{"id":22989,"date":"2016-12-23T09:11:06","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T13:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=22989"},"modified":"2016-12-23T09:11:06","modified_gmt":"2016-12-23T13:11:06","slug":"a-dxers-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/a-dxers-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"“A DXer\u2019s Christmas”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My buddy, Skip Arey (N2EI)<\/a>, shared the following poem on his Facebook page and has kindly allowed me to post it here!<\/p>\n

Skip writes:<\/p>\n

“I originally published this in the NASWA \u201cFRENDX\u201d club journal in 1987 and later in the December 1992 issue of Monitoring Times magazine. Many thanks to Steven K. Roberts for recovering the text for me as it never stuck to my hard drive. Enjoy.”<\/p>\n

A DXer\u2019s Christmas<\/h1>\n

(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)<\/p>\n

‘Twas the night before Christmas,<\/strong>
\n and all through the house<\/strong>
\n The “Harmonics” were sleeping,<\/strong>
\n and so was the spouse;<\/strong>
\n The antennas were hung<\/strong>
\n from the chimney with care<\/strong>
\n in hopes that some signals<\/strong>
\n would come through the air;<\/strong>
\n The receivers were nestled<\/strong>
\n all neat in a row, With filters and tuners<\/strong>
\n all ready to go;<\/strong>
\n With a strong cup of coffee,<\/strong>
\n sitting at my right hand,<\/strong>
\n I had just settled in to some radio band,<\/strong>
\n When out of my headphones<\/strong>
\n there arose such a clatter,<\/strong>
\n I sprang from my desk<\/strong>
\n to see what was the matter.<\/strong>
\n Away to the window<\/strong>
\n I flew like a flash,<\/strong>
\n To determine the cause of this odd static crash.<\/strong>
\n The Moon on the breast<\/strong>
\n of the new -fallen snow,<\/strong>
\n Gave my antenna wires an unusual glow;<\/strong>
\n When what to my wondering<\/strong>
\n eyes should appear,<\/strong>
\n But a weird little sleigh<\/strong>
\n and eight tiny reindeer.<\/strong>
\n With a strange little driver,<\/strong>
\n who looked like a “Hippie,”<\/strong>
\n I though for a moment<\/strong>
\n my brain had gone dippy.<\/strong>
\n More rapid than eagles<\/strong>
\n his coursers they came,<\/strong>
\n And he wheezed, and he cursed, as he called them by name: “Now Ten-Tec! Now Icom!<\/strong>
\n Now Yaesu and Philips!<\/strong>
\n On Grundig! On Sony!<\/strong>
\n On Kenwood and Collins!<\/strong>
\n Watch out for the porch!<\/strong>
\n Watch out for the wall!<\/strong>
\n Stay out of the way,<\/strong>
\n and don’t let me fall!”<\/strong>
\n As dry leaves that before<\/strong>
\n the wild hurricane ride,<\/strong>
\n When they met with an obstacle,<\/strong>
\n they kicked it aside.<\/strong>
\n So up to the house -top<\/strong>
\n the coursers they flew,<\/strong>
\n And got tangled in wire;<\/strong>
\n the old Hippie did too.<\/strong>
\n And then, in a twinkling<\/strong>
\n I heard through the ceiling, a great deal of cursing,<\/strong>
\n and swearing, and squealing.<\/strong>
\n As I shook my head,<\/strong>
\n and hollered out “Stop!”<\/strong>
\n Down the chimney the bearded one<\/strong>
\n fell with a plop.<\/strong>
\n He was dressed all in denim,<\/strong>
\n from his headphones to tail,<\/strong>
\n His clothes smelled like sweatsocks,<\/strong>
\n and his breath like cheap ale;<\/strong>
\n The stump of a stogie<\/strong>
\n he held tight in his teeth.<\/strong>
\n And the rancid smoke circled<\/strong>
\n his head like a wreath;<\/strong>
\n He had a fat face<\/strong>
\n and a great big beer -belly,<\/strong>
\n That shook when he burped,<\/strong>
\n like a bowlful of jelly.<\/strong>
\n He spoke not a word<\/strong>
\n but went straight to his work,<\/strong>
\n Opened up my receiver,<\/strong>
\n and tuned with a jerk.<\/strong>
\n Then sticking a finger<\/strong>
\n inside of his nose,<\/strong>
\n And giving a burp,<\/strong>
\n up the chimney he rose. The receiver it squealed,<\/strong>
\n and gave out a whistle,<\/strong>
\n And the stations I heard that night,<\/strong>
\n would fill an epistle.<\/strong>
\n And I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,<\/strong>
\n “Happy DX, Old Man,<\/strong>
\n next time, leave on a light!”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My buddy, Skip Arey (N2EI), shared the following poem on his Facebook page and has kindly allowed me to post it here! Skip writes: “I originally published this in the NASWA \u201cFRENDX\u201d club journal in 1987 and later in the December 1992 issue of Monitoring Times magazine. Many thanks to Steven K. Roberts for recovering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[508,545,3,5099,43],"tags":[1560,1551,254,5755],"class_list":["post-22989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-2","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-qrp","category-shortwave-radio","tag-christmas","tag-holiday-shortwave","tag-skip-arey","tag-skip-arey-n2ei"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-5YN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36259,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/video-the-secret-life-of-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":0},"title":"Video: