STATIONS

• WWNY 1948 Test - DX tests ("Courtesy Programs") have always been a staple of the BCB (AM) DXing hobby. One such test was conducted by WWNY-790 in Watertown, NY, on Nov. 1, 1948. Here is a file with an article from the Watertown Daily Times newspaper acknowledging some of the reception reports received, the 1948 WWNY QSL letter, and selected pages from both the NNRC and NRC club bulletins regarding the test. This is an example of how a DX event of the past can be brought to life through the use of multiple resources (in this case a newspaper clipping, bulletin collections, and the CPRV files).
• WWJ - The battle over who was the "first" broadcasting station in the U.S. began long ago and still fosters strong opinions. Although most people give the prize to KDKA, WWJ has long made a strong case for the title. Here is a pamphlet issued by The Detroit News that describes both the newspaper and it's station, WWJ. It looks like the pamphlet dates from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The station traces its lineage back to a predecessor amateur station, 8MK, which carried the newspaper's reports of the Michigan primaries over two months before the initial KDKA broadcast.
• African External Service Schedules - Here are several schedules of African stations that had external services transmitting on the international HF bands. They are: ELWA, circa 1962; Ghana Broadcasting Corp., 1961 (tnx Tom Carten, Wilkes-Barre, PA) and 1969; Radio Brazzaville, c. 1962; R. Leopoldville, c. 1962 (tnx Bob Schmid, LaPorte, CO); and R. Madagascar, 1973 (one-hour service on 17730 kHz., 100 kw).
• SORAFOM (Societe de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre-Mer) - Tuning through the 60 meter band today, it is hard to imagine the DX that could be heard on those frequencies 50 years ago. Among the best sources of signals were the stations in the countries of what was then called French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa. By 1960, most of these countries had become independent, and their stations were affiliated with SORAFOM, Societe de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre-Mer, a French government organization formed in 1956 to aid development of broadcasting in the former French territories. Here is a schedule of the SORAFOM stations as of September 30, 1960. As can be seen, most of the shortwave transmitters were 4 kw. units. Despite this low power, many were routine catches on east coast afternoons.
• "Facts About the BBC" - This booklet was published by the BBC circa 1961.
• "The Voice of America At 25" - This pamphlet was issued by the VOA in 1967 on its 25th anniversary.
• "NBC Around the World" - Here is a pamphlet from 1936 which commemorates NBC's tenth anniversary. It describes the NBC networks ("red" and "blue" in those days), studios and artists, and then discusses NBC global activities. NBC was the source of much of the programming that went out over American shortwave stations in those days, and a good deal of company promotion centered around the shortwave programs that were prepared for reception abroad and the foreign programming that was received here and rebroadcast over NBC domestic stations. You can get the flavor of this in some of the pages in the second half of this pamphlet. A list of NBC network stations, including shortwavers, is on the next-to-the-last page.
• TI4NRH - Here is a 4-page folder from the well-known early Costa Rican shortwave station, TI4NRH. It contains a typewritten letter dated 1931 from station owner Amando Cespedes Marin to one Milton Carlson, W9FFQ, of Rockford, Illinois, inviting him to listen and urging him to buy ACM's then soon-to-be-published book, "Me and Little Radio NRH," some sample pages of which he enclosed. The printed part of the folder also contains comments from prospective readers of the book, plus a summary of the book's contents. Set your PDF reader for side-by-side viewing for best effect on this one. And look under "Book Reviews" on this site for a previously-posted review of "Me and Little Radio NRH." Here is another interesting TI4NRH artifact (in the "CPRV Gallery"): a 1922 postcard QSL from Ames, Iowa broadcast station WOI-9YI (9YI was its amateur/experimental call). What is noteworthy about it is the handstamp on the address side, "Radio Emisora Ti4NRH Heredia Costa Rica," and the handwritten notation, "Read it too Dec 6-1941," over ACM's signature. What do you suppose caused the recipient of the QSL, who lived in North Dakota, to send it to ACM? And did ACM read it over the air?
• CKFX, Vancouver, BC, Canada - Here is a collection of materials about station CKFX, Vancouver, BC, Canada, prepared by Harold Sellers. It includes two histories of the station; some 1996 and 1997 notes from Arthur Cushen and Ben Krepp about the station's closing, together with Arthur's 1940 QSL; a 1982 CKFX-CKWX letter to Harold Sellers about the station; photos and diagrams of the station's equipment and its building; and four QSLs from 1934, 1936 and 1956 from the CPRV collection.
• Radio Canada International Monitoring Station - Here is some information about the RCI monitoring station in Stittsville, Ontario: some technical information about the RCI transmitter and monitoring plants (1987); a description of the monitoring station (1991); and some photos taken at Stittsville. Thanks to Harold Sellers for this.
• OXZ - A booklet, "Lyngby Radio Calling," which tells the story of Lyngby Radio, OXZ, the Danish coastal station whose history dates to 1904. (Lyngby Radio ceased operating on shortwave on October 1, 2009.) Thanks to Jim Cumbie of Texas for sending this in.
• Japan Wireless Telegraph Company - Here is a group of postcard views, undated, of Japan Wireless Telegraph Company facilities. The company, a semi-official organization, was formed in 1925 to assume control over the government commercial (utility) radio stations. There are six cards: a map of the country's stations, views of the Kaizo and Fukuoka receiving stations, and views of the Yosami, Haranomachi and Tomioka transmitting stations.
• E. I. A. R. - Italy - In the 1930s, E.I.A.R., "Ente Italiano Audizioni Radiofoniche," Rome, was Italy's shortwave station. Broadcasting from the Prato Smeraldo site, "2RO" had a well-developed foreign service, as reflected in this June 1937 program schedule.
• Radio Ghana - No doubt it has been some time since the postman has brought you a schedule for the External Service of Radio Ghana. Here is one for the period January-March 1977. Along with African political news, it contains the schedules for the station's six English services, two French services, and two Arabic services, together with services in Portuguese, Hausa and Swahili. Just reading the frequencies on the back cover reminds us -- not that we need it -- how much the shortwave scene has changed. Ghana's external service began in the early 1960s. In 1977 it was on 6130, 9545, 11850, 15285, 17870, 21545, 21720 kHz. It is hard to believe that it was over 30 years ago.
• Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation - Here is some interesting material on the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation that was received from Martin Hadlow, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. Martin was actively involved in the development of the SIBC, and has sent a booklet which he produced commemorating the opening of the SIBC Broadcasting House in 1982, together with a broadcasting-related First Day Cover issued by the Solomons in 1984.
• VU2ZP - Here is an interesting historical item from VU2ZP, an early Armed Forces Radio Service station located in Bangalore, India, in the "China-Burma-India" theater. A mediumwave station, it operated on 1355 kc. There is some history about the station on the web at http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/roundup/roundup122745.html and http://www.cbi-history.com/part_vi.html.
• The Voice of Denmark - Here is a file containing three issues of "The Voice of Denmark," a quarterly newsletter published by that station's shortwave department. Included are the newsletter's first issue, published in the fourth quarter of 1958, plus issues from the third quarter of 1959 and the first quarter of 1961. Intended to appeal to a broad audience, there were articles in English, Danish and Spanish. The 1958 issue contains an introduction to the station and a description of the English department; the 1959 issue has an article (and photo) of WRTH publisher (and Voice of Denmark DX bulletin preparer) O. Lund Johansen; and the 1961 issue contains a photo of Hans Hansen, the "Saturday Night Club" host at the time. Each issue contains a schedule of the station's shortwave broadcasts.
• CHNX, Halifax, Nova Scotia - Harold Sellers has written an interesting history about this former Canadian shortwave station that many listeners will remember operated on 6130 kHz.
• OTC, Leopoldville, the Belgian Congo - The Congo, both the Belgian and French parts, offered some of the most interesting listening in the 1950s and 1960s, with OTC located in the former, and Radio Brazzaville in the latter. During the war, both had served as the colonial voice of their home countries. Afterwards, they retained a certain autonomy, broadcasting to the world from their exotic locations. The pamphlet we have posted from OTC appears to have been issued around 1949, and contains information about Belgium, the Congo, and the station itself. Part of Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, OTC broadcast with 50 kw. Its audience orientation made it a favorite among shortwave listeners everywhere, and it often carried special programs for particular clubs. As noted in the pamphlet, it had DX programs in multiple languages, and OTC received so many letters from Sweden that it had a regular program in Swedish. It lost its distinct identity in 1952, after which it served as a relay of Brussels until Congolese independence in 1960 brought its closure.
