, “Short Skip”. He became a Silent Key in 2012 at the ripe young age of 71.

The collection is a virtual placer deposit of interesting information and I hope I don’t end up boring you with it all…