Anyone think you're weird for DXing?

[dxnemo78]

I had my 20 YO nephew with me in the car the other day, and we were in Ottumwa, IA (about 90 miles from home for me). Itching to do some random daytime DXing, I switched on the radio and said something about trying to find and ID distant stations. As expected, he gave me one of his "What the f***!!!" looks, but I knew he couldn't keep from talking very long, anyway A product of the ipod-MP3 generation, they don't know what they miss ;D

I believe my late father had a bit of interest, or at least was aware that there were more radio stations than those less than 50 miles away. Powerhouse KWMT in Fort Dodge (a good 300 miles NW of here) was one of his favorites, as they played his favorite music (50's and 60's Country-Honkytonk). I also remember him saying that my Grandfather listened to WHO in Des Moines because they lived closer to it (which was perhaps 15 miles NW of where we were at ;D

 

[missterled01]

I was nearly 11 yrs old when I got my first transistor radio. Then later on the Dxing bug bit me. I had been out one night with dad and was astonished at receiving KWKH, Shreveport. My cousin didn't live there yet, so I didn't exactly know where it was. Also heard WFAA in DFW, when they shared the frequency with WBAP. Also heard XERF on this same night,but did notrealize that it was just across the border from Del Rio, TX--wherever THAT was. So here I was logging WLS, KAAY,KMOX,KLIF (on 1190 at the time), and others, not realizing there was a hobby dealing with all this. My dad was working in the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham area in the mid-70s and would usually losten to WWL, when he'd leave for work early on Monday mornings. He made the remark that WWL could be heard all over the country. So, I kept that in mind every distant place I would go, especially if I wanted to know what weather conditions I could expect close to home (since they weren't but 100 miles from my home locale). From Las Vegas, Omaha, Milwaukee,and near Asheville, NC,and Near Ft Myers, FL ,it was so. In 1978, I obtained a copy of Communications World magazine, which also featured White's radio log,and I knew it was a matter of time before i would find some radio clubs to get involved in. Bylooking in the log, i also discovered why some of my favorite stations would just disappear all of a sudden around sundown. They were supposed to!!! I also at one time kept up with all stations received and in 1996, thinking that I had found the girl of my dreams, got rid of every thing I had related to the hobby, even a box full of (mostly) vintage bumper stickers. But the memories ofhearing the KFIs and WABCs of the world still sticks with me today.I thought about getting back into the hobby, but even with the help of radio-locator or other related site, would not recall every thing from a vast period of time. Yes, I was a weirdo, in a sense, and proud of it!!!!

 

[radioman148]

>>there are so many people who caught KFI from the east coast in the 60's that seemed to be "the hook" that started/kept them DX ing. I'm curious what stations west coasters coveted at that time and very occasionally caught? >>

In the 60s I was able to pick up WCBS, WBZ, & WABC (after KOB signoff) fairly regularly in Southern Cal.
Even in the 70s & early 80s when KRVN would signoff WCBS could still be heard on the west coast.
Of course midwest stations like WLS & WBBM were easy catches in California. In fact WLS still came in very well on car radios in the California deserts in the late 80s before KDXU went full time on 890.

 

[Aljr]

I grew up deep in the hills of WV. Everything was DX. Two tv channels if you were lucky and maybe five/six AM stations you could hear decently during the day. People would drive to the top of the hill to listen to the Cincinnati Reds games roll in on WLW or WVU sports coming in from Beckley or a Charleston station. Dx'ing was kind of normal and some of the homemade antennas you saw were pretty comical.

(There was a reason they built the Green Bank Radio Observatory there,nothing to cause RFI.)

At night it was another story,the AM band would open up. With nothing high powered locally you could hear forever.

Someone mentioned WAPE. I remember the Georgia Prophet condemning sinners to Hell and begging for money late in the night on the APE.

I'm heading to the Outer Banks next week. I'll have my yearly run in with the beach cops thinking I'm either a smuggler or a Commie spy as I settle down with my radio come dark in the dunes.

 

[Icangelp]

I was handsome, a jock and a dx'er when in high school. I just kept quiet about the dx part of my life. Some things are best done behind closed doors.

Fortunately for me, one of my friends was also into the dx hobby, and we would spend hours listening for short wave catches. He didn't share my love for AM dx.

 

[EggsOverEasy87]

Of course people thing im weird.

I discovered DXing on accident in high school when I was scanning through my car radio driving to school...and it stopped on an unusual frequency. I learned it was a station out of East Texas and when I figured that out, I wondered why I was hearing something from so far away. So I did some research, and from there, I was hooked on Dxing.

I kept quiet about it in high school and started being more open about my strange hobbie when I got to college. A lot of my friends think I have too much time on my hands...but believe it or not some of my friends have been fascinated by the phenomenon.

 

[TheDingo]

people do wonder why I have a car stereo hooked up to a boombox with rabbit ears sometimes, lol