• Radio Australia - In "days of yore," many of the larger SWBC stations issued informative printed schedules to listeners on their mailing list. Some of these contained extensive program, time and frequency information. Here is one such schedule from Radio Australia. This one is from April 1951 (it was issued quarterly).
• More on Biafra - Here is a recording of the Voice of Biafra made by Al Sizer on September 8, 1969, at 2140 UTC on 6145 kHz. Al introduces the recording, and notes that it was made on a DX-150 receiver. The station IDs as "the Voice of Biafra, the external service of the Biafra Broadcasting Corporation," and the IDs are at 2:26 and 3:12. Thanks to John Herkimer for the recording.
• America Calling All Peoples - A pamphlet published by NBC's "International Division" in 1941. Before the VOA was created in 1942, American shortwave broadcasting was in private hands, and NBC (an offspring of RCA) was one of the leaders. Operating 50 kw. WRCA and WNBI from Bound Brook, New Jersey (later operated as WBOU until it closed in 1966), the NBC "International Division," which consisted of 65 people, broadcast to Europe and South America. Although clearly intended for promotional purposes, this piece contains some interesting history and evidences the national mood at the time, and the belief in the efficacy of international broadcasting. Of special interest is the "Addenda" (blue pages) at the end. It was added after Pearl Harbor, which apparently occurred while the pamphlet was being printed. The author, Earl Sparling, is not otherwise identified, but a quick Google/New York Times search indicates that there was a writer/newspaperman by that name who wrote novels, and also wrote on business topics, in those years.
• This is London Calling! - Here is a pamphlet from the BBC titled "This is London Calling!" As shortwave stations around the world become an endangered species, it is worth recalling a time when a station issued a special booklet to promote its North American service. Such was the case with this item from the BBC. The BBC "brings you the voices of the men and women of Britain, speaking to you while the sirens wail in the streets and the gunfire roars in the London sky." It was on for six hours every night. "Help us to make the North American Service more widely known. Pass this folder to your friends or send us the names and addresses of those you think would like to have information about the BBC short-wave programmes." While undated, the names and events suggest that the pamphlet was issued during 1940-41. (The BBC North American service was set up in 1940.)
• WOC, Davenport, Iowa - Here is a pamphlet called "A Personally Conducted Visit Thru WOC, Davenport, Iowa." This was the famous Palmer School of Chiropractic station, which, according to a 1925 issue of RADEX (Radio Index), operated in the broadcast band on 620 kc. (RADEX says the power was 1,500 watts, but the pamphlet says the transmitter was a 5,000 watter; see p. 22.) What makes this item interesting is the detail it contains about the station's appearance and operation. On the DX side, from p. 26: "At the time of our visit to WOC, Sweden, France, Holland, Russia, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and the Samoan and Philippine Islands were numbered among the more distant points having reported reception, and many of these points, we were advised, tune in for the programs regularly and are seldom disappointed." The pamphlet is not dated, but its reference to the station having been on the air for three years would make it circa 1925. Could it be true, as mentioned on p. 27, that the station received over 100,000 letters in its first year, and that as many as 20,000 were received in a single week?!
• "Radio and the Spanish War" - Here is an article from the May 1938 issue of Radio News. We were reminded of this article when we recently received a nice e-mail from an ontheshortwaves follower in Spain who recognized the signature of his grandfather as the veri signer on Roger Legge's 1937 Radio Gurdia Civil (Spanish Morocco) QSL shown in the CPRV QSL Gallery. It is indeed a small world.
• Here is a brief, readable history of Radio Canada International. This pamphlet was prepared by RCI on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, and covers the years 1945-1995. It is printed in both English and French; these are the English pages.
• More TI4NRH - More on one of the very earliest and most famous SWBC stations, TI4NRH in Costa Rica. This is from the Fall 1930 issue of Radio Design, the house organ of the Pilot Radio & Tube Corp., Lawrence, Massachusetts, makers of the early "Wasp" series of shortwave receivers.
• August Balbi/Universal Radio DX Club - Here is an article authored by August Balbi that appeared in the 25th Anniversary edition of the Universalite, the bulletin of the Universal Radio DX Club, December 1958. Balbi was one of the greatest of the old timers, and this article relates some early DX history and much still-valid advice on various subjects.
• Four Articles from Radio Amateur - Here are four short articles, with photos, from several 1952-53 issues of the British publication Radio Amateur, which carried some shortwave broadcast news, including features. These articles are about the "new" Radio Canada Centre in Montreal; the Voice of Denmark; the Swiss Shortwave Service; and OTC and ORU, the Belgian National Broadcasting Service stations in the Belgian Congo and Belgium respectively.
• TI4NRH - An article written by its "Creator, Constructor and Program Director," Amando Cespedes Marin, and published in the July 1933 issue of Short Wave Craft. Although "NRH" started out with 7-1/2 watts, it was up to 150 watts by the time the article was written. It was widely heard throughout the world, and Sr. ACM was a well-known figure among DXers. For more on this station, see Don Moore's excellent article about his visit to the station, and other material about TI4NRH, at http://www.swl.net/patepluma/phistory.html
• Radio Swan - A two-part article on Radio Swan that was published in Popular Communications in November and December 1985. Thanks to PopComm for permission to post these. [Radio Swan-Part 1] [Radio Swan-Part 2]
• Radio Euzkadi - "The Mysterious Radio Euzkadi," Don Jensen's history of this Voice of the Basque Underground in Spain which appeared in the May 1983 issue of Popular Communications magazine. Also, from the collection of the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications, a 1968 Euzkadi QSL and a recording of the station's ID from 1969.
• WUMS was one of the longest operating pirates, usually heard on the broadcast band. Here is the full story, courtesy of Popular Communications, plus a 1948 WUMS QSL from the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications.
• Voice of America Brochures - Here are three multi-page pamphlets issued by the VOA.
• Radio Biafra - How many remember the original Radio Biafra from 1967-70? Read about it in Don Jensen's September 1987 Popular Communications article, "The Life And Death of Radio Biafra," posted with permission of PopComm.
• A pamphlet called "PCJ, Short Waves and Long Distances," issued by the the Philips radio station, early precursor to Radio Netherlands, from around 1929.
• Deutscher Kurzwellensender - A German-English copy of May 1938 program schedule of , Berlin, for "Zone V, North America," including a 1933 quote from Herr H. himself.
• Jacko, the Broadcasting Kookaburra
• Early U.S. Broadcasting - Bob LaRose of Escondido, CA has sent along three interesting articles concerning early U.S. "relay" broadcasting. While the emphasis in two of the articles is on the technical side, all articles provide interesting insights on how leading elements of the broadcast industry viewed international shortwave at the time.
• Is This the Oldest Catholic Radio Station in Latin America? by Michael Dorner.
• "London Calling the World." - Here is a copy of a pamphlet titled "London Calling the World." It originated in 1943 and describes in words and pictures the news prduction process for BBC overseas broadcasts at the time. It was published with the approval of the BBC, but apparently was authored by "The British Council" as one of its "Britain Advances" series covering "some of the things in which Britain has contributed notably to modern progress."
• "That Dragon Goebbels," a 1944 address to the Empire Club of Canada by S.J. DeLotbiniere, from the August 2007 Ontario DX Association bulletin, Listening In.
• Portishead Radio - Here is a well-illustrated history of the U.K. maritime station Portishead Radio from Jim Cumbie and his 1998 QSL from the station (which closed in 2000).
• Jim Cumbie of Dallas, Texas has sent in some interesting items about U.S. shortwave stations. They are in three collections: (1) WRUL-WYFR, consisting of two 1956 WRUL schedules and a brief history of WRUL's successor, WYFR; (2) KGEI, a Spanish-language brochure (with English translation) about the famous station, a brief KGEI history taken from the April-May 1985 of FEBC Broadcaster, and a KGEI QSL from 1955; and (3) Dixon, a history of the former VOA station in California.
• Radio SEAC, Ceylon - In the past we have posted some material about Radio SEAC in Ceylon. Here is a copy of the January 1948 issue of the station's "Forces' Radio Times," including the "BBC General Overseas Service" supplement. Check out the poem, "Radio Seduction," on the last page.
• KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska - A pamphlet issued circa 1923 by "Westinghouse Repeating Station" KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska. KFKX was built in connection with the experimental use of shortwave (c. 3200 kc.) at KDKA to send KDKA's broadcast band signal to the KFKX area, where it was rebroadcast on both the broadcast band and shortwave (2730 kc.), the latter intended for pick up by KGO in California. Although the pamphlet makes no mention of the Hotel Clarke in connection with the station, part of KFKX was once located there, as indicated on this postcard view of the hotel (which, judging from the cars, looks like it was issued around the same time as the pamphlet)
• Broadcasting and the Australian Post Office, 1923-1973 - Here is a brief but very nice (and illustrated) history of broadcasting in Australia published in 1973.
• KGEI - An ontheshortwaves supporter in California has sent along some interesting drawings related to KGEI, San Francisco. He used to work near KGEI, and obtained some drawings from the 1940s and other artifacts from FEBC when they closed KGEI. -- Drawing No. 1 is an NBC drawing showing KGEI probably as it was installed. No. 2 is the title block in the lower right hand corner of the drawing and No. 3 is the revision in the upper right hand corner. -- No. 4, "Proposed Additional Antennas" aimed at Asia and Australia, dated December 5, 1941, is the most interesting (remember what happened two days later). Knowing that the State Department asked GE to put a station on the air to counter Nazi propaganda in South America, and knowing that KGEI's antennas were directed to South America, why was KGEI thinking about expanding west? No. 5 is a detail of the drawing title. -- No. 6 is probably "as built" during the war with both KGEI and KGEX. Note the barracks; the site was guarded. Nos. 7 and 8 are details from the drawing.
• WJZ - Here is an interesting booklet from BCB station WJZ, New York City, with transmitters in Bound Brook, New Jersey. This is actually a QSL--see the handwritten verification statement on the inside front cover. There is also mention of shortwave on pages 10-11 and page 15. This is probably vintage 1924 or thereabouts.
• WTAS - Here is a 1924 booklet from WTAS, located at the Villa Olivia estate near Elgin, Illinois and broadcasting on 286 meters, circa 1050 kc. This pamphlet is a great window into various aspects of radio life in 1924. Check out the "Ten Radio Commandments" on p. 13. And if you're in the neighborhood, use the free pass for a station tour!
• Armed Forces Radio Service - DXer Tetsuya Hirahara in Tokyo sends along some photocopies obtained at the National Diet Library in Tokyo. These are the radio broadcast authorizations issued by the American GHQ/SCAP (Supreme Commander Allied Powers)-Far East Command for AFRS transmitters in Japan (three SW) and Pyongyang (one MW) in 1949 and 1950. I believe 4860 and 9605 kc. were the stations that had been known as "WVTR," the main AFRS station that been operating in Tokyo since the end of the war (see "CPRV QSL Gallery" for their QSL).
• The USCGC Courier - Some interesting souvenirs and news articles about the ship which served for many years as a floating radio station for the Voice of America.
• USCGC Courier Photos - Dave Newell, President of the USCGC Courier Association, has sent along some wonderful photos of the USCGC Courier. "Short Waves in Siberia")
• A cover and photo card of the USCGC Courier, which served as a floating "Voice of America" station from 1952-1964 in Rhodes, Greece.
• The USCGC Courier Revisited - Some interesting souvenirs and news articles about the ship which served for many years as a floating radio station for the Voice of America.
• KDKA - Here is a 1928 pamphlet from KDKA containing a list of American and other stations, photos of the KDKA facilities and station personalities, and a time line of KDKA "firsts." Note the references to pioneer stations KFKX and 8XK on page 2. Rather than enter his dial settings in the spaces provided, this listener preferred to make his notes on the cover!
• NHK Japan 1940 - Here are some excerpts from the June 1940 edition of the monthly schedule of NHK-Japan. This issue commemorated their fifth anniversary of overseas broadcasting. Included is a brief summary of their first five years, their schedule, some letters from listeners, and a map showing the number of listener letters received during the five year period.
• Miscellaneous Radio Items 1972-74 - Walt Salmaniw of Victoria, British Columbia, has been doing a little shack cleaning and sent some scans of some interesting miscellaneous things from the 1972-74 period. These are (1) a Saudi Arabia schedule; (2) an envelope from Difusoras del Uruguay; (3) a Radio Liberty schedule (with sites); (4) an envelope with a Canadian SWL International imprint; (5) and two views of a schedule from Radio Cordac, Bujumbura, Burundi (side 1, side 2).
• Forces Radio Times - Produced by the (British) Forces Broadcasting Service, M.E.L.F. (Middle East Land Forces), in conjunction with the BBC, Cairo, and showing the program lineup for September 15-21, 1946. Times and frequencies for many of the "J" stations are shown. Most are medium wave, but note the daily schedule for "Middle East Short Wave Station JCKW," 7220 kc., at the bottom of each page. FBS via R. Athens is featured on the last page, along with programming for Indian troops over MW station JFPB in a place called . . . Basrah. Also, see "The CPRV Gallery" for QSLs from JCKW (Jerusalem, 1945) and FBS-MELF (Malta HQ, 1949).
• BBC - Here is a brochure promoting the North American Service of the BBC. This pamphlet probably dates from the 1950s.
• KDKA North Canada Service - In the 1920s, Westinghouse transmitted programs to the Canadian north by way of the experimental shortwave channels of some of their AM stations, specifically KDKA-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WBZ/WBZA-Boston/Springfield, Massachusetts, and KFKX-Hastings, Nebraska. Here is a brochure about the service, produced by the Oblate Fathers circa 1927, along with an accompanying postcard.
• VNG - Some photos and a recording from VNG, the Australian time signal station that was often heard until its close on December 31, 2002.
• Postcards - Here are some postcard views of stations: WLW; Broadcasting House in Oslo, Norway, 1949; a radio station in Motala, Sweden; a 1942 view of the RCA "Radio Central" at Rocky Point, Long Island, New York; an undated view of the broadcast house in Berlin; and an undated postcard of a station in China.
• More Postcards - More station postcards: two 1935 views of the facility of WCAU, Philadelphia; two views of PRA8, Radio Clube de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazill: and another view of the RCA transmitting facility at Rocky Point, Long Island.
• Station ID Sheet - A sheet from Radio News containing info on IDs and interval signals from shortwave stations. This appears to be from the 1930s.
• Jim Cumbie of Texas sends along an article from Radio News, May 1927, ("Short Waves in Siberia") about a combination utility-amateur station in Tomsk, Siberia.
• A drawing, sent along by Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, from Revista Telegrafica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1927, on the occasion of the worldwide broadcast of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by Philips station PCCJ.
• A 1947 schedule in Portuguese from Radio Clube de Angola.
• BBC Broadcasting House 1944 - A picture of the cover of a 1944 BBC Spanish language leaflet showing Broadcasting House.
• Estacion Paradizabal - Cover of Argentine magazine 'Revista Radiotelefonica,' 1922, showing a drawing of the antenna of the first station in Montevideo, Estacion Paradizabal, located on the roof of the Hotel Florida - from Horacio A. Nigro, Uruguay.
• A photo from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, from an 1947 Argentine magazine showing the control room for a station in "Gold Coast, Africa" that may be the predecessor to the current Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
• "The BBC's original plans for its relay stations on Ascension Island and the Seychelles" by Alan Davies, Southeast Asia.
• A brochure from 1961 celebrating the 5th anniversary of ELWA, Liberia.

RECORDINGS

• "BIT-Broadcasting Identification Tape" - In addition to the annual World Radio TV Handbook and Summer Supplements, World Publications (Hellerup, Denmark) produced other books and materials of interest to the radio listener. In the 1965-66 How to Listen to the World (p. 159), 1966 WRTH (p. 66) and 1966 WRTH Summer Supplement (p. 43), advertisements announced the release of "BIT-Broadcasting Identification Tape," a one hour reel-to-reel recording featuring the interval signals and identifications of over 60 shortwave stations. The stations were grouped on the tape alphabetically, by continent, with a brief introduction before each clip. Here are two separate mp3 files (Side 1 and Side 2 of the tape). Thanks to the World Radio TV Handbook for permission to post this.
