{"id":26367,"date":"2017-08-07T06:20:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=26367"},"modified":"2017-08-07T06:41:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:41:00","slug":"escaping-the-noise-while-traveling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/escaping-the-noise-while-traveling\/","title":{"rendered":"Escaping the noise while traveling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A Sony SW100, a PK Loop, and a pint of L’\u00c9curieux brown ale. Lovely trio!<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’re a regular Post<\/em> reader, you’re probably aware that I enjoy a relatively RFI-free environment at my rural mountain home. RFI-free living is something of a luxury, even though our rural location also equates to appallingly slow Internet service.<\/p>\n

But unfortunately, when I travel, I usually find that I’ve traded my RFI-free atmosphere for the chaos of noise-ridden bands. If you’ve ever stayed at a modern hotel and tried to tune to anything on mediumwave or shortwave, you’ll know just what I mean.<\/p>\n

We’ve spent this summer, like last, near Qu\u00e9bec City, Canada. \u00a0Near this fairly large city, I’ve been greeted by more than enough RFI to make up for the lack of RFI most of the year.<\/p>\n

I attribute the atrocious RFI to the number of light dimmers the developers put in this condo complex and the proximity to a field of noisy electrical poles. Of course, all of the unregulated power supplies in the area don’t help, either. It’s a jungle of noise.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The PK Loop<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year, I purchased a PK Loop portable HF loop antenna<\/a>\u00a0(about $150 on eBay<\/a>)–specifically with hotels and this very condo in mind. I must say, it has been a welcome travel companion on this trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Elecraft KX2 and PK Loop<\/p><\/div>\n

While the PK Loop seems to pair well with my Sony SW100, I also love using it with my Elecraft KX2<\/a> for SWLing.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the PK Loop doesn’t provide the noise mitigation of a large wideband mag loop antenna–like a Wellbrook<\/a> or Pixel Loop–but it does lend itself to excellent portability and takes the edge off the noise.<\/p>\n

While it’s easy to do my radio listening in the condo from a comfy chair, in reality, it limits what I can receive in a serious way. The 31 meter band, for example, is so heavily submerged in RFI that only the strongest stations can punch through (for example, Voice of Greece, Radio Romania International, WRMI, WBCQ, Radio Havana Cuba, China Radio International).<\/p>\n

So, what can I do?<\/p>\n

Hit the field, of course!<\/h2>\n

That’s right. Taking a page from the books of\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0contributors\u00a0London Shortwave<\/a> and\u00a0Clint Gouveia<\/a>, I realize I can simply leave the RFI behind and seek a sound, radio quiet spot for SWLing\/DXing!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My listening post last year–during the BBC Midwinter broadcast–in the parking lot of St-Anne-de-Beaupr\u00e9 basilica.<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the past two months, I’ve taken time to escape the RFI and do a few live listening sessions and spectrum recordings in the field. I’ve always got my SDRplay RSP, Elecraft KX2, and Sony ICG-SW100 at the ready. In terms of wire antennas, I’ve deployed my NASA PA30 and even my QRP Trail-Friendly EFT, with good results.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Listening to the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast from the back of my vehicle in Saint-Anne-de-Beaupr\u00e9, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada.<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve also been experimenting with the homebrew Miniwhip antenna that\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Steve Yothment,<\/a>\u00a0provided earlier this year, based on the design used by the U Twente WebSDR<\/a>. As Guy Atkins recently demonstrated<\/a>, miniwhip designs do require some distance from sources of RFI, however.<\/p>\n

The field is your friend…<\/h2>\n

Just a friendly reminder that if you live in an RFI-dense environment, you can certainly design a system to help mitigate RFI at home. After all, home is where you likely spend the bulk of your free time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

View of the Saint Lawrence River from my back-of-the-minivan listening post.<\/p><\/div>\n

But, again, the easiest way to substantially<\/em> increase your chances of snagging DX stations is to simply hit the field.<\/p>\n

Join me in giving it a try. Find an RFI-free location with access to a couple of trees to hang a simple wire antenna–say, in a park, at the side of a rural road, on a friend’s farm…and if you find the listening good, make it your radio get-away. You’ll likely find that your portable shortwave radio can outperform your at-home tabletop receiver simply by removing yourself and your radio from the noisy environ of indoors.<\/p>\n

When you first start doing radio in the field, it might feel a bit awkward–especially if you’re taking more than a portable shortwave along for the ride–but you’ll soon enjoy the fresh air ambiance and maybe even prefer it to indoors. \u00a0Even if you’re in a public setting where curious passers-by may want to know what you’re doing, as they undoubtedly will…When questions arise, take a (brief!) moment to educate your questioner(s) about the fascinating and nearly-forgotten world of shortwave radio\u2013\u2013maybe you’ll inspire others to listen in, too.<\/p>\n

