Several of my cartoon QSL commissions have involved mobile or portable operations, even backpacking and hiking — but this is the first one designed especially for Parks on the Air (POTA) contacts.
Don, WA4FL, is a retiree who spends part of his time in Florida (hence, the cool call sign). He enjoys combining QSOs with camping, so he wanted a card that showed him doing just that, with POTA acknowledged and a park animal “causing mischief.” Done and done. Besides, what would a Hamtoons QSL be without a cute animal wearing headphones? That’s why I went all-out and gave him four squirrels, two with headsets, one playing with his pipe, and one at the wheel of his Ram van (probably looking for a headset of his own). What can I say? Drawing cute animals wearing headphones makes me happy.
I also suggested modifying one of my standard report forms for POTA information, and this is what we came up with. Don liked it. I hope his fellow hams who receive one of these QSLs like it too.

Yi Zhang, K8QR, wanted to combine his love of ham radio with his interest in hot-air balloons. What better way to connect them than the world’s longest wire antenna? As an added touch, to acknowledge his Columbus QTH, I added a banner for THE Ohio Station University. He does much of his operating from the school’s club station,
If you like chasing counties, you’ll like this QSL card.
Here’s another illustration I drew for
Ever seen Bigfoot on a QSL card before? Me neither. Until now.
The back of Jim’s card is as personalized as the front. I offer
Steve, W7CBA, lives in Montana and likes the great outdoors. Can you draw me being chased by a grizzly, he asked? Sure, I said. And thus began this QSL card.
Hamtoons is back — but after more than four months away from my drawing board, I was rusty. I needed a running start to get back into it. That’s why I decided to finish this goofy drawing of two happy hams doing the bump.
This was the query from John, N1ESE: “I like goats and the woods. My shack is off-grid and runs on solar power. That’s about all I have. Let’s talk.”
Here’s another illustration that was commissioned but didn’t see print for one reason or another. It’s a shame, too — I put a lot of work into it and was looking forward to sharing it with the world. A detail of the illustration headlines the post; the full illustration is below.
Tim, W3ATB, lives in beautiful New Hampshire and loves to operate outdoors, sometimes accompanied by his German Shepherd Lady. He wanted all those elements worked into his QSL card — along with New England’s colorful fall foliage (it’s his favorite season). Here’s the result. Tim liked it. So did I. I really enjoyed drawing this QSL; Tim was a pleasure to work with.