Dx'ing from a hotel

[radioman148]

Sorry I'm arriving late to this movie....

As many of you know, I travel in my work and spend a lot of time in hotels (I'm lifetime platinum with Marriott).

It's true that hotels tend to be lousy DX venues. But....You CAN DX in most hotels, although certainly not all of them.

One thing to do is see if you can get a room on the top floor. In many full-service hotels, the upper floor might be the concierge floor, all hospitality suites, or things of that nature so getting up there might be impossible. But in quite a few mid-priced brands (Marriott Courtyard, Holiday Inn), you should be able to get a top floor room rather easily. Not only are these obviously best for FM DX (unless you're close to a lot of transmitters), but generally the local, regional, and skywave a.m. signals will penetrate the top floor, even if they can't get through to any of the others.

The other thing to do is get close to a window. Put the radio right up against the glass if you have to. You may not have any signals at all on the nightstand next to the bed, but three feet away by the window, there'll be all kinds of stuff.

A lot of the economy hotel brands don't have the steel and concrete construction that wipes out signals....but they're perfectly fine places to stay. Marriott's Fairfield Inn is a good example. I'd say about 90% of these are great for DXing.

One thing common to all brands and all types of hotels is that there are usually areas of high electrical noise. Culprits can range from inside or outside lighting, elevator equipment, kitchen equipment, climate control stuff, and on and on and on. The trick is simply to try different locations around the room and find a spot where you can null the noise and let the signals in.

One of the worst spots I can think of for DXing is Central London. I have a daughter who lives & works there as well as business colleagues there, so I'm in the Marriott Grosvenor Square once or twice a year. Big old brick building, just around the corner from the American embassy which is a massive noise generator in and of itself. Yet DXing from there is no particular problem. Position the radio (for me, usually just the Sony SRF 37 Walkman) in the right spot, null the noisemakers and dial in Spain, Russia, Turkey and loads of other places on any given night. Homesick for the U.S.? Well there's U.S. Armed Forces radio from Germany putting in a very respectable signal on 873khz every night. Even in the daytime France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are easily doable.

So the moral is "go ahead and bring your radio to the hotel". More often than not you'll find a way to encounter some interesting DX.

I picked up WCBS-AM in a hotel in central London, but that was over 30 years ago. I did have to go near the window of my room.

 

[charlestondxman]

I do it all the time, on every trip I go to. Some hotels are better than others. Holiday Inn Express is usually decent. I was in one in Spartanburg, SC when I picked up KOA from Denver. Top floors, of course, are best, especially if your room has a deck.

I've gotten some great receptions from some of them. There was one in Boston that was really bad, but the room had a clock radio that had the TV band, and I could pick up Providence and Manchester, NH from there. I was in one in Gatlinburg that wasn't very good, but I picked up three or four Nashville FMs from there. You just have to position your radio in the right floor and in the right spot, and you'll be in business.

 

[radioman148]

Whatever you do don't try to DX from the strip in Vegas. You're lucky if you can pick up the local AMs there.

 

[cyberdad]

Some hotels are better than others. Holiday Inn Express is usually decent.

Agree. I'll be in one later this month in Vancouver where the entire western half of North America is doable....even with a couple of local sticks nearby.

 

[musicman3355]

Whatever you do don't try to DX from the strip in Vegas. You're lucky if you can pick up the local AMs there.

I've actually done that once... when I'm inside the Strip, the AM signal is terrible down there. In a hotel room though, the stations sound fine. I've also got some stations I don't get in my area, like KMIK 1580, and a weak 1200 WOAI, and the locals obviously appear clearly.

In the day, surprisingly, I actually get a weak signal of KFI 640, KNX 1070, KOGO 600, and KAVL 610...

 

[drt]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. This military reunion, I'm attending is in the Crowne Plaza.... lots of steele and concrete and tall buildings nearby. (when I first made the post, I didn't realize there was a 44 story building right around the corner; I didn't realize that Albany had any buildings that high). Even though I have a rental car, getting out of downtown Albany and finding a spot to dx is difficult if you don't know the area; I don't think I've even seen a downtown with some many streets changing names, traffic circles etc. I did have about an hour of free time today just before 6 pm (or 1800!) and did some dx'ing on my Grundig placed on top of my car in the AAA parking lot. (I'm sure that looked cool!) Was not able to get 880 WCBS due to the splatter of a local 900 and I totally forgot to put the radio in the narrow bandwidth. I was getting WINS 1010 at that time, with CFRB (?) Toronto in the background. 740 out of Toronto was coming in, but weak at that time, what really had me puzzled was on 710 I was getting WOR, but also what appeared to be a talk station, but more like a travel/tourist station........... now I know there is such a station licensed to Niagara Falls, Ontario (with towers in Ft. Erie, right across the Peace Bridge from Buffalo.)......... but they are very directional, so I would be surprised if that was the station, but I never did get an I.D.; at one point I thought the station might be in nearby Vermont, but according to Radio-Locator, there are no stations in VT on the 710 frequency.

