VE3XD

 
Many licensed hams like myself got their start by first listening to shortwave and mediumwave radio stations. The real kick here is sending a reception report to a distant station and receiving a card or letter in reply. I have collected many cards from shortwave stations all over the world ranging from the easy ones such as Radio Canada International, the BBC and Voice of America to more difficult catches including Radio Nacional do Brasil, TGNA Guatemala, Radio Iceland, Radio Toga, and Radio Sultanate of Oman. Unlike the Internet you hear these stations directly without any connection between you and the station.

Mediumwave DXing can also be a lot of fun and arguably a lot more challenging than shortwave. Mediumwave is the regular AM broadcast band and since virtually everyone has an AM radio it's easy to get started. Many AM stations also verify a report with a card or letter and I have many of these.

If you are interested in learning more about SW or MW DXing then check out my ODXA web pages for how to get started. These pages also explain listening techniques and how to prepare a reception report that gets results. Find these pages at
http://www.odxa.on.ca/beginnersguide/dxguide.html

Here are some of the cards that I have in my collection from shortwave stations.

Deutsche Welle is a widely heard and respected German shortwave station. It is easily heard in many areas of the world and they will gladly verify your report as seen here in this card received in 1993.

Radio St. Helena is at the other end of the spectrum. It only broadcasts one day a year and as of 1999 may not broadcast again. It is not a strong station but I have been able to verify it several times.

Many stations in the world do not broadcast in English so identifying them is doubly difficult unless of course you speak their language. Ecos del Torbes in Venezuela is one such station and although I sent an English report they apparently thought it was accurate and as a result sent me their colourful card.

Another type of shortwave station is the utility station such as the time signal stations. An easy one is WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado and another (at least here in Ontario) is CHU in Ottawa, Canada. This card is from WWV's sister station WWVH in Hawaii. To hear it you need to listen 15 seconds before WWV's time report given by a male voice and you might hear the time given by a female. The female voice is from WWVH.

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