Dxing on the road
 

I started a new job this past week that has put me on the road from 6:30 to
8:00 am, and 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Since I find the MW band infinitely more fascinating than I do FM, I spent a
lot of hours this week just tuning up and down the MW band. Sometimes I will
find a program to interest me for a while, and just when it gets
interesting, a carrier suddenly appears out of nowhere and within a couple
of seconds, a station I have never heard of signs on and starts its day of
broadcasting.

This past week alone, this occurred on several frequencies where I never
hear anything other than the usual: 890, 1110, and 1190, and 1520 to name a
few. Too bad that driving demands too much of my faculties for me to
properly log these stations. And too bad none of my home radios can hold a
candle to the one in my car.

Just wondering... If I get pulled over for this, will the cop charge me with
DWDx?

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:15:05 -0400, "lsmyer"
wrote:

I started a new job this past week that has put me on the road from 6:30 to
8:00 am, and 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Since I find the MW band infinitely more fascinating than I do FM, I spent a
lot of hours this week just tuning up and down the MW band. Sometimes I will
find a program to interest me for a while, and just when it gets
interesting, a carrier suddenly appears out of nowhere and within a couple
of seconds, a station I have never heard of signs on and starts its day of
broadcasting.

This past week alone, this occurred on several frequencies where I never
hear anything other than the usual: 890, 1110, and 1190, and 1520 to name a
few. Too bad that driving demands too much of my faculties for me to
properly log these stations. And too bad none of my home radios can hold a
candle to the one in my car.

Just wondering... If I get pulled over for this, will the cop charge me with
DWDx?

Actually, in the State of California, where I think you live if I
correctly remember a couple of your previous posts, you can be cited
for "Drving While Distracted". That would only occur if you are
causing a traffic problem such as an accident, erratic driving for
which you could instead be cited for "Careless Drivng" or even
"Reckless Driving". The difference between careless and reckless
driving is subject to the officer who would be citing you. And yes, I
do realize you were displaying a bit of humor - but being familiar
with traffic law I figured I'd chime in with my $0.02.

Frankly, tuning while driving is safer than what I've been seeing more
of lately and that's folks who rest the newspaper on the steering
wheel and read while driving!

I'm curious how long you'll be doing this commute before you want to
have a shortwave radio in the car? On long trips when I get away from
the city I use an Icom R2 with a 19" mag-mount whip (a spare 2 meter
ham antenna) and have several of the major SW broadcasters stored in
memory. It's not the worlds best setup but is adequate for the task
at hand and is a pleasant break the same syndicated talk show on half
the stations that can be received.

Have fun & drive/dx safely,
Howard

Howard wrote:

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:15:05 -0400, "lsmyer"
wrote:

I started a new job this past week that has put me on the road from 6:30 to
8:00 am, and 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Since I find the MW band infinitely more fascinating than I do FM, I spent a
lot of hours this week just tuning up and down the MW band. Sometimes I will
find a program to interest me for a while, and just when it gets
interesting, a carrier suddenly appears out of nowhere and within a couple
of seconds, a station I have never heard of signs on and starts its day of
broadcasting.

This past week alone, this occurred on several frequencies where I never
hear anything other than the usual: 890, 1110, and 1190, and 1520 to name a
few. Too bad that driving demands too much of my faculties for me to
properly log these stations. And too bad none of my home radios can hold a
candle to the one in my car.

Just wondering... If I get pulled over for this, will the cop charge me with
DWDx?

Actually, in the State of California, where I think you live if I
correctly remember a couple of your previous posts, you can be cited
for "Drving While Distracted". That would only occur if you are
causing a traffic problem such as an accident, erratic driving for
which you could instead be cited for "Careless Drivng" or even
"Reckless Driving". The difference between careless and reckless
driving is subject to the officer who would be citing you. And yes, I
do realize you were displaying a bit of humor - but being familiar
with traffic law I figured I'd chime in with my $0.02.

Frankly, tuning while driving is safer than what I've been seeing more
of lately and that's folks who rest the newspaper on the steering
wheel and read while driving!

I'm curious how long you'll be doing this commute before you want to
have a shortwave radio in the car? On long trips when I get away from
the city I use an Icom R2 with a 19" mag-mount whip (a spare 2 meter
ham antenna) and have several of the major SW broadcasters stored in
memory. It's not the worlds best setup but is adequate for the task
at hand and is a pleasant break the same syndicated talk show on half
the stations that can be received.

Have fun & drive/dx safely,
Howard

Is what you call an "Icom R2" an installed type? I have a small one that is a
portable small radio shack one that is lightweight and goes anywhere, but wonder
if an installed one has an advantage in that the antenna you describe must reach
more places, or not? I have been wondering how to travel with a laptop and get
connected to the internet while on the road or away from a regular analog phone.
any ideas?
At any rate, I have not heard Kol Israel or Prague in some time. Where are they
on the dial and what times - EDT? Prague used to have a pretty tuning signal, do
they still have it now that they are no longer tied up with slovakia? I
sometimes try to get some of these stations that broadcast bitstream on the
internet, but for some reason, many foreign stations think we want to hear our
own type of music and you do not get real ethnic music these days.

minerva

In article ,
says...
I started a new job this past week that has put me on the road from 6:30 to
8:00 am, and 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Since I find the MW band infinitely more fascinating than I do FM, I spent a
lot of hours this week just tuning up and down the MW band. Sometimes I will
find a program to interest me for a while, and just when it gets
interesting, a carrier suddenly appears out of nowhere and within a couple
of seconds, a station I have never heard of signs on and starts its day of
broadcasting.

This past week alone, this occurred on several frequencies where I never
hear anything other than the usual: 890, 1110, and 1190, and 1520 to name a
few. Too bad that driving demands too much of my faculties for me to
properly log these stations. And too bad none of my home radios can hold a
candle to the one in my car.

Just wondering... If I get pulled over for this, will the cop charge me with
DWDx?

Not sure about the cop, but you might just carry a small tape recorder
with you. Dictate your loggings to tape and then transcribe them into
your log at home.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:15:05 -0400, "lsmyer"
wrote:

I started a new job this past week that has put me on the road from 6:30 to
8:00 am, and 5:00 to 6:30 pm.

Since I find the MW band infinitely more fascinating than I do FM, I spent a
lot of hours this week just tuning up and down the MW band. Sometimes I will
find a program to interest me for a while, and just when it gets
interesting, a carrier suddenly appears out of nowhere and within a couple
of seconds, a station I have never heard of signs on and starts its day of
broadcasting.

This past week alone, this occurred on several frequencies where I never
hear anything other than the usual: 890, 1110, and 1190, and 1520 to name a
few. Too bad that driving demands too much of my faculties for me to
properly log these stations.

A small digital voice recorder might be a
minimally-distracting way to log, for later transcription at home. If
you knew a station ID was coming up, you could let the station log
itself and maybe just add date/time yourself.

And too bad none of my home radios can hold a
candle to the one in my car.

Just wondering... If I get pulled over for this, will the cop charge me with
DWDx?

wrote:
| A small digital voice recorder might be a
| minimally-distracting way to log, for later transcription at home. If
| you knew a station ID was coming up, you could let the station log
| itself and maybe just add date/time yourself.

....An excellent idea. I picked one up from Walgreen's on Monday,
with a four - hour capacity, and it cost all of forty dollars.

73,

--
Steve Lawrence
KAØPMD
Burnsville, Minnesota

"If a man wants his dreams to come true then he must wake up."
- Anonymous


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