I guess I could suggest that next time we have a reunion, if we could pick Motel 6 or some place w/o so much concrete and steel!

Earlier today, a group of us were in the Officers' Wardroomon the USS Slater - DE Destroyer Escort (which is open to the public) and I mentioned the vintage mid 1940's Shortwave/Mediumwave receiver near the dining table and everyone else yawned and sighed; no one else here is remotely interested in radio, so there's no one here to ask these questions of.

So for now, I will try to concentrate on FM dx'ing from my 11th floor vantage point; wonder if I could receive WHY 94.9 out of Mount Washington?

drt

 

[ddsparxx]

Nobody cared about that old boat anchor near the dining table? That's pretty sad.
Just like my family. Not into radio. When I had a long wire hooked up outdoors years ago, one relative thought I was using the wires to set off a remote exploding device. I had to explain what I was doing.

 

[Tom Wells]

Nobody cared about that old boat anchor near the dining table? That's pretty sad.
Just like my family. Not into radio. When I had a long wire hooked up outdoors years ago, one relative thought I was using the wires to set off a remote exploding device. I had to explain what I was doing.

Yes, listening to the radio actively is now suspicious behavior. When I was on the road, about 14 years ago, I stopped at a Burger King for
a Whopper, and went into the adjacent shopping mall parking lot to eat, read the free Mc Newspaper (USA Today- from the hotel) and do some radio listening, because listening at hotel was hopeless. This was in San Bernadino. About 45 minutes later I was startled by
a police officer rapping his Mag-Light on the window about 4 inches from my head.
"What are you doing here?"

"I'm eating dinner, reading the paper, and listening to radio stations I can't get at home."

"Why?"

"Because I'm from Chicago, and all the stations here are new to me. Radio is my hobby."

"Where are you staying?'

"At the Holiday Inn.

"Well, why don't you listen there?'

"Because there's too much interference there to listen to the radio."

"Well, we got a call that there is a man in a car here lurking in the parking lot."

"I'm not "lurking", I just got my dinner right there at the Burger King, I'm still finishing my fries and drink."

"Well, you can't stay here, it's too suspicious. Get along, now."


I've also had to explain (many times) why I was stringing a long wire out of my hotel room.

"Why don't you just watch TV like everyone else?"

"Why don't YOU mind your own business?"

 

[radioman148]

Whatever you do don't try to DX from the strip in Vegas. You're lucky if you can pick up the local AMs there.

I've actually done that once... when I'm inside the Strip, the AM signal is terrible down there. In a hotel room though, the stations sound fine. I've also got some stations I don't get in my area, like KMIK 1580, and a weak 1200 WOAI, and the locals obviously appear clearly.

In the day, surprisingly, I actually get a weak signal of KFI 640, KNX 1070, KOGO 600, and KAVL 610...

I also have heard KFI on a car radio or outside in Vegas, but AM DXing on the strip is horrible for me even near a hotel room window.

 

[ddsparxx]

You can see why I would try to DX in a hotel/motel rather than outside on the parking lot.

 

[Tom Wells]

You can see why I would try to DX in a hotel/motel rather than outside on the parking lot.

Addendum, fast-forward to 2008...

Now that smoking is not allowed in most hotels, the only place to have a beer, AND a smoke at the same time is out in the car,
ALONG with listening to the radio, which law do I choose to obey?

The law prohibiting smoking in the hotel room? Or the law that says I can't have an open container in the car?

Naturally, I disobeyed the law about open containers.
Thank God there's no law prohibiting radio listening the car unless you're actually driving ..yet....I bet that's coming soon.

 

[kenglish]

I wonder what would happen if you had a long piece of magnet wire with a fishing weight on the end (wrapped in a piece of sock, so it doesn't crack a window when the wind blows, of course), hanging out the window. Does your hotel room have a window that opens a few inches?
I wondered that the last time I was in Vegas.

 

[Tom Wells]

I wonder what would happen if you had a long piece of magnet wire with a fishing weight on the end (wrapped in a piece of sock, so it doesn't crack a window when the wind blows, of course), hanging out the window. Does your hotel room have a window that opens a few inches?
I wondered that the last time I was in Vegas.

22 ga works best.
You still need to push enough out (whether through the screen) or if the screen can be opened a crack, to reach to the ground,
and then go outside to pull it away from the building, which is still creating a "dead zone" which the wire is lying inside.
Then you must find something to tie it to. Then you either have to decide whether to tie it tightly, meaning you'll have be up very early to untie it and reel it in (you NEED a fishing reel)... on your fishing reel, or leave it somehow loose enough to let go (hopefully) in the morning.
Or consider forfeiting that chunk of wire. You still must be ready to explain your weirdness at any time.
Also, you must find a noise-free ground. This means steel structure, at best, or if you're lucky metal water pipe, but most are now plastic. If you don't find a decent ground, your wire does little on MW signals.