• More Peru - Here are some more Peruvian recordings (IDs at :xx): (1) R. Chinchaycocha, Junin, 4860, 1976 [:21]; (2) R. Cutervo, 6691, 1986 [:28, 1:00 and 1:17]; (3) R. Libertad de Trujillo, 4910, 1984 [:04]; (4) R. Onda Popular, Bambamarca, 5273, 1987 [:19]; (5) R. del Pacifico, 9675, 1976 [:34]; (6) R. Pucallpa, 6155, 1981 [:21]; (7) R. San Juan de Chota, 5274, 1984 [:19]: and (8) R. Santa Rosa, Lima, 6045, 1976 [:28].
• Peru - Surely Peru has been one of the most interesting shortwave DX targets. Here are some recordings of Peruvian stations from the 1970s and 1980s, usually during the morning hours following sign on (IDs at :xx): The stations are: (1) R. America, Lima, 9505 kHz., 1977 [:08]; (2) R. Atlantida, Iquitos, 4790, 1976 [:12 and :49]; (3) R. El Sol, Lima, 5970, 1977 [:12 and 2:18, and the "Sol en los Andes" program ID at 1:39]; (4) R. La Cronica, Lima, 9518, 1976 [:44 and :1:11]; (5) R. Los Andes, Huamachuco, 5030, 1982 [:13, :22 and 2:08]; (6) R. La Voz del Altiplano, Puno, 5816, 1984 [:24]; and (7) R. Moyobamba, 5015, 1981 [:24].
• Radio Canada Shortwave Club LP - Here is a special recording produced in 1974 by Ian McFarland, producer and co-host of the Radio Canada Shortwave Club. Copies were offered as a prize in an RCI Shortwave Club survey contest. (Some copies were also available at various DX gatherings.)
• BBC-Daventry - Here is a recording of the closedown announcement for BBC-Daventry that was broadcast on March 29, 1992 at 1126 UTC on 15070 kHz., a frequency that had come into use (as GWC) around 1941.
• Honduras - This time we visit Honduras, and present some station recordings, mainly from the years 1976 to 1978. In those years, unlike now, Honduras had many stations on the air. They were commercial or religious stations, mainly on the 49 and 60 meter bands, and typically signing on around 1000-1100 UTC, when east coast reception was the best. The recordings are: La Voz de la Mosquitia, Puerto Lempira, 4910 kHz. (1981); La Voz del Junco, Santa Barbara, 6075 (1977); La Voz Evangelica, Tegucigalpa, 4820 (1976); Radio Juticalpa, Juticalpa, 4781 (1978); Radio Landia, Comayagua, 4965 (1978); Radio Lux, Olanchito, 4890 (1977); Radio Progreso, El Progreso, 4920 (1976); and Radio Swan, San Pedro Sula, 6015 (1977).
• And More Brazil Recordings - These are 90 meter band stations. They are (IDs at :xx): (1) Lins Radio Clube, 3225 kHz., 1980, ID at :54; (2) R. Educadora, Uberlandia, 3345, 1978, IDs at :23 and :36; (3) R. Iguatemi, Osasco, 3295, 1978, ID at :18; (4) R. Nacional de Sao Gabriel, 3375, 1980, ID at :36; (5) R. Tamandare, Recife, 3265, 1978, ID at :19; and (6) R. Tapuyo, Mossoro, 3295, 1977, ID at :16.
• More Brazil Recordings - These are 60 meter band stations heard between 1976 and 1981, and believed now all off shortwave. They are (IDs at :xx): Radio Borborema, Campina Grande, 5024 kHz. (:19 and :43); Radio Maua, Rio de Janeiro, 5055 (:20); Radio Nacional de Boa Vista, 4835 (:08); Radio Por Um Mundo Melhor, Gov. Valadares, 4855 (:20); Radio Relogio, Rio, 4905 (:21); Radio Ribamar, Sao Luis, 4785 (:06); Radiodifusora Roraima, Boa Vista, 4839 (:27); and a recording of Radio Sociedad Feira de Santana, 4765 kHz., recorded by Henrik Klemetz in Sweden in August 1961. Henrik observes that on November 15 of that year, all the programs of R. Soc Feira de Santana were dedicated to their foreign listeners, including himself. He received a tape containing 210 minutes of the event, a short segment of which is posted at http://www.box.net/shared/7i79epxmyb. The speed is a bit slow, but if you download the file and save it, and set Windows Media Player to "fast," it sounds close to normal. Thanks, Henrik.
• Brazil - Here are some recordings of Brazilian stations from the 1970s and 1980s. For each one we have indicated the place (:XX) where the station name is heard. The stations are: R. Universo, Curitiba, 9545 kHz. (1976--:07); R. Bandeirantes, Sao Paulo, 9645 (1977--:13, :38); R. Marumby, Florianopolis, 9675 (1980--:10); R. Rio Mar, Manaus, 9695 (1976--:26, :40); R. Tupi, Sao Paulo, 11765 (1978--:08, :30); R. Cultura de Porto Alegre, 11895 (1983--:17, :23, :55); R. Record, Sao Paulo, 15135 (1976--:22); and R. Jornal do Comercio, Recife, 15145 (1976--:19, :47).
• Here are more recordings from Mike Csontos of Lima, New York: (1) HCJB, Quito, Ecuador, 1957 (it's hard to believe that we don't hear this one anymore); (2) KGEI, San Francisco, California, 1959 (during its "Voice of Friendship" days); (3) VOA station WLWO, 1962; (4) ELWA, Monrovia, Liberia, 1962 (when they still had a North American service); (5) WRUL, headquartered in New York City, transmitters in Massachusetts, 1962; (6) TWR-Bonaire, 1964 (a silent voice since 1993); and (7) Radiodiffusion Congolaise, Leopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1962--"This is the heart of Africa calling the world." We have also posted a promotional sheet issued by the Congo station in 1961 (this from the Roger Legge collection in CPRV). Thanks again, Mike.
• We are posting some nice recordings made by Mike Csontos of Lima, New York during the years 1956-1964. He was using a Hallicrafters S-40B, his first shortwave receiver, which he purchased new in 1954 from Fort Orange Radio in Albany. His listening post was near Schenectady, New York, and he was using a 200-foot longwire antenna. These recordings bring back some great memories. They are: (1) Radio Canada, 1956 (when they were still using call letters); (2) OZF, the Voice of Denmark (New Year's Eve, 1956; that is Marianne Linard's voice); (3) Radio Australia, 1957 (also with call letters); (4) the Swiss Broadcasting Corp., 1957 (more call letters); and (5 & 6) two recordings from Radio Brazzaville, "I" from 1958 and "II" from 1962.
• Colombia - Here are some recordings from Colombian SW stations. Most of these were made in the 1970s, which doesn't seem that long ago, except that all of them, and nearly all the other Colombian stations that once populated the 60 and 49 meter bands, are now long gone from SW. Included in this group are: (1) La Voz del Caqueta, Florencia, 5035 kHz. (1976); (2) La Voz del Huila, Neiva, 6150 kHz. (1976); (3) Ondas del Darien, Turbo, 6085 kHz. (1976); (4) R. Bucaramanga, 4845 kHz. (1977); (5) R. Guatapuri, Valledupar, 4915 kHz. (1975); (6) R. Mira, Tamuco, 6015 kHz. (1979); and (7) R. Sutatenza, Bogota, 5075 kHz. (1977). Also in the group is a more recent recording, Ecos del Orinoco, Puerto Carreno, testing on 4905 kHz. in 1995. Did anyone ever QSL them?
• Venezuela - Here are some recordings of Venezuelan shortwave stations made in the 1970s. They are: La Voz del Tigre, 3255 kHz. (1976); La Voz de Carabobo, 4780 (1975); Ondas Panamericanas, 3215 (1976; weak, ID at :40); Radio Lara, 4800 (1975); Radio Universidad, 3395 (1975); Radio Puerto La Cruz, 3365 (1978); Radio Tricolor, 4820 (1976); Radio Angostura, 6120 kHz. (1975); Radio Barcelona, 3385 (1976); Radio Carora, 4910 (1976); Radio Frontera, 4760 (1976); Radio Monagas, 3325 (1976), Radio Trujillo, 3295 (1975); Radio Valles del Tuy, Ocumare del Tuy, 6129 kHz. (1982); Radio Sensacion, Caracas, 5999 kHz. (1980); Radio Tachira (in English), San Cristobal, 4830 kHz. (1983); Radio Nacional (also English), Caracas, 15400 kHz. (1978); Radio Libertador, Caracas, 3245 kHz. (1975); and R. Maracaibo, 4860 kHz. (1975).
