<
font size="3">
DX-midAMerica/
Travel Tips!
Hello! You ever travel and want to visit the relatives, friends or just get away? I think everyone does! Here are some travel ideas to make your trip go a bit faster.
Anything to add? Please zap us an e-mail
and we will add your idea!
Beef jerky Wheat crackers, Pringles, and the like are good munchies at home, but in the car those tend to put me to sleep. Jerky does not.
Cassette/cd player- a necessity in some parts of the country where the only choices on the radio are country or top40/rap/hiphop.
I like to have a CB running. I find it useful to know about traffic tie ups - what lane is running best or should I get off and take the country road? A few years ago I was driving back from Sheboygan when that big tornado went through Fond Du Lac and towards Port Washington. I could hear the truckers yelling that they were watching it in their rear view mirrors about 5 miles ahead of me. Of course it doesnt hurt if they mention the position of the state troopers that are running radar ( especially on HWY 57 south of Plymouth where they sit in the parking lot of a
small cheese factory! ). The swearing really drops off once you're out of the city and out on the road. If you're really way out there, some times you can hear the farmers out in the fields or out mending fences talking back to the house.
Cellular phone plugged into the cigarette lighter. Not needed, but it's there for security. I feel better with one in the car.
Cooler: It's easier and cheaper to pack some pop and bottled water in the cooler and ice it down, than to stop every so often to get a bottle of pop and some munchies.
DX-440, FM Atlas, WRTH, and my Radio Shack loop- for when I get there, not during the trip.
A GPS unit...helps greatly in noting upcoming roads, etc. If you're traveling alone, this unit, mounted over the spedometer will not be an impairment to safe travel. You can "see" where you're going. To me, it's more than a "toy."
NOAA weather capability. The dual-band ham rig in my car covers 162 MHz and all seven frequencies are programmed into memory. It's come in handy when I've seen bad weather in front of me during a roadtrip. I visited NOAA's site and copied their list of stations sorted by state for trips, but later decided it was unnecessary. With only seven channels it's easier to flip back and forth between them.
Pillow & blanket- for catnaps. I normally travel alone, and it's a rarity if I stop for a motel.
A scanner tuned to NOAA weather. While on a recent trip NOBODY had info on upcoming hail storm. NOAA wx had a fresh forecast.
Notepad in the front seat with me. Nice for making notes about interesting stations along the way.
Research before leaving is important, so you know about, for example, stations with CPs to change frequency, silent stations, etc
Road Atlas- kept me from getting lost several times.
State highway maps. They're free!
Todd Brandenburg, Tim Noonan, John J. Rieger and John Wilke contributed to this list!