Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Alan, who writes:
I really appreciate your site. It has been my favorite since I got back into shortwave listening and DXing…great enough that I actually subscribe to posts via e-mail so I don’t miss anything.
In case you are interested, I did a post about what I was able to hear using my Kaito KA1103 and a Sangean antenna while camped in a tent in the back yard. Nothing amazing by many people’s standards…but I enjoyed it enough to stay up too late!
http://strasburg.rocks/2015/10/late-night-dxingswling/
Either way, thanks again for SWLing.com.
Alan, there are few pleasures in life better than SWLing while camping–even if it’s in your own back yard! Thanks for sharing your experience and thanks for the kind comments. This weekend I hope to log a few stations from my tent at the SWLing Post DXpedition.
I completely agree with Thomas and Alan– camping & DXing go together like S’Mores and hot dogs!
It’s really hard to explain our enthusiasm for this to the uninitiated, but it’s a combination of childhood memories of my discovery of SWLing/DXing while camping, plus the “romance” of tuning around by a campfire or inside of a darkened tent. It doesn’t matter if I’m using a high tech SDR coupled to a laptop or tablet, or if I’m simply band scanning with a vintage RF-2200 or a pocket rocket C.Crane Skywave portable… the joy of radio is the same.
I guess this is why even my best and most enjoyable DXpeditions in Washington State have been “camping style” off-the-grid. Given the choice between “amenities” (basic as they are) and more space for antennas at the Grayland Motel, or the nearby Grayland Beach State Park, I’ll often choose the state park for the sheer enjoyment of camping and radio. Last but certainly not least–“roughing it” while DXing almost always is accompanied by extremely low noise levels on the bands (if you can keep far enough away from RVers and their plasma TVs and microwave ovens!).