• U.S. Shortwave Stations - Here are some recordings of some of the U.S. shortwave stations that came on in the 1980s. Most were made while the stations were still testing. WRNO was the first commercial SWBC station approved by the FCC since WINB came on the air in 1962, and the others followed. The recordings are: WRNO, New Orleans, Louisiana, 11965 kHz., 1982; KCBI, Dallas, Texas, 11790, 1985; WHRI, Noblesville, Indiana, 11780, 1985; WCSN, Scotts Corner, Maine, 6160, 1987; KUSW, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15225, 1988; and WWCR, Nashville, Tennessee, 15690, 1989.
• Clandestine Stations - If there was a "golden age" of DXing clandestine stations for North American listeners, it began in the late 1970s when numerous stations opposed to the governments in Nicaragua, Cuba, and El Salvador took to the air. Most operated in and around the 40 meter ham band and suffered interference accordingly. Here are some that may bring back memories. From Cuba--R. Abdala, 7085 kHz., November 1977; R. Libertad Cubana, 7092 kHz., January 1980; La Voz de la Alpha 66, 7050 kHz., August 1980; and La Juventud Progresista Cubana, 7055 kHz., March 1981. And the Nicaraguan FSLN station, R. Sandino, 7702 kHz., recorded on June 13, 1979, about a month before the Somoza government fell. Added: A recording of R. Sandino made by Rich McVicar on July 17, 1979, the day the Somoza government fell.
• Radio Australia Mailbag Program - Every SWL who was listening from the late 1940s to 1980 remembers the Radio Australia mailbag program, which was hosted by Keith Glover for 25 of those years. Here is a recording of the last mailbag show, aired on December 28, 1980.
• Here are a few audio clips from Jerry Berg of stations that have "gone dark" on shortwave: from Haiti, 4VEH, 9770 kHz, 1977, and R. Citadelle, 6156 kHz, 1979; from El Salvador, R. Nacional de El Salvador, 9553 kHz, 1980; from Martinique, France Region 3, 3315 kHz, 1976; and from Belize (formerly British Honduras), R. Belize, 3285 kHz, 1977.
• 1982 Falklands War - Some memories of the 1982 Falklands war with audio clips of the British "Radio Atlantico del Sur," Argentine "Liberty" (or "Argentine Annie" as she was called), and the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Along with the audio clips are QSLs for the stations heard during that period.
• DX Partyline - Here is a recording from Chris Lobdell of the last "DX Partyline" that was produced by long-time HCJB radio personalities Helen and Clayton Howard. Also shown is a picture of the Howards, issued at the time.
• The "Tupamaros" - Here are 2 historic audio clips recorded by Horacio Nigro of radio broadcasts of the "Tupamaros" - "Movimiento de Liberaci��n Nacional," a subversive leftist group that flourished in Uruguay in the 1960s and 70s.
• XMHD - A 78 rpm record (undated) that was apparently used as a promotional item for a station in Shanghai, China, XMHD, the China Christian Broadcasting Association.
• Nicaragua - Some recordings from Nicaraguan stations no longer on shortwave.
• CQM, Emissora da Guine in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea - The days when stations in the Portuguese colonies could be heard on shortwave are long gone. Jerry Berg heard Emissora da Guine in Bissau in 1959 on 7948 kHz. and sent them a reel-to-reel tape which they over-recorded and returned to him. Here is the station's recording along with Jerry's QSL of the reception.
• Windward Islands Broadcasting Service - Revisiting a station of the past and its successors, Radio Free Grenada and Radio Grenada. Included are several recordings by Jerry Berg and Ed Shaw along with two QSLs from the station.
• Radio Free America was Dr. Carl McIntire's "pirate" station that broadcast briefly over 1160 kHz. from a former mine sweeper off the New Jersey coast. Here is a recording from Larry Magne, Editor-in-Chief of Passport to World Band Radio, from September 19, 1973.
• Here are additional recordings from Bob LaRose: R. Luxembourg (1973), R. Mexico (1969), R. Pakistan (1969), R. RSA, South Africa (1969), and R. Stantsiya Rodina, USSR (1969).
• Here is a recording from Jerry Berg of Radiodiffusion Congolaise, Leopoldville, 1961, along with the letter and a photo of English announcer Althea Campbell who can be heard on the recording.
• Here are some more recordings from Bob LaRose, namely R. Peyk-e Iran (1969), R. Espana Independiente (1969), R. Euzkadi (1969), and R. Libertad (1969, an apparently CIA-run anti-Castro station).
• Bob LaRose of Escondido, CA has sent along some nice shortwave station recordings that he made mainly during the years 1968-69. Featured this week are a R. Cairo test to Europe (June 1969); HISD, Dominican Republic (1969); R. Station Peace & Progress, USSR (1969); XERH, Mexico (1968); and a nice Christmas greeting (and reference to the Apollo 8 mission) from WNYW, New York (1968).
• One of the most listened to letter programs back in 1958 was "Saturday Night Club" from OZF, the Voice of Denmark, on 9520 kHz. Here is a recording of program host Marianne Linard sending greetings to Jerry Berg, along with a picture of her from the 1958 World Radio Handbook. Boost the treble on your Realplayer for best audio on this one.
• Stations of the Past: La Voz de Galapagos, Ecuador, 4810 kHz, December 8, 1985, and Radio Los Andes, Huamachuco, Peru, 5030 kHz., December 7, 1985; both submitted by ace Latin American DXer Henrik Klemetz of Sweden who was in Ecuador when he recorded them.
• ELWA, although the station has now become a fairly rare catch on 4760 kHz, older listeners may recall the days when ELWA operated major international services over its 10 and 50 kw transmitters in Liberia, including a Tuesday night (local time) broadcast to North America. The station was founded in 1954 and was widely heard in the years thereafter. In July 1961, Jerry Berg sent them a taped reception report on a new frequency they were using at the time, 11975 kc/s. Much to his surprise, on their North American request program of September 5, 1961, host Jim Pelley featured his report and played his recording over the air. He also sent him this studio recording of the program. What is novel (in addition to hearing Jerry when he was 17 years old) is that they played his tape recording over the air. So you can hear not only the September 5 program, but within it Jerry's original tape of their signal as he recorded it on July 25, 1961.
• ETLF, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a 100 kw., station, was established by the Lutheran World Federation in 1963. Jerry Berg heard them and sent them a taped report (those were the days of 3" reel-to-reel tapes), and in reply they sent him a tape containing their ID and some Ethiopian music. This is part of that tape. ETLF was taken over by the government and became the Voice of Revolutionary Ethiopia in 1977.
• The late Arne Skoog was the DX Editor of Radio Sweden's venerable DX program, "Sweden calling DXers," for many years. Here is his voice in a tape recorded message sent to Jerry Berg circa 1961.
• Radio SEAC, Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), operated from 1944 to 1949 to provide entertainment, news and a link with home for servicemen in the Southeast Asia Command. We are indebted to Eric Hitchcock of the U.K. for providing this rare recording of a Sunday night U.K. beam of R. SEAC. This is from disks cut in the R. SEAC studio.
• A recording of WLWO, Bethany, Ohio, July 20, 1959, at 1630 UTC on 15250 kHz .
• A recording of Voice of America, Tangier, July 20, 1959, at 2030 UTC on 15295 kHz .
• A recording of Voice of Free Korea from 1961 on 11925 kHz at 0530 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.
• A recording of "The Dragon Show," Voice of Free China (BCC), Taiwan from 1961 on 6095 kHz at 1130 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.
• A recording of Radio Liberty (via Taiwan) from 1961 on 9720 kHz at 0700 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.
• A recording of FEN-Japan, on 6155 kHz, made some time in 1961 at 0100 GMT, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.
• "The Amazing World of Short Wave Listening" - In 1959, the Hallicrafters Company produced this 14-minute, 45 rpm promotional record, narrated by noted "Man on the Go" journalist Alex Dreier.
