DoDropIn: Voices from the Other Side
In the static swirl of the evening air,
Where signals bounce from here to where?
There lies a net, both proud and thin—
A wacky world called DoDropIn.
The net controller takes the helm,
A brave old soul in this strange realm.
“Any check-ins?” they calmly say—
And that’s when minds start to go astray.
From every band and twisted dial,
Come voices that defy all style.
A man who chats with Martian goats,
Another swears his couch just floats.
There's Carol, who talks in Morse with cheese,
And Stan, who thinks the moon has knees.
Bob built a rig from spoons and glue—
(It caught on fire, but only twice—that's new.)
One says he's trapped in ‘92,
And only ham bands pull him through.
Another thinks his cat can send
A perfect CQ from end to end.
The net rolls on, day after day,
In sweet, deranged, antenna play.
Where normalcy is not required—
Just batteries mostly not expired.
They argue over feedline woes,
Or how to out-transmit their foes.
But underneath the madness, dear,
There's camaraderie loud and clear.
For in this net of nuts and dreams,
Insanity runs on RF beams.
And though the minds may be askew,
Their hearts are solid, tried and true.
So tune your dial, and give a grin,
To the ham-sane world of DoDropIn.
Where frequencies may never bend—
But every nut might be your friend.
A friend at least for the few seconds while you're actually on the air.
