DX Standards of Behaviout

[Steve Green NEPA]

Steve Green
Participant


This is a fusty old standard, going back to the 60’s. I don’t know from where it originated (probably one of the DX Clubs, and maybe only among orthodox hobbyists).

Only AM stations heard within ten miles of your original den and original totals list ‘count’.

10 1/2 miles — nope.

Our group of four DXers near JFK Airport adhered to that 11th Commandment. So did another group of DXers in north Queens, near Bayside/Throgs Neck Bridge.

Short Wave was another matter. Our coterie figured that if a station from around the world came in around the world, then the restraints got loosened.

25 miles or less from the main den for short wave.

There were some DXers that would not officially count a station until a QSL was received.

Others would be content if the station were taped.

Hobbyists have their idiosyncrasies while they collect their pursuits, whatever they consider genuine.

Anyone else here have a standard or two as a guide?

 

[cyberdad]

Interesting stuff.

Just speaking for myself, I think the rules are good for serious DXers, such as members of clubs, and/or those looking to make serious apples to apples comparisons.

Then there are guys like me, sho are only in it for fun. So...for better or worse...my personal rules are basically no rules. Which is not to say I have a problem who go about DXing in a more structured fashion. On the contrary, I admire those who follow that approach. But the casual approach is more suitable for me.

One thing I will say is that I think level of difficulty should be a bigger consideration in evaluating catches. What's more difficult? 1 watt WSQR 25 miles from me? Or 50kw ND KNX half a continent away on a crowded channel (at least around my home location)?

But to me, that's one of the nice things about DX. "To each his (or her) own".

 

[CADXER]

I keep a detailed log for all my DX (MW, LW, SW, FM and TV). I don't follow any standard set by DX clubs. The reason being is because each club might have different standards and I have been a member of quite a few of them throughout the years (NRC, IRCA, NASWA, CADX). My own personal standard is 10 miles from my original location for both MW and SW.

I count any station that I can positively ID, and that does not necessarily mean hearing call letters or official ID. These days matching a station web stream to actual programming hear on radio counts as a log for me.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Thanks for the response, Cyber! Interesting stuff as well!

I moved out to here in 1993, a place a little outside the Ten Mile Radius.
Well, more like 135 miles west of the radius.
So .... I began the totals list again. The odometer went back to 000. To have another bash. Somewhere along the journey I shed some 1500 AM stations from the list.
Of course, maybe 1499 of those were from the 60's and 70's, when the dial was far, far quieter. And I was the lousiest of the four DXers near JFK Airport. The 'new' totals list from NEPA stands at something like 340 AM stations.
If there had been anything (like music) recently listenable on the AM dial, I might've had the itch to try to get that total up to more respectable 400. But mostly in the 60's I'd tape music and station IDs and jingles when I was at the dials. Every so often a surprise station came in.

I hear what you say and mean, though, Cyber. Besides, what else are hobbies for except POing the spouse and running up the bills? To each his own!
73

 

[cyberdad]

Thanks Steve.... I'd be liar if I said I hadn't POed Mrs. Cyberdad on occasion. But 99% of the time she's very supportive and understanding. She knows that it's my fun. And for my part, I try to not be "in her face with it". I do almost all of my DX with the headphones on, which doesn't bother her in the slightest.

And @CADXer is exactly the type of DXer I take my hat off for. He has many, many more impressive catches than I do, as well he should. Same goes for crainbebo, Jim in San Antonio and many others here.

For my part, I'm happy with my approach and experiences and results. Right down to just fooling around with my little old beat up SRF-37, or the obviously tired and lame Eaton E-10 I also have with me here this month on the beach. (But, yeah, I also brought the Supe II).

It's a big tent. And IMHO, that's exactly what it should be.

 

[gr8oldies]

I certainly remember those stating that only the pursuit of QSLs was a legitimate hobby. As for me, I have no rules. If it's intresting, I take notes. I enjoy seeing what's on the dial wherever I am, whether it's in my car or on an SDR in the Arctic or West Coast.

 

[radioman148]

Thanks Steve.... I'd be liar if I said I hadn't POed Mrs. Cyberdad on occasion. But 99% of the time she's very supportive and understanding. She knows that it's my fun. And for my part, I try to not be "in her face with it". I do almost all of my DX with the headphones on, which doesn't bother her in the slightest.

And @CADXer is exactly the type of DXer I take my hat off for. He has many, many more impressive catches than I do, as well he should. Same goes for crainbebo, Jim in San Antonio and many others here.