• BBC's "This is London", 50th anniversary recording. Horacio Nigro in Uruguay has posted on his webpage at http://www.angelfire.com/my/radiohobby/bbc50a.html the audio of an English-language vinyl record issued by BBC on its 50th Anniversary (1982). It is narrated by Mr. Leo McKern, and each side is nearly half an hour. The files are in RealAudio (.rm) format. Open the Real Player, go to "File," "Open Location" and paste the link http://www.angelfire.com/my/radiohobby/bbc50a.rm for side A and http://www.angelfire.com/my/radiohobby/bbc50b.rm for side B. The webpage also shows the contents of both sides. Various historical events are featured, with commentary about various aspects of the BBC itself. This webpage was originally created by Horacio to help a DX colleague on the Hard-Core DX List who asked for BBC historical audio.

SWLING & DXING

• Marjorie Lee Dodd - Here is an article describing the 1927 broadcast band DX activities of Marjorie Lee Dodd of Hollywood, California. Marjorie died in 1979, and her radio notebook was discovered by her aunt by marriage, who was the executor of Marjorie's estate. The article appears in the March 2011 edition of Antique Radio Classified and appears with their permission (www.antiqueradio.com). Can anyone solve the 6XT mystery?
• DX Reports - It hardly needs saying that SWLing was a lot different nearly half a century ago than it is now. To give you an idea how different, here are some 1965-66 DX reports from two well-known DXers, Bob Hill, who was living in Boston in 1965 and Washington, DC in 1966, and Bob LaRose, who was listening from Binghamton, NY in 1966. These detailed reports reflect a common practice of active DXers in those days--preparing periodic (weekly or monthly) reports of their catches and sending copies to relevant clubs, newsletters, magazines and individuals. It was all paper, of course; e-mail had not even be imagined. Thanks to "the Bobs" LaRose (now living in San Diego, CA) and Hill (Littleton, MA) for permission to post these.
• Radio Golf - Here is an article by Harold Sellers on the origins of "Radio Golf." It appeared in the March 2010 Ontario DX Association bulletin, Listening In.
• The Day You Had To Pay - Radio Receiving Licenses in Canada by Dan Greenall, from the April 2007 Ontario DX Association bulletin, Listening In.
• The "WPE" Monitor Registration Program - From 1959 through 1970, Popular Electronics magazine sponsored a "Monitor Registration" program for radio listeners. This article is a look back at the program through the years and the familiar "WPE" callsigns many of us had.
• A 1954-55 Boy Scouts of America reprint of some SWL articles that appeared in Boy's Life magazine at that time.
• Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, sends along two scans of a Philco Spanish language log card designed for medium wave.

CLUBS & PUBLICATIONS

• "RADEX Radio Map of the World" - In addition to the magazine, which was published from 1924 to 1942, RADEX (Radio Index) occasionally issued other DX-related items. Here is the "RADEX Radio Map of the World." It is dated 1932, which was early in the history of shortwave (it was the year the BBC Empire Service was inaugurated.) The "RADEX Radio Map of the World" measured 11" square, and was of four-sided, fold-out design. On the front was a time converter wheel. You set it at your time, and you could then read the time in other countries (or vice versa). On the back was a list of countries, their radio prefixes and time zones. (Time zones were considerably less standardized then.) Inside was a map of the world.
• Toledo Radio Club - We posted an article, "Leaves From A DXer's Scrapbook," from the May 1939 RADEX (below). It contained a discussion of local clubs, including the Toledo Radio Club. Here is a copy of their club bulletin, some related SWL cards, and a holiday card from club President Ray Lewis. The bulletin is dated August 11, 1936.
• "Leaves From a DXer's Scrapbook" - For many decades, at least before the internet, national clubs were the major way for SWLs to stay in touch with one another. However, club membership was often supplemented by gatherings of local DX groups. Such groups have existed for many years, as evidenced by this article from the May 1939 issue of RADEX (Radio Index) magazine. It reviews the activities of some of the local groups of the day. The author, "Count de Veries," was the well-known BCB DXer Carleton Lord.
• International DXers Alliance DX Festival - The IDA DX Festival was held in San Francisco, July 8-11, 1939. The festival coincided with the Golden Gate International Exposition, i.e. the 1939 World's Fair (one of them--there was also a New York World's Fair that year). Here is a file containing various articles in The Globe Circler (the IDA journal), and several promotional pieces put out by the IDA, about the festival. As you can see, there was a special IDA broadcast over General Electric Treasure Island shortwave station W6XBE (later KGEI), and a train trip from Chicago for those wishing to make the trek west by rail. If we read the third to the last item in the file ("Editorial") correctly, it look like IDA president Charles A. Morrison made the trip by car but missed the convention! Per the next item, attendance was an inspecific "goodly number," if "somewhat smaller than expected." An August convention in Downers Grove, Illinois drew more than 40 people.
• "Newark News Radio Club--The Very Early Days" - It recently came to light that the Newark Evening News, parent to the venerable Newark News Radio Club (originally the Newark News DX Club), is available on microfilm. A review was made of some copies of the paper from the years 1927-28, when the NNRC was born, and some from 1931. Here is a 15-page summary, with graphics, covering what was found.
• National Radio Club Shortwave Columns - We tend to forget that the National Radio Club, which today is a mediumwave-only club, once covered shortwave as well. It was founded as mediumwave-only in 1933, but the NRC bulletin had a shortwave column as well from 1935 to 1944 (and a ham band listening column from 1937 to 1940). Here is a file of eight NRC shortwave columns from 1943, specifically the January 9, February 27, March 6, April 24, May 15, June 19, July 17 and August 14 columns. Back then the bulletin was published weekly during the DX season (October through March), monthly otherwise.
• Another NNRC History - The NNRC was long an important part of American DX history and here is yet another history of the venerable club. This one is from the January 1937 issue of All-Wave Radio magazine. It is written by Bernard Ahman and gives the flavor of the club's early years.
• NNRC "Historical Musing" - We have already posted a number of histories of the NNRC (below). Here is an "historical musing" by NNRC member Arthur E. Forester. It appeared in the December 1935 issue of RADEX. It contains some interesting memories of the club's early days (the club was eight years old in 1935), with a focus on the Courtesy Programs Committee, which was a major NNRC activity. Up until December 1935 the club had been devoted entirely to broadcast band DXing. It was that same month and year that the first shortwave column appeared in the NNRC bulletin.
• NNRC "Statistics" - From Jim Cumbie of Texas, here is the "Statistics" column from the December 1956 issue of the Newark News Radio Club Bulletin
• Newark News Radio Club - We have posted two copies of the NNRC Bulletin from 1937. The March 22 issue was one of the weekly issues, while the June 15 issue was a monthly. Even in those early years you can see some of the same look and feel that would be familiar to NNRC members decades later.
• International Short Wave Club - If you were in the know about shortwave in 1931, you were a member of the International Short Wave Club, Klondyke, Ohio. It was early days for shortwave broadcasting, and hard news about stations and frequencies was hard to come by. The ISWC, founded in 1929, was the best source. Here is the January 1931 issue of the club's bulletin. It contained some information about hams and commercial stations too, but SWBC soon became its focus.
• "Globe Circler" - Earlier we posted a couple of 1930s copies of this bulletin of the International DXers Alliance. This time we are posting another copy, the club's last. This is the July-August 1943 issue. See page 7 for the notice that the club was suspending publication. Although hope was expressed that operations would resume after the war, that never happened. This issue gives a good idea of the breadth of stations that could be heard at the time. Charles A. Morrison was bulletin editor (and club president), and as the masthead on page 3 indicates, well-known shortwavers A. Balbi and G. Ferguson (no doubt August and Grady) were associate editors.
• NASWA "Flash-Sheet" - Here are the first few issues of the NASWA "Flash-Sheet." The FS was begun in September 1966, the month after NASWA became an all-SWBC club. At that time the FS was not a separate publication, but rather a column in the monthly bulletin with a late, "at publication" deadline. The FS was edited by Executive Editor Bill Eddings at club HQ. Here, in two groups, are the issues for September 1966 through March 1967.
