Radio and family need not be mutually exclusive. When you can turn a DXpedition into a combination of radio and family vacation, you might just have your non-ham spouse saying, "Let's do it again!"

A familiar sight? Most spouses don't share their ham-husband's appreciation of radio, especially when it competes with home projects. Here, Carol, the author's wife, looks on with a glare all too familiar to many licensees.

Shirley's Bed and Breakfast -- Not exactly a hardship; comfortable accommodations, a relaxed atmosphere and dining room breakfasts with friends can go a long way to convincing most non-ham spouses to support a radio weekend.

Twelve-year-old Amanda Slater, KG4NBF, logs entries as she and Ron Farley, KG4QIV, run 15 meters.

Even the most hard-core ham can appreciate nature's beauty. Taking time to enjoy a sunset with those in your household can make the next excursion something that everyone will eagerly anticipate.

When you bring family and friends, along with the radio gear, it lets you get to know each other a bit better.

With the water tower and microwave tower the island's most prominent features, the quaint township can be toured on foot in less than an hour.

There is one signal that can penetrate the worst solar indices the sun can dish out. Sitting in the shack for hours listening for that rare DX with an A-index in the double digits, the static in the headphones is disrupted. It's faint..., yet familiar. It's.... it's.... the wife.

"QRZ?" Nope. I know who is calling me. The trash is calling me. The yard work is calling me. My non-licensed wife is calling me.

For most male hams, there is but one operator in the household. My idea of fun vastly differ; I, for one, have trouble picturing my wife having "fun" dangling from a 65-foot tower with a mouth full of lock washers and 9/16 nuts while wrestling a tri-bander into position.

What if there was a way to "marry" a radio vacation and a traditional vacation? Imagine hearing her say, "Honey, I really enjoyed that weekend when you worked the radio. Can we do it again sometime?"

It's Not a Dream!

Sound like a dream? Not necessarily. Call it thoughtful on my part. Call it romantic. Okay -- call it conniving. The truth is, when someone says "island," I think Islands of the World (IOTA). Say "island" to my wife, and she thinks beaches, waves, sunsets and room service in a resort hotel.

Who says those visions must be mutually exclusive? In spring 2004, the Virginia-based Dominion DX Group (DDXG) set out to prove they are not.

Wanting to combine a ham radio event with friends and family, minus the visions of wind-blown tents perched on the likes of Kingman Reef, the club opted for an IOTA event on Virginia's Chesapeake Bay. No generators. No KP duty. No hardships. No nagging spouse. The fact that many of the club's members still have recurring nightmares about a 2001 radio weekend where mosquitoes, thunderstorms and lightning kept them in their tents much of the time may have also come into play. That event, although high profile, taxed even the heartiest team members and ended with an abrupt Coast Guard evacuation.

"DXpedition Lite"

Call it DXpedition-lite if you will. But how many of us really have the luxury of time and resources to travel to a remote rock for three or more weeks? While stories of sub-zero temperatures, dangerous boat landings and erecting vertical antennas in an ocean of sea lion poop make it real DX for some of us, such would be the first, last and only trip for a non-ham spouse. The bottom line for the DDXG was the knowledge that island-chasers worldwide won't pass up a chance to bag another entity, even if it's not at the top of the "most wanted" list. At the same time, the goal was but a few hours (and a car, boat and golf cart) away.

What drew in the wives? "Honey? Some of the guys in the club were talking about chartering a boat and taking a ride to Tangier Island one weekend and working a little radio. What do you say we all go and stay at a bed and breakfast? I've left the Web site of the B-and-B up on the computer for you to see."

The pre-tourist season visit to Tangier Island (NA-083) was more like an assault. Taking over all nine cottages at Shirley's Bed and Breakfast late Friday afternoon, the wives unpacked clothes while the husbands set up antennas. Club member and pilot Warren Mitchell, KO4XB, arrived late, flying in with two other operators. Operating three stations Friday night and Saturday on 10-80 meters, the group managed to make almost 900 contacts via CW, PSK and phone, despite some dicey band conditions.

What else happened? Books were read. Beaches and shops were explored. Local cuisine was experienced and mid-afternoon naps were taken. Time was spent with spouses and friends. It may be "DXpedition-lite," but my wife is ready to return, even if there were no sea lions.

Quality Time With (and Without) the Radio

Perhaps there is a point of radio interest near you where you can enjoy the benefits of family and ham radio. For some reason, it seems we too often focus on radio and neglect those opportunities that can involve the whole family. I may not be setting a record, but I am racking up some valuable points in the Logbook of My Home.

Look around. It may not be number two on the "most wanted" list, but the pile-up may be only a few hours and a weekend away. And your family may want to go back again.

Parke Slater, N4KFT, an Amateur Extra, has been licensed since 2000. He is interested in all sorts of Amateur Radio activities, with VHF sideband being his primary focus. A charter member of the Dominion DX Group, both of his children are licensed amateurs, although his wife still has yet to give in to sit for her ticket. Parke is a police officer living in Sandston, Virginia.

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