The Secret Life of Radios","author":"Thomas","date":"March 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Skip Arey (N2EI), who shared the following video on Facebook: https:\/\/youtu.be\/2roG4jIjvEk Any electrical spark creates radio waves and acts as a transmitter. You hear sparks on a radio as interference. That's why lighting makes radios crackle, and even the tiny spark in a switch is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Allied-2682-Dial-1024x678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13851,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/passport-to-world-band-radio-now-available-for-download\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":1},"title":"Passport to World Band Radio now available for download","author":"Thomas","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to my buddy, Skip Arey (N2EI), who informed me that the\u00a0American Radio History website has added\u00a018\u00a0issues of the late Passport To World Band Radio\u00a0to their free downloads archive. These issues span 1986-2009 and are free to download. What a treasure trove! Click here to view Passport To World\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PassportToWorldband Radio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PassportToWorldband-Radio.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PassportToWorldband-Radio.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/PassportToWorldband-Radio.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":699,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/3rd-edition-of-%e2%80%9cradio-monitoring-%e2%80%93-a-how-to-guide%e2%80%9d-available-for-free\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":2},"title":"3rd Edition of \u201cRadio Monitoring \u2013 A How To Guide\u201d Available As Free Download","author":"Thomas","date":"April 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Skip Arey is now offering his third edition of the popular \"Radio Monitoring - A How To Guide\" as a free download via the NASWA website. This guide was originally published by Index Publishing Group and later released by Paladin Press--it had two very successful editions that sold for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/download_arey_book-180x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21679,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/hurricane-watch-net-frequencies-monitoring-ground-truth-observations\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":3},"title":"Hurricane Watch Net frequencies: monitoring “ground truth” observations","author":"Thomas","date":"October 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As Hurricane Matthew makes its slow trek through the Caribbean,\u00a0it\u00a0is expected to have impact on the Bahamas, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. It has already battered Haiti and Cuba. A few readers have asked about frequencies to monitor as the storm approaches. Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) The Hurricane Watch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Emergency Preparedness"","block_context":{"text":"Emergency Preparedness","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/emergency-preparedness\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hurricane-matthew","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hurricane-Matthew.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hurricane-Matthew.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hurricane-Matthew.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5404,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/attend-the-26th-annual-winter-swl-fest\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":4},"title":"Attend the 26th Annual Winter SWL Fest","author":"Thomas","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"For those of you readers who often feel you're alone in your enthusiasm for radio, I highly encourage you to attend the NASWA-sponsored SWL Fest in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania this year. The 'Fest is jam-packed with radio-related information and attended by many radio kindred spirits. \u00a0Forum\u00a0topics this year will include\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/swlfest_logo.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31241,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/did-your-first-shortwave-radio-change-your-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":22989,"position":5},"title":"Did your first shortwave radio change your world?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Winter SWL Fest this year, we had an open forum hosted by Skip Arey and Dan Robinson called \"Shortwave Memories\" where SWLs were invited to speak about what shortwave radio has meant to them throughout their lives. I was a fantastic session chock full of nostalgia. I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Zenith-TransOceanic-1-Vintage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Zenith-TransOceanic-1-Vintage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Zenith-TransOceanic-1-Vintage.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Zenith-TransOceanic-1-Vintage.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}