For my part, I'm happy with my approach and experiences and results. Right down to just fooling around with my little old beat up SRF-37, or the obviously tired and lame Eaton E-10 I also have with me here this month on the beach. (But, yeah, I also brought the Supe II).

It's a big tent. And IMHO, that's exactly what it should be.

Same here. I salute CADXer, Crain and others who have snagged more DX then I ever could. These days mainly because of all the surrounding noise I'm enjoying DXing mostly on the SDRs. My attitude is any DX is good DX. Oh, and yes my wife has also said "don't start doing that in the car". At home it's always with headphones!

 

[CTListener]

In your shortwave QSL quests, did you have any reservations about trying to pry QSLs out of utility stations or hams to check off countries or states/provinces unavailable to you through broadcasters, or did you limit yourselves to broadcast stations only? I admit to getting my Northwest Territories QSL from a ham and knocking off Jamaica (if memory serves me correctly) through a ute.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

On spouses and other household occupants within loop-antenna range, two stories:

1. One night me and my Insignificant Other were driving between the southern Queens and Brooklyn neighbourhoods many years back. She is from Scranton PA. Somehow I had found this pop-music station on in the car, on 1200. And I was yakking away and pointing out to her the various architectural differences between the two counties. The music on 1200 stopped.
She: 'Shhh. Shut up.'
Radio: 'CFGO Ottawa.'
She: 'Okay. You were saying?'
CFGO was a brand new catch for me. And it was well within the Ten Mile Radius, hi.

2. My Mom was horrfied one day at the condition of the basement DX den. Throughout it there were strewn papers and coverage maps, tubes, loop antennae, empty bottles, a stray thermos, station record surveys, clothing, radios -- the usual outfitting for a genuine hobby.
Mom had quite a bit of that Yogi Berra-type reasoning to her. 'I want you to clean up all that stuff in the basement,' she told me one day. 'It's filled with DX.'

 

[cyberdad]

@Steve...

LOL!

 

[boombox4]

My own personal take on supposed DX rules, is that I don't adhere to any rules except my own... MW DXing is supposed to be fun, not work. Life is too short to worry about where I was when I heard whatever station, and whether it makes it an 'official' catch or not. This has always been my personal policy on my logged station lists. That said, if I logged something 150 miles away and put it on a MW forum I'll say where I was when I logged the station. It still goes in the list.

The ten mile rule sounded great except what if you live in a low signals area and the one nine miles away is a seashore that is a veritable DX magnet? Versus another guy who might live in an area that is mountains, all around, for hundreds of miles? Any rules are arbitrary, and that's probably why I put little stock in them. Either you hear the station or not, and note where you heard it from, put it in your list whichever way you want.. It all works.

 

[KR1S]

I take a sigint approach to confirming. With so many stations on some channels, how do you know which one you're hearing? The station's website, if it has one, is a clue. If they advertise they run Rush Limbaugh and you're hearing Tejano music, it's not that station! Weather reports and local ads. Every two-bit restaurant and gin mill in the country has at least a Facebook page. Streaming can work, but I have so many gadgets in my browser, by the time I get the stream running, the station has faded anyway. As in sigint, sometimes you work by elimination, not confirmation. When you have eliminated all other possibilities, Watson.... Listening at sunrise/sunset is another tactic. If they disappear at sunrise time in some part of North America, that's a good clue. It's probably not another station on the channel but farther west. But hey, it's a hobby, and should be enjoyed. I don't favor imposing a strict set of rules; there are enough of those in life already. If you say you got it, that's good enough for me.

Jim

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I've matched an UNID FM Catch when i was out east with only 8 seconds of audio .. how? French talk, found a french speaking friend, we ID'd it was the CBC french talk network .. and poured over relevant canadian databases and found the station.

I only DX from home, anything else, even in a car 2 miles away... counts, with a caveat/star next to the logging.

I dont wait for an ID, when dxing i have topazdesigns.com/ambc and radio-locator.com pulled up so i can quickly search, look for a website and or webstream. Sometimes i dont find a stream only a program schedule.

I dont keep a paper or electronic log book, but everything I "log" is recorded on mp3 audio, after dxing, i load the files into an audio editor and trim them down and save them as "Calls, city of license/state, day of the week, month date year and local time in my time zone"

My DXing, my "Rules" so to speak

 

[K6JHU]

I guess what doesn't count is going on a business trip or vacation and scanning the dial in the rental car

 

[cyberdad]

Here's a question for you guys...

