My how MW DX has changed. National Radio Club logs from 1950's

[gar hi]

Hi gang,
This might be of interest to some of you. Earlier this evening, I was going through my file cabinet and ran across a notebook
where my dad had written down all the stations he had heard from 1929 to 1953. We moved from Syracuse, NY to Corning, NY
in 1953, so this was his way of adding up what he had heard upstate.

I scanned the 22 pages and put them up on my homemade radios website. Here is the link: Old Time Logs

Several years ago I scanned some of his qsl cards and placed them here: Old Time Logs

Enjoy
Dave

Oh WOW!

I've only started to read those old logs and it's amazing!

I thought KFI was a great catch from there and then I notice all these much lower power stations from California too!

And I thought DXing in the 70s was so great?

 

[Dave-N2DS]

Thanks, guys. But wait, there's more!

I scanned around 150 verification letters that my dad collected. I had wanted to do this for
a long time and share it with everyone. So now, on one page there are three sections. Count them, three!

Old qsl cards.

List of stations heard starting in 1929

and the verification letters.

And now, here is the link Old dx information

I'll see if I can adjust the link shown above.

Dave

 

[cd637299]

Even the 1970s, when I seriously started this hobby with nothing but 1 Vane Jones book, were nothing like the 1920s & 30s.

If you ever see a microfilm of a newspaper from those years & a radio guide, sometimes you will see a list of all the stations that will carry a certain program, even if they are hundreds of miles away. It was the only way certain people could catch their favorite show....fading notwithstanding.

cd

 

[crainbebo]

I have picked up 1700 KVNS Brownsville from my QTH in Bothell, WA. 2021 miles as the crow flies. Also have gotten a TENTATIVE 1630 KCJJ. I heard Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" about 8PM at night in late March. Not sure if it was or not. It was fighting with KRND and IBOC from KDZR 1640.

-crainbebo

 

[kilokat7]

Thanks, guys. But wait, there's more!

I scanned around 150 verification letters that my dad collected. I had wanted to do this for
a long time and share it with everyone. So now, on one page there are three sections. Count them, three!

Old qsl cards.

List of stations heard starting in 1929

and the verification letters.

And now, here is the link Old dx information

I'll see if I can adjust the link shown above.

Dave,

This is a very nice tribute to your father. Thanks much for sharing his passion with the rest of us. The old QSL cards are great and I've really enjoyed looking at them. It's wonderful to see this kind of history preserved for others. I had a Majestic 90B in my radio collection for the longest time - beautiful old set!

 

[Dave-N2DS]

Thank you very much.

I also knew the famous 1930's BCB listener Carleton Lord. He was the BCB editor for RaDeX for a
long time. He was from Ohio but moved to western New York.

By chance my dad and Carl were at a community meeting. When everyone was asked to state
their name, my dad heard Carleton Lord. Figuring there weren't too many of them, he went over
and asked him if he was who my dad thought he was. Come to find out, he lived a block away.

I was wondering if anyone knew or heard of Carl? He and my dad also published a station listing
of all the BCB stations here in the US and maybe further. Does anyone have one of these? It was
published in the late 50's.

Since I started crystal radio dxing about 8 years ago, I have become interested. I help with a
summer homemade radio contest at my website

Dave

 

[davideduardo]

I was wondering if anyone knew or heard of Carl? He and my dad also published a station listing
of all the BCB stations here in the US and maybe further. Does anyone have one of these? It was
published in the late 50's.

I certainly knew of Carleton Lord, and, of course, Radex.

http://www.davidgleason.com/Radex_Master_Page.htm

 

[8638]

[/quote]

690 is so, so directional. Even the NE part of the San Diego market can not get them at night... in the Palm Springs area it is non-existant at night on a car radio... of course, 690 is the wrong part of the dial for skywave and 1700 is nearly Tropical Band Shortwave!

Also, I heard but have not confirmed that the rebuild of the 690 site a number of years ago (when they went to 77 kw daytime) was intended to supress skywave, because with the desire to serve the LA area they were getting cancellation at night previously. That may also explain whey in SLC it is not a big signal.
[/quote]

I used to listen to XETRA in its "69 XTRA Gold" incarnation on Sunday nights driving back from the San Fernando Valley to Twentynine Palms, on the 10 and 62. Never any problem receiving it NNE of Palm Springs. This was circa 1986, though. Barely existent at night from Las Vegas into Southern Utah back then, though.

 

[BRNout]

I used to listen to XETRA in its "69 XTRA Gold" incarnation on Sunday nights driving back from the San Fernando Valley to Twentynine Palms, on the 10 and 62. Never any problem receiving it NNE of Palm Springs. This was circa 1986, though. Barely existent at night from Las Vegas into Southern Utah back then, though.

Interesting that you bring this up because I recall being able to consistently listen to a solid nighttime signal when it was 'The Mighty 690' from Steamboat Springs, CO back in 1982 or so, yet I had a heck of a time getting it from Utah during the 1980s. Always found that to be odd, but it must have to do with their pattern.

 

[cyberdad]

I used to catch XETRA from time to time on visits to Nor-Cal if I was far enough away from KNBR's stick. Signal was never very good and IIRC, CBU usually owned the channel.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

From Central Kentucky, I have personally had two way contacts with all 50 states and 40 foreign countries on the 160 meter band using no more than 500 watts PEP Single Side Band from a slopping wire antenna from my 48 ft tower.

Very impressive. You must be blessed to live in a low QRN zone.

 

[cyberdad]

My wife's brother has been a ham for nearly 40 years since he was in high school (got the radio bug from me when I was dating his sister). He's now worked over 100 countries plus all states and provinces. Mostly with 500 watts or less, and more often than not on 40 meters. He's not all that active....perhaps in his shack 2-3 days a month on average. As has been stated previously, power has less to do with it than finding an open channel with the right conditions.