Imagine the fun in post-terrorism days of trying to explain your home-built 3 band tube superheterodyne to security agents at airport. I had to go outside with them to PROVE it was a radio, and they still treated me like a criminal for having my "own" radio along with me.

 

[ddsparxx]

Is it possible to just use a counterpoise inside the hotel room as a ground?

 

[BRNout]

Yes, listening to the radio actively is now suspicious behavior. When I was on the road, about 14 years ago, I stopped at a Burger King for
a Whopper, and went into the adjacent shopping mall parking lot to eat, read the free Mc Newspaper (USA Today- from the hotel) and do some radio listening, because listening at hotel was hopeless. This was in San Bernadino. About 45 minutes later I was startled by
a police officer rapping his Mag-Light on the window about 4 inches from my head.
"What are you doing here?"

"I'm eating dinner, reading the paper, and listening to radio stations I can't get at home."

"Why?"

"Because I'm from Chicago, and all the stations here are new to me. Radio is my hobby."

"Where are you staying?'

"At the Holiday Inn.

"Well, why don't you listen there?'

"Because there's too much interference there to listen to the radio."

"Well, we got a call that there is a man in a car here lurking in the parking lot."

"I'm not "lurking", I just got my dinner right there at the Burger King, I'm still finishing my fries and drink."

"Well, you can't stay here, it's too suspicious. Get along, now."


I've also had to explain (many times) why I was stringing a long wire out of my hotel room.

"Why don't you just watch TV like everyone else?"

"Why don't YOU mind your own business?"

Tom, thank you for making my day!

I have done similar things, though if I were in San Berdu, I would have most certainly eschewed Burger King for In-N-Out burger, Carl's Jr. or even Jack in the Box. Aside from that, it could have been me in that parking lot!

Personally, I do prefer walking around the hotel parking lot (if there's no deck), having a fine cigar and checking out the offerings on the radio with something like a G8, E5 or equivalent. The cigar tends to keep the bugs (and the jerks) away!

 

[Tom Wells]

Is it possible to just use a counterpoise inside the hotel room as a ground?

You've got to get enough current flowing in the wire to some how couple into the radio to get any help for MW, so that means if your radio has no built in coupling loop, it's a few turns loosely around the loop ( if you can get to it ) or a few turns loosely around the radio, but then then other end has to tie down somewhere. You can try tying it to the negative battery connection, the ground pin on an AC socket, building structure, or pipe. I suppose you could take the wire back outside again and the more you had on both sides the more pickup you ought to get. A short counterpoise inside the room I would expect to just pick up noise.

 

[ddsparxx]

Perhaps I may try that out someday.

 

[drt]

The windows at the Crowne Plaza, downtown Albany are big picture windows, but sealed......... no balconies; I did what will be my only near nighttime dx'ing this evening on the way back from the Catskills, no Chicago stations were coming in, but this was just around sunset in Albany, so it would have still been daylight in Chicago. Zoomer 740 was coming in at that time as well as the KDKA 1020, WBZ 1030 Boston and all the NY 50,000 watt stations, though maybe WGR 550 out of Buffalo might come in, but it wasn't.

One interesting thing was that from my neck of the woods, 1660 - The Avenue(Marco Island/Naples) was booming in along with what sounded like a French language station (Quebec?), but at 730 pm, The Avenue completly dropped off, so at least they are not "forgetting" to power down.

Even with the time restraints and the steel and concrete all around, I still managed to pick up some stations that I had never picked up in St. Pete. (Zoomer 740out of Toronto) and WBZ were just two of several...... so all was not a total loss.

drt

 

[drt]

Radioman 148; finally after several nights of experimenting as to where exactly to place the radio, my last night in Albany, I placed the radio in the center of the window (width wise) to keep TV, computer interference from the adjacent rooms to a minimum and of course I had everything electical turned off in my room. (used a flash light!) and on the window sill placed the radio right smack against the window instead of an inch or two from the window and that make a difference.

Last night (Saturday) I did pick up several of the Chicago stations and pretty good and clear, 720, 780 and 890 when I put used the narrow bandwidth due to a local 900 station in Albany; even though the 900 is only 70 watts at night, it is near downtown and put out a strong signal at night where I was. I could not receive 1000 though, think it may have been due from splatter from IBOC on WINS 1010.

One 1010 I could receive both CFRB and WINS abouth the same, one would fade out and the other would take over.

Also received the 860 French CBC out of Toronto and Zoomer 740 comes in well at night in Albany. Wished I could have been in Albany a few months ago before both 690 and 940 signed off; I'm sure they both put out a decent signal into Albany, as downtown Albany in 220 miles south of Montreal.

KB 1520 out of Buffalo also puts a good signal in Albany at night.

btw- those of you with good but bulky radioos; do you normally check in the radio or take it on board as carry on?
The parking garage at the hotel made the hotel seem like a dx'ing paradise;even the strongest local signals were completely dead in the parking garage.

Now,I'm back in the land of heat and humidity and Cuban radio all over the AM band both day and night.

drt, back in St. Petersburg

 

[radioman148]

Thanks for the report DRT.