I'm currently in a location with some of the worst ground conductivity in America. After more than three decades of coming here, before dawn this morning on a graveyard channel from 90 miles away I heard a station that I've never heard so much as even a trace of before. Obviously short skip skywave. I can provide more details if anyone is interested, but the general question is this.... In your opinion, per your standards, is this type of catch "legitimate" or "impressive"? Or something else entirely?

I'd be interesting in getting your thoughts. No such thing as a wrong answer.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Here's a question for you guys...

I'm currently in a location with some of the worst ground conductivity in America. After more than three decades of coming here, before dawn this morning on a graveyard channel from 90 miles away I heard a station that I've never heard so much as even a trace of before. Obviously short skip skywave. I can provide more details if anyone is interested, but the general question is this.... In your opinion, per your standards, is this type of catch "legitimate" or "impressive"? Or something else entirely?

I'd be interesting in getting your thoughts. No such thing as a wrong answer.

whats impressive is all unique to each location, person, and equipment. I can hear some AM's regularly at 150 miles but i have a giant antenna and some good ground conductivity

 

[boombox4]

If it's unusual, then it's DX. That's my take on it. Normally at night I hear KUMA Pendleton 1290 almost local-like. When I heard it at one in the afternoon that loud (during the solar eclipse), it was DX, because of the unusual conditions and the unusual reception.

I would consider your unusual reception as DX. Of course, if you put it up on a forum or list somewhere, an explanation as to why a station 100 miles away is 'DX' would help others understand why the reception was so cool to hear. In your case, it wasn't an eclipse, but obviously there was some situation in the ionosphere that boosted your unusual reception.

Short answer -- it's legitimate.

 

[CADXER]

@ cyberdad, absolutely it's legitimate, and a great catch as well. If you report your catch as long as you provide details such as the location and receiving equipment it's a legitimate log.

 

[cyberdad]

@ cyberdad, absolutely it's legitimate, and a great catch as well. If you report your catch as long as you provide details such as the location and receiving equipment it's a legitimate log.

Thanks guys. As I said "no such thing as a wrong answer".

The details.... Chaannel 1230khz. Radio: SRF-37 walkman. Location: Perdido Key Florida. 23 miles southwest of downtown Pensacola on the Gulf Coast beach at the Alabama state line. I'm in Florida. Alabama is less than 100 yards away to my west.

Pensacola has a 1230, WDWR (ex-WNVY), which is currently off the air. Normally what I hear daytime at this QTH is WDWR with a fair signal. 23 miles away via mostly a very poor conductivity land path. Also daytime, WBOK from New Orleans is present but clearly audible under WDWR. Nothing no about that, WBOK has been present here daily for at least three or four decades. At night WBOK and WDWR both disappear into the "mess" typical of GY channels.

Now, with WDWR off, WBOK's weak signal is on top of the channel during the day.

So yesterday morning (2/7), I was hanging out on 1230 when WKWL from Florala, Alabama rose to the top and stayed there for about 10-15 minutes...allbeit with a couple of fades. WKWL is located about 90 miles to my northeast. I've never heard them before at this location....day or night. No doubt...at least during daytime....due to the very poor ground conductivity.

So that's it in a nutshell. I went outside yesterday afternoon (again, 2/7) with the GE Superadio-II. I nulled WBOK wondering if I'd hear WKWL, but I did not. Although there was a mix of unidentifiable very weak signals on the channel. In all probability WKWL could have been one of those, but none of what I was hearing was close to being identifiable. I also tried 1230 in the car running a late morning errand, but WBOK was all alone.

So yes, it was circumstances and "right place at the right time". Interesting to me is that currently, I wouldn't count the station 160 miles away as DX, but the one only 90 miles distant on the same channel with the same power is something that I would count as such!

 

[kf4rca]

The problem with SW is that many broadcasters use relays. Radio Nederland used to use the RCI (Sackville Canada) as a relay. Their signal blasted in up and down the eastern seaboard. You had to have a pretty insensitive radio not to receive them.
Many of the graveyarders are impossible to DX. They aren't running any spots so you can't use that to locate the station. So you must wait for the TOH ID and hope its not in a fade at that time. And then many of the Hispanic stations plug in to satellite programming and don't even run TOH ID's.
But I think ALL broadcasters appreciate reception reports. They show these to potential clients as proof that "we're really reaching out."