And trust me: once you’ve been to the field a few times, you’ll start to look forward to playing radio in the great–and noise-free–outdoors!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re a regular Post reader, you’re probably aware that I enjoy a relatively RFI-free environment at my rural mountain home. RFI-free living is something of a luxury, even though our rural location also equates to appallingly slow Internet service. But unfortunately, when I travel, I usually find that I’ve traded my RFI-free atmosphere for […]<\/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":[545,627,3,3196,26,43],"tags":[5083,5657,5658,1954,5153,3395],"class_list":["post-26367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-how-to","category-news","category-portable-radio","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-elecraft-kx2","tag-pk-loop","tag-pk-loop-c-loop-hdsw6-18","tag-quebec","tag-sainte-anne-de-beaupre","tag-sony-icf-sw100"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-6Rh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22446,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/a-preliminary-review-of-the-pk-loop-c-loop-hdsw6-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":0},"title":"A preliminary review of the PK Loop C-LOOP-HDSW6-18","author":"Thomas","date":"November 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past year, a number of SWLing Post readers have asked me to review the PK Loop portable magnetic loop antenna produced by\u00a0Paul Karlstrand in Australia. I finally caved in and purchased one. I ordered the shortwave version of the loop, the\u00a0 C-LOOP-HDSW6-18 in early November and received it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"eecraft-kx3-pk-loop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Eecraft-KX3-PK-Loop-e1480359088711.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Eecraft-KX3-PK-Loop-e1480359088711.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Eecraft-KX3-PK-Loop-e1480359088711.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26636,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/catch-the-2017-bbc-antarctic-midwinter-broadcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":1},"title":"Catch the 2017 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast?","author":"Thomas","date":"June 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday afternoon, I packed up the\u00a0Sony ICF-SW100, Audiomax SRW-710S\u00a0and Elecraft KX2\u00a0portables in\u00a0search of a quite spot to listen to\u00a0the BBC World Service\u00a0Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast. I also packed my PK Loop and NASA PA 30 antennas. I\u2019m traveling in Canada again and staying in an RFI-dense condo. There was no way\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\/06\/Midwinter-KX2-SW100.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30383,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/a-follow-up-review-of-the-pk-loop-c-loop-hdsw6-18-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":2},"title":"A follow-up review of the PK Loop C-LOOP-HDSW6-18 antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"January 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2016, I purchased portable shortwave magnetic loop antenna designed and built by\u00a0Paul Karlstrand in Australia. I posted a \"preliminary\" review of this antenna in 2016 and since then have taken this loop on many travels. SWling Post contributor, Ron, recently noted that Jay Allen reviewed one of Paul's inductively-coupled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Elecraft-KX2-PK-Loop-balcony.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30672,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/indoor-shortwave-antenna-options-to-pair-with-a-new-sdr\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":3},"title":"Indoor shortwave antenna options to pair with a new SDR","author":"Thomas","date":"February 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Freitas, who writes: \"I am thinking of the new RSP1A SDR. Would you know of a good indoor antenna that would work well with it?\" Your antenna question is simple, but the answer is complex! First off, I think the RSP1A is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/RSP1A1-1024x708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/RSP1A1-1024x708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/RSP1A1-1024x708.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/RSP1A1-1024x708.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33941,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/shortwave-antenna-options-for-apartments-flats-and-condos\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":4},"title":"Shortwave antenna options for apartments, flats and condos","author":"Thomas","date":"September 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tim, who writes: I am a regular subscriber here, but until now have not formally commented. I've been an avid SWL since 1977. I am intrigued by your in-depth article on understanding and setting up SDR's. But, what about an antenna? How well will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo by jay blacks on Unsplash","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/apartment-urban-hotel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/apartment-urban-hotel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/apartment-urban-hotel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/apartment-urban-hotel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64272,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/a-huge-difference\/","url_meta":{"origin":26367,"position":5},"title":"A HUGE difference . . .","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"October 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was a remark from Sebastian Schl\u00fcter in response to this post \u2013 https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/some-really-inexpensive-ways-to-perhaps-improve-your-shortwave-listening -- that sparked today\u2019s post. He said: If your RFI is really high, your best weapon is a magnetic loop antenna aka small receive loop. At home, my RFI is so high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Loop-antenna-002-001-1024x669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Loop-antenna-002-001-1024x669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Loop-antenna-002-001-1024x669.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26367","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=26367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}