On Shortwave Radio

Shortwave radio listening (or DX’ing) is another hobby, somewhat like stamp collecting, that seems to have fallen on hard times. You can sort of blame this on the internet, I suppose; with stamps, e-mail is the method of choice for sending letters all over. Many nations have figured this out and either reduced their shortwave radio broadcasts, or cut them outright.

As a hobby, it’s not like baseball or football cards in that you can collect a set of them relatively easily as there is a card shop or two in every city, it seems like. The same can be said of comic books; and with both not only is condition a factor, but then, you have to put them somewhere. You try storing ten years of comic books; if you take ten titles a month, that’s 120 issues a year...and that doesn't count back issues!

Nor is is like collecting coins in which you really need to quit looking at your change and start with things like proof sets in order to have a collection worth something. Trust me on this one. You might have a complete set of old wheat ear pennies, but if they look like they went through the mill, they won’t be worth more than about 14 cents each, if that. Better you should collect proof sets.

For openers, to listen to DX programming...you need to have a shortwave radio. They are not cheap; in fact, a really good one will set you back over a hundred and fifty bucks or more. I actually have two: A DAK model DMR-3000 (which is small and digital) and an older Realistic DX-150A (which is a large boxy thing and analog). Both are in really good shape.

You will also need a good antenna; the best one I ever had was about 100 feet of copper wire that ran the length on my folks attic, and out to a tree in the backyard. Currently, I use a small powered antenna with a core made from all that old wire. Not as good, but serviceable.

Then there’s trying to get a signal here. As alluded to before, many nations have cut their DX signals to North America, making it a little harder than before to get a signal worth listening to. With the DMR-3000, I can punch in the frequency and hopefully get something. With the DX-150A, it’s fiddling with the dials and hope it pulls in a signal.

Once you have a signal, you log in your log book the frequency, the time, what you heard, the broadcaster, and several other bits of info. Then you send off to the broadcaster for verification, using your own cash to do so (unless they have an e-submission form). They often will require you, if you want a response, to enclose some sort of remuneration. (It used to be a International Postal Money Order. Today, it may well be PayPal.)

What do you get once you’ve actually logged something and sent off a reception report? If you’re lucky, something called a QSL card. And if you’re really lucky, a few other goodies such as pennants, pins, buttons, patches, etc. (You can click here to see a number of my QSL cards.) Oh, yes--you’ll also be added to the their mailing list for a year or two. Or three.

It sounds easy, but it’s not. Sunspots, weather conditions, time of day, antenna length, signal strength, the number of trees in your way, power lines, and a host of other factors can keep you from getting anything fit to log in.

So, why bother at all?

Well, it can also be fun and somewhat educational. Granted, with the internet you can just go to a country and and see if they have a podcast in English, but that does not teach you things like patience. Fiddling with the knobs on the radio, waiting on the mail, and waiting sometimes for the station ID (especially if you just missed it) teaches one patience. It does not teach you several other things. (True enough, however, listening to a podcast does teach you some about the host nation.)

It also teaches you perseverance. Because every year or so, these QSL cards change designs, many of them. So for some of your favorites, you have to go back and mail a new report, to get a new QSL card. (Of course, some never change. I have several from a DX station that essentially hadn’t changed in ten plus years.)

Every once in awhile, I’ll pull out the DX radio and see what I can catch. Even Canada-which is only 360 miles or so from where I live-isn’t really easy anymore, but I figured I’d start there and see where I could go to after that.

Hmm-makes me wonder where I can get some stamps for an old album I have....

Enough for now.