{"id":39689,"date":"2019-11-08T08:07:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T12:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=39689"},"modified":"2019-11-08T08:08:50","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T12:08:50","slug":"its-not-a-travel-radio-if-it-doesnt-have-an-alarm-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/its-not-a-travel-radio-if-it-doesnt-have-an-alarm-clock\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s not a travel radio if it doesn’t have an alarm clock"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The CC Skywave SSB is set to wake me at 3:30 to catch a 5:30 flight.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have a pretty accurate body clock. Regardless of when I doze off, I always wake up at the same time.<\/p>\n

When I’m at home on my regular schedule, I trust my “internal chronometer” so much, I haven’t set an alarm in years.<\/p>\n

When I travel, it’s a completely different story…<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s a rare<\/em> occurrence when a flight, train, or even road trip allow me to wake up at my normal time, so I rely on an alarm clock.<\/p>\n

In fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m a nervous Nellie when I’m forced to break my sleep cycle to catch an early flight. My fear of missing a flight may even border on paranoia–I’ll wake up multiple times during the night in a panic unless I feel completely at ease that there’s an alarm system in place to wake me no matter what.<\/p>\n

I recently told a friend about this fear and he asked, “Why not just set the alarm on your phone?!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Simple answer: I don’t trust smart phones and tablets<\/strong>. They’re too complicated with so many nighttime settings, alarm\/alert volume levels, short battery life, etc. etc.<\/p>\n

Case in point…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Earlier this year, I had to catch an early flight and needed to wake up at 4:00 AM, so I scheduled my iPhone and iPad to alarm at 4:00. (When at home, I try to have my iPhone\/iPad wake me first, because the alarm is very gradual and doesn’t disturb my wife.) Of course, I also set my travel radio’s alarm clock for 4:10, as a fail safe.<\/p>\n

Knowing I had a total of three(!!!) alarm clocks set, I slept like a baby.<\/p>\n

At 4:10 AM, my travel radio alarm started beeping. The iPhone and iPad were completely silent.<\/em><\/p>\n

Turns out, the iPad decided to do an operating system update during the night. For some reason, after rebooting, it simply forgot about the alarm. (Thanks, iPad!) And the iPhone? I’m still not sure how\/why, but the mute switch on the side of the phone was engaged and if it vibrated to wake me, I never heard it rumbling on the night stand.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness the travel radio had my back, else I would have missed that flight.<\/p>\n

Travel radios: Never leave home without one!<\/h2>\n

I like to be a self-sufficient traveler even though I only travel with one bag and pack very lightly. I never rely on my destination to have a functioning alarm clock (with battery backup, of course) or effective wake up call service. Regardless of how minimally I pack, I always take a travel radio.<\/p>\n

In February, for example, I travelled to Philadelphia for the Winter SWL Fest<\/em>. Even though my trip was nearly a week long, to keep from paying a carry-on fee with Frontier airlines, I packed everything in a bag that met their strict “personal carry-on” bag size.<\/p>\n

Regular readers know I’m a bit of a pack geek, so my bag of choice was the Tom Bihn Stowaway<\/a>.\u00a0 Here’s the bag fully packed out at my feet in the airport:<\/p>\n

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Here’s a photo of everything<\/em> I packed in the Stowaway for that trip:<\/p>\n

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This particular trip really pushed the limits on my minimalist travel philosophy. Honestly? It was a fun challenge! I had to hone my pack contents down to only the essentials (don’t make fun of me for believing three flashlights were essential–the previous year, our hotel was without power for several days<\/a>)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Still, I made room for one of the smallest travel radios in my arsenal: the County Comm Marathon ETFR<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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I chose the ETFR because it has a custom case that could attach to my belt or pack strap if interior space became too tight. The ETFR radio hasn’t been in production for a decade, but it’s an effective radio companion and the alarm works without fail.<\/p>\n

Choosing a travel radio<\/h1>\n

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Most modern digital portables are based on DSP chips that have clock and alarm functions, so you might already own an effective travel radio.<\/p>\n

With that said, I always prioritize radio features that benefit a traveler, of course; here are some that I look for:<\/p>\n