Ham Radio Camping & RVing

Radio Camping & Caravaning: This page is about camping and caravaning by Amateur Radio Operators with their families, using portable and mobile radio communications.

Caravaning means traveling together. Elsewhere in the world, a caravan may mean a camping vehicle. Caravaning can be on a day trip, a weekend campout, or a longer camping or motel tour. Camping can be in a tent, the back of an SUV, or an RV, with or without caravaning. We use RV (Recreational Vehicle), to mean any type of trailer, camper, or motorhome.

I've been camping since I was a Boy Scout, and RVing since 1965. In 2004 I returned to a travel trailer, a Tahoe, after a Jayco pop-up. I had 6 trips from 300 to 1500 miles round trip in 2004.

• Ham Radio Trip Reports:
  • Links to many Ham Radio trip reports and photos are BELOW on this page.
• Ham Camping:
  • Harvey's Simple Web Site - January Quartzfest, and other events, Harvey, K5LJM, Arizona.
  • Mobileer - No. California mailing list to discuss family mobile radio caravan and camping trips.
  • Hams on 4 Wheels - KY8T - Michigan.
    • Hams RV Page - KY8T
• Ham Clubs that Camp:
  • Sam's Radio Hams - Southern California Good Sam RV Chapter.
  • Mt. Vaca Radio Club - Sacramento, California. - See Activities page.
  • Travelers - Oregon Tualatin Valley ARC.
  • Hoodview ARC, Oregon - See Calendar, Campouts.
  • Amateur Radio Campers - Houston - WA5CYI & WA5JMC Home Page.
  • RVWEB Network Club Web Sites - Includes:
    • Wally Byam RV Service Net - Daily nets on 80, 40, & 20 meters.
    • Family Motor Coach Assn. Amateur Radio Chapter - Daily 20 meter nets.
    • RV Radio Network - Daily 40 meter nets, rallies.
  • Radio Amateur's Caravan Club - South Africa.
  • Amateur Radio Caravan & Camping Club -UK
• My Related Pages:
  • Ham Radio Camping & Caravaning - History and list of our trips since 1971.
  
  • Communications for Traveling - Ham Radio, Other Radio, E-Mail, Cellular ideas.
  • Planning Amateur Radio Activities for any Ham club.
  • Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, Central Nevada - Ham Radio Trips 1964-1997.

Ham Radio Trip Reports and Photos:
2005	Joshua Tree Desert Spring Trip	Dunsmuir Campout - July
2004	Lone Pine Desert Spring Trip	Cromberg Campout - July
2003	Twain Harte Campout - July	Fall Trip - Durango - Lone Pine
2002	E-mail from Quartzsite - January	Pahrump & Lk McClure - April
	Redwoods Campout - July	Arizona - Fall Trip & Lone Pine
2001	Mojave Desert Spring Trip Report	Hat Creek Campout - July
2000	Quartzsite - Sam's & Q2K - Jan-Feb	Mojave Rd & Lk McClure - April
	Colorado-Utah Train/4X4/RV Fall Trip Report & Lone Pine
1999	Quartzsite & Organ Pipe - February	Mojave Desert - Spring Trip Report
	Utah-Colorado 4X4 - Trip Report	Organ Pipe RV Trip - Trip Report
1998	Death Valley - Spring Desert Trip
1997	Lone Pine - Spring Desert Trip	Nevada Ichthyosaur Trip - June
	New Mexico Fall Trip - Silver City & Socorro
1996	Anza-Borrego Desert State Park	Dino-Train Trip - UT-CO-NM
1995	Arizona Mohave Road	Canyonlands & Escalante
1984	Canyonlands - See 1984 paragraph in 1999 Utah-Colorado 4X4 Trip
1979	Four-Corners - 1979 - Example of all our trips before and after
1971	Durango 1971 - Colorado Run - Our very first extended caravan trip

RV Mobile Radio: The Ham RVer needs mobile radio more than anyone. VHF/UHF FM is not just a convenience for caravaning, it's a necessity. HF is more popular among avid Ham RVers than with Hams in general. RVers put up HF antennas when camping that are strictly mobile-not-in-motion!.

RVs are for retirees? Where did that idea start? In the 1960s and 1970s, a lot of reasonably sized trailers and campers were sold to young families. When we were Ham camping then, most had 14'-21' travel trailers. RV sizes have mushroomed, and the generation that took RVing for granted in the 1960s has stayed with it. But recently, dealers have been making sales of the smaller hybrid and lite trailers to young families again.