• Radio Canada Short Wave Club - Here are a few issues of the bulletin of the Radio Canada Short Wave Club, including the last issue (January-February 1971): No. 25 - Sep 1969, No. 30 - Feb 1970, No. 38 - Jan-Feb 1971. The corresponding bi-weekly Saturday program of the same name started in 1962. The club president was S. Basil (Pip) Duke, a Londoner (U.K.) who had an extensive military, engineering, and broadcasting background before joining the CBC in 1954 and becoming Supervisor of Engineering Services for the CBC's shortwave broadcasts. From 1967 to 1971 the club had a regular bulletin with news about the CBC International Service, member profiles and lists of members seeking pen pals, member loggings, shortwave-related features and the like. The club left the air in 1975. RCI introduced a weekly "DX Digest" in 1977 (it became "SWL Digest" in 1981).
• New Zealand Radio DX League - In honor of the club's 60th anniversary, a special supplement to the October 2008 New Zealand DX Times has been published. It contains several interesting items about DXing in New Zealand: the very first issue (October 1948) of the New Zealand DX Times; "The Origins of DXing in New Zealand" by Barry C. Williams; a two-part article, "The Great Mob," by Frank Glen; "My Great DX Hobby" by the late Jack Fox; "Radio New Zealand International: The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific" by Andrew M. Clark; and "This Radio Age--The Biggest Little Programme in International Broadcasting," which summarizes the show's content for 1953. A higher resolution copy of the supplement may be found at http://www.worldfm.co.nz/radiodx.com/DXTimes/Supplement. Thanks to the NZRDXL for permission to post this interesting material on ontheshortwaves.
• Newark News Radio Club - If there is a shortwave club that was entitled to call itself "venerable," it was the Newark News Radio Club. It traced its roots back to 1928. Alas the end for the NNRC came in April 1982. Here is that month's bulletin, the club's last. The introductory message from President Eugene Vonderembse explains the situation as it was. Of particular interest is Hank Bennett's column, where he reprises his years with the club. The announcement from Charles Wackerman (page "BCB Supplement") led to the formation of the Association of DX Reporters, which remained in operation until 1995.
• Quixote Radio Club - Here is what appears to be the first issue of Short Wave Reporter, the monthly publication of the Quixote Radio Club of Santa Barbara, California, which issued a weekly bulletin between its founding in 1933 and October 1936, the date of this issue. As you can see from the introductory pages, the club offered some interesting services. The data in the text list starting on p. 6 looks like the kind of thing that any DXer of the day would be happy to have (note that it is arranged by station call letters rather than alphabetically by country). The "F.B." log shows the stations that were operating every 10 kc.; each issue covered one or more different bands.
• Universalite - Here is a copy of the July 1956 issue of the Universalite, bulletin of the Universal Radio DX Club. Founded in 1933, and in operation until 1961, it was usually published monthly, twice monthly from October to April. The club was run by Charles C. Norton of Hayward (later Vallejo) California. By the post-war years, broadcast band coverage had been dropped and, as this issue illustrates, the bulletin was split between SWBC (including utility stations) and amateur listening. Over time, ham band coverage declined and SWBC coverage increased, and by the late 1950s the URDXC was principally a SWBC club. Among its shortwave editors were such well-known DXers as Marvin E. Robbins, Al Niblack, Robert J. Hill, David Morgan, John A. Callarman, William F. Flynn, Ernest R. Behr, and C. M. Stanbury II.
• Club bulletins really convey the DX environment of their day. Here are two copies of the Globe Circler, bulletin of the International DXers Alliance, which was headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois. They are from March 1934 and February 1936. As with many DX clubs, the early emphasis was on medium wave, with the focus on shortwave increasing over time. This can be seen in the shortwave content of these two bulletins, which was much more extensive in 1936 than in 1934.
• Shortwave Clubs and World War II - A few pages from the bulletins of the International Short Wave Club and the International DXers Alliance, giving a flavor of the post-Pearl Harbor times.
• 40 Years of the North American Shortwave Association by Don Jensen.
• A Retrospective on ANARC's Early Years by Richard A. D'Angelo.
• The Founding of the International Short Wave Club in Klondyke, Ohio by George Zeller.
• "DX Journal" - Here is an issue of DX Journal, a small newsletter that appeared briefly in 1950. It was edited by Raymond S. Moore, then of Rowley, Massachusetts, who many years later authored the several editions of Communications Receivers: The Vacuum Tube Era.
• The Dialist - Here is the first issue of the Newark News Radio Club's early publication, the Dialist. The NNRC was formed in 1927, but it did not have its own publication separate from the coverage in the newspaper until 1934 when the Dialist was established. Only six issues were published; in 1935 the Dialist was replaced with the mimeographed NNRC Bulletin that became familiar reading to countless DXers for almost five decades. In 1934 the NNRC was a mediumwave-only club. Shortwave coverage did not begin until 1935. The look and feel of the Dialist is a reminder of how different an era it was, and not just in DX.
• Newark News Radio Club - Several histories of the Newark News Radio Club that were published in the NNRC bulletin to commemorate the club's 25th, 40th and 50th anniversaries. Also shown is a 1962 newspaper obituary of Irving Potts, President and guiding light of the NNRC, and a photo from 1956 taken at the summer NNRC Convention.
• More NNRC History - Specifically from the July 1965 issue. One page of that issue contains an interesting summary of some of the newspaper coverage of DX back in 1928, drawn from the Newark Sunday Call and the Newark Sunday News of that year. In addition, the front page of the bulletin contains a reference to a 1932 broadcast from 15-watt Brantford, Ontario medium wave station 10-BQ. It so happens that a recent QSL collection received by the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications from Sidney R. Steele of Toledo, Ohio contains a QSL from 10-BQ (1933), and also QSLs from Stratford, Ont. station 10-AK (1935) and Wingham, Ont. station 10-BP (1933, 25 watts).
• More 1951 NNRC Convention - Here is a look at Mapine Farm today, site of the 1951 NNRC convention, in Lansdale, PA.
• 1951 NNRC Convention - For many years, through 1951, the NNRC held a summer convention at a place called Mapine Farm (Lansdale, PA), which was the home of NNRCers Harold and Mary Robinson. The accompanying report on the 1951 convention describes what these events were like. And from an early NNRC bulletin we have a map of how to get there!
• "Two Decades of Service to DX-ers" - We have already posted histories of the NNRC written in 1952, 1967 and 1977. Here is another, earlier version written by Carleton Lord and appearing in the December 1947 edition of the NNRC Bulletin.
• NNRC "High Frequencies" Column, 1942-1945 - Ever wonder what was on the shortwave bands in the 1940s? Here are copies of four NNRC "High Frequencies" shortwave sections from 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945. Gustav Siegfried Eins-9545, Radio Saigon-11780, Radio Congo Belge-11720, Radio Centre Moscow-15750, VE9AI-9540, XGOY-11900 . . . sigh!
• Some scans from Henrik Klemetz of early DXing publications, this time two from Sweden. "Sweden Calling DXers," one of the best known DX programs of all time, was on the air from 1948 to 2001 (by then it was called MediaScan). In addition to the weekly radio program, "SCDX" issued a weekly printed DX sheet. Here are pictures of the front and back of No. 187, September 22, 1951. Regarding the music shown on the back, Henrik notes: "This is ALL the music that was broadcast in the course of ONE WEEK on the sole home service channel of Radio Sweden. No wonder Swedes turned to shortwave for some more music."Next are four covers of Nattugglan, or "The Night Owl," which was the first and foremost DX monthly in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The covers are from May 1948, January 1949, January 1950 and August 1951. Also shown is a copy of an advertisement for the World Radio Handbook that appeared in a 1948 issue of Nattugglan.
• First Canadian DX Relay Convention - Here is an interesting album created by Arthur L. Robb of Topeka, Kansas, the most distant attendee at the First Canadian DX Relay Convention in St. Catharines, Ontario on August 31, 1935. (The Canadian DX Relay was about three years old at the time and billed itself as Canada's only DX club.) Most of the album contains sightseeing photos, neatly mounted and labeled with white ink. However, there are some interesting radio-related items as well: a "Most Distant Visitor" card; an envelope from The Welland House, where the meeting took place; a newspaper article about the meeting; and a photo of CKTB, which provided a tour. The album also contains some post-convention items: 1936 and 1942 newspaper articles about BCB DX specials which Robb reported (KRNR and KRJF), a sheet of Canadian DX Relay stationery, and a "Radio DX Fan" card. The most interesting thing to me is that the authors of the newspaper articles never felt it necessary to explain what "DX" was!
