{"id":60044,"date":"2024-06-25T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T20:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=60044"},"modified":"2024-06-25T06:22:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T10:22:23","slug":"the-joys-of-traveling-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/the-joys-of-traveling-light\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joys of Traveling Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had intended<\/em> to travel light; I really did . . . but I betrayed my best intentions.<\/p>\n

Instead of a \u201cminimal\u201d radio go-bag, I had stuffed a small cross-body bag with: a ham radio handi-talkie (a Yaesu VX-6R) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the handi-talkie, a car plug-in adaptor for the handi-talkie, a scanner (Uniden 436) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the scanner, a CCrane Skywave SSB, and a CCrane CC Buds Solo In-Ear Single Earbud.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But when I got near the shore of Lake Ontario, what did I actually use . . . what gear brought me the most radio joy? The CCrane Skywave SSB and the Solo Earbud. In particular, during the early morning hours with sweltering heat, epic humidity, and threatening severe thunderstorms, I found myself happily listening to a trio of NOAA weather radio stations, one of which included a marine forecast for Lake Ontario, and all of which helped us to plan our activities.<\/p>\n

Then, at 2130Z, on June 21, I took a crack at hearing the 2024 BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica. Here\u2019s my report:<\/p>\n

Listening from Sodus, NY, near the shores of Lake Ontario, on a barefoot CCrane Skywave SSB, AM mode (tried SSB, it didn\u2019t help). No recording.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

9585, 9870 \u2014 heard nothing.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

11,685 \u2014 very difficult copy, surging static. Could hear male and female voices but couldn\u2019t discern what they were saying, occasional music (?)
\nAround 2140 \u2014 child\u2019s voice saying \u201cwe miss you.\u201d
\nMusic at end.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So would it have been easier to copy the Midwinter Broadcast with my Big Gun SW receiver and the 50-foot horizontal room loop? Of course.<\/p>\n

Was it fun to try anyway with a shirt-pocket-sized radio and a dinky whip antenna? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

Sometimes traveling light delivers fun despite its limitations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM I had intended to travel light; I really did . . . but I betrayed my best intentions. Instead of a \u201cminimal\u201d radio go-bag, I had stuffed a small cross-body bag with: a ham radio handi-talkie (a Yaesu VX-6R) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the handi-talkie, a car plug-in adaptor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3,43,1154,6578],"tags":[9988,9323,2793,4115],"class_list":["post-60044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","category-travel","category-weather-radio","tag-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb-2","tag-jock-elliott-kb2gom","tag-shortwave-radio-travel","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-fCs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54841,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/checking-out-the-new-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":0},"title":"Checking out the new C.Crane CC Skywave SSB 2","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"November 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Folks who are regular readers of my posts here have already figured out that I am a big fan of the CCrane Skywave SSB. It is easily the most versatile radio I own, receiving AM (medium wave), FM, shortwave, HF single sideband, NOAA weather stations with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CCrane-Skywave-SSB-2-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CCrane-Skywave-SSB-2-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/CCrane-Skywave-SSB-2-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55946,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/02\/the-ccrane-skywave-ssb-2-and-long-wire-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":1},"title":"The CCrane Skywave SSB 2 and long wire antennas","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"February 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Frequently when people write about attaching a long wire to a portable shortwave receiver, readers will comment that you need to worry about desensitizing or overloading the receiver or ever harming the front end of the receiver. Clearly that can be a concern. But recently I\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\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49872,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/jock-discovers-the-joys-of-ats-tuning-with-the-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":2},"title":"Jock discovers the joys of ATS tuning with the C.Crane CC Skywave SSB","author":"Thomas","date":"August 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jock Elliott (KB2GOM), who shares the following guest post: Really cool trick the CCrane Skywave SSB will do -- the \"radio butler\"? To paraphrase Ratty from Wind in the Willows: \" \u201cBelieve me, my young friend, there is nothing\u2013absolutely nothing\u2013half so much worth doing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Field-e1540119640212.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Field-e1540119640212.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Field-e1540119640212.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Field-e1540119640212.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57812,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/ccranes-new-c-crane-cc-skywave-2-and-the-ooda-loop\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":3},"title":"CCrane\u2019s new C. Crane CC Skywave 2 . . . and the OODA loop","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"September 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM A software glitch at a power station, a tree branch rubbing against a transformer, a geophysical incident, a weather event, even a civil society misadventure . . . It doesn\u2019t take much for things to rapidly go to blazes. So what do you need when Really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/01_-_Hero__76717-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/01_-_Hero__76717-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/01_-_Hero__76717-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52415,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/guest-post-everyone-should-have-a-crisis-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":4},"title":"Guest Post: Everyone should have a “Crisis Radio”","author":"Thomas","date":"April 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Jock Elliott, who shares the following guest post: The Crisis Radio By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Sooner or later, it will happen to you. What\u2019s \u2018it\u2019? Short answer: a crisis. It could be as simple as you wake in the morning to find the power is out;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Midwinter-Antarctica-Broadcast.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Midwinter-Antarctica-Broadcast.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Midwinter-Antarctica-Broadcast.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/CC-Skywave-SSB-Midwinter-Antarctica-Broadcast.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56485,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/a-little-barefoot-ultralight-mw-dxing-in-which-my-mental-status-is-questioned\/","url_meta":{"origin":60044,"position":5},"title":"A little barefoot ultralight MW DXing . . . in which my mental status is questioned","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"May 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM About 10 days ago, the Better Half and I visited my wife\u2019s sister in Sodus, NY, a small town in the western part of the state near the shores of Lake Ontario. First consideration when packing was \u2013 never mind the underwear and the toothpaste \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/CCrane-skywave-SSB-and-headphones-002-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/CCrane-skywave-SSB-and-headphones-002-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/CCrane-skywave-SSB-and-headphones-002-001-1024x768.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\/60044","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\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60044"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60078,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60044\/revisions\/60078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}