• "Short Wave Hints and Helps" - Here is a pamphlet from the International Short Wave Club when it was headquarterd in East Liverpool, Ohio. This primer describes the club and gives information on how to identify stations, how and where to send reports, etc. The ISWC operated from the U.S. from 1929 to 1942 and from the U.K. from 1946 to approximately 1970. This pamphlet is undated, but from the station lists I would place it in the mid 1930s. For a fuller history of the club, see George Zeller's article, "The Founding of the International Short Wave Club in Klondyke, Ohio."
• The American Shortwave Listeners Club is most often associated with Stew MacKenzie who became its Publisher in 1966 and Executive Editor in 1967. However, the club was founded in 1959 by Ken MacNeilage and Maxey Irwin. Here are two early copies of the club bulletin, "SWL," one from January 1960 (the second issue of the bulletin [p. 4 is missing]) and the other from March 1960. Thanks to Bob LaRose for these.
• The ISWC Anti-Jamming Campaign - After the International Short Wave Club ceased operations in the U.S. in May 1942 and reappeared in the U.K. four years later, its two best known hobby-wide projects would be its periodic shortwave station popularity polls and the ISWC anti-jamming campaign. The anti-jamming campaign was basically a personal project of the club's leader, Arthur Bear. It began in 1956. It was not universally embraced within the hobby, in part due to the stridency of ISWC statements on the subject. Bear named not only the jammers and the western stations that were said to incite the jamming, but also those hobby organizations that did not fully embrace the anti-jamming campaign. Here are four front pages of ISWC bulletins from 1958 which illustrate the tone of the campaign.
• Sweden Calling DXers - Here are some early "scripts" of "Sweden Calling DXers." The program, which was broadcast over Radio Sweden on Tuesday nights, mailed these two-sided DX sheets to contributors, and they were a valuable source of DX news. SCDX began in 1948. It morphed into MediaScan in the 1980s, but by then was focused on satellite broadcasting rather than shortwave. The editor who was most associated with SCDX is Arne Skoog, who died in 1999. These scripts are from 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963, and come to us from Bob LaRose of San Diego, California, who was active during the 1960s.
• Membership Cards & Certificates - Radio clubs flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and members would often receive cards or certificates upon joining. Here is an assortment of membership cards and certificates issued to the late California DXer, Bill Flynn.
• Chicago Short Wave Radio Club - This club was one of many regionally-based SWBC clubs in the 1930s. Here is a September 1935 issue of its four-page bulletin, Short Wave Radio Reception News, published every two weeks. In addition to brief narrative notes about specific stations heard, it includes a station list, arranged by frequency, showing reception quality over the previous two weeks. If you would still like to join, mail in the membership form with the $1 annual dues.
• NNRC "High Frequencies" Column, 1942-1945 - Ever wonder what was on the shortwave bands in the 1940s? Here are copies of four NNRC "High Frequencies" shortwave sections from and 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945. Gustav Siegfried Eins-9545, Radio Saigon-11780, Radio Congo Belge-11720, Radio Centre Moscow-15750, VE9AI-9540, XGOY-11900 . . . sigh!
• International Short Wave Radio News - An early shortwave bulletin (1930) from the International Short Wave Radio League, headquartered in Boston.

LISTS, LOGS, GUIDES & COLUMNS

• Hallicrafters International Short-Wave Station List - This 1952, eight-panel list contains some introductory information about SWLing, and showing, by country, the most often-heard shortwave stations of the day, together with their frequencies and the best times to listen. The last panel contains a world time chart and a table showing best reception times for the various bands.
• 1967 Hammond Award World Atlas - This 1967 world atlas also contains some DXing information. On the inside front cover and first two pages is a station list captioned "24-Hour Short Wave Schedule." It is a list of English-language shortwave broadcasts audible in the U.S., including time and frequency, and is reprinted from Electronics Illustrated. At the end of the atlas is another shortwave list, titled "Marine Weather Broadcasts," with many 2 MHz. stations arranged under four geographic areas. This is followed by a two-page world time chart. The rest of the atlas (not shown) is a standard atlas.
• "A Guide to Radio Listening" - This was issued by the Voice of America around 1986 in connection with the "Worldwide Shortwave Spectrum" program. The program started in 1984 as a segment of "VOA Magazine" and became the standalone "Communications World" in 1987. It was hosted by Gene Reich, who was eventually succeeded by the guide's author, Kim Andrew Elliott, then the VOA's Director of Audience Research. Kim advises, "I wrote it in the 1980s in response to the many letters (not much e-mail back then) to VOA asking for advice on improving reception (which was mainly on shortwave then)." The guide is a good introduction to shortwave--frequencies, propagation, receivers, antennas, QRM, DXing, etc. It was a nice example by VOA of both promotion of SW and assistance to SWLs.
• RCA Victor World-Wide Radio - This pamphlet was published in 1934. RCA introduced its first all wave radios in 1933, just as "all wave" was becoming a consumer sensation. This pamphlet promoted shortwave and facilitated customers' use of their new receivers. It covers many of the basics of SWLing--time changes, propagation, the types of signals heard on shortwave, etc. It also contains a listing of the times and frequencies of many of the shortwave broadcast stations of the day. It closes (p. 11) with a brief promotion for "the Short-Wave Club" in Klondyke, Ohio (by which it means the International Short Wave Club), and for the Electrical Division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce, which in 1934 published the first "official" shortwave station list in the U.S., "World Short-Wave Radiophone Transmitters."
• Philco All-Wave Radio Log, Special War-Time Edition - Here is a pamphlet from 1940-41 called the "Philco All-Wave Radio Log, Special War-Time Edition." It appears to be a joint production of Philco and something called the "Western World Wave Club" in Berkeley, California. Whether the club was an independent club or a Philco offshoot is unknown. In addition to information about broadcast band stations in the western U.S., the log contains an interesting shortwave list showing the quality of reception of many shortwave stations (very strong, good, fair, weak), hour by hour, in western parts of the United States. This log is the "Winter Edition, 1940-41," and while Philco published a variety of logs and lists in its day, this is the only edition of this particular title that we have seen.
• Broadcasting Stations of the World - The year 1946 was the first year that England's "Wireless World" magazine published the booklet, "Broadcasting Stations of the World." It contained lists of shortwave stations arranged by frequency and by location, and like lists of European mediumwave stations. Here is that first edition. Perhaps to avoid confusion with the "Broadcasting Stations of the World" which the U.S. Foreign Broadcasting Intelligence Service had started publishing in 1945, the British publication changed its name to "Guide to Broadcasting Stations" in the second edition. Many subsequent editions were published, the last in 2001.
• The Globe Trotter - RCA marketed numerous "Globe Trotter" receivers over many years. Here is a booklet, "The Globe Trotter," that was published in connection with RCA's Globe Trotter receiver of 1937. In addition to a list of the principal shortwave stations of the day (arranged by frequency and by country), a world map, and a list of American and Canadian broadcast band stations, the first few pages contain a good example of the kind of promotion that was embodied in shortwave advertising. "And to these fine radios have been added the adventure and thrill of short wave reception, enabling you to listen to the whole wide world--taking you to those places of which you have read--truly a magic carpet awaits you . . . ."
• White's Mileage and Radio Call Book - Although White's Radio Log was not the first AM station log, it became the best known; and while it disappeared for a time in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, it also had the longest overall lifespan. Known under various names in its early days, the first issue was published in 1924, and the last in 1985. Here is a very early copy of White's, known as White's Mileage and Radio Call Book. This was probably not the first issue of White's; however, this one was published in 1924, which was White's first year of publication. It lists stations by call letters and states (but not by frequency, which came later). It was published in Rhode Island, and the New England flavor of this edition is evident by the mileage chart (p. 16) that is based on Boston, and the hours of operation (p. 18) "of the principal broadcasting stations commonly heard by Mass. radio fans."
• Here is a copy of the list of "Best Short Wave Stations." It appeared in each issue of Official Short Wave Listener magazine, which was published in 1935-36. Shortwave station lists began appearing circa 1927, but for several years the absence of concrete information on foreign shortwave operations made the lists of limited use. For one thing, they seldom distinguished between commercial and broadcasting stations (in part because in those days many stations performed both functions). "Shortwave was shortwave." Also, little weeding of the lists took place, making some lists notoriously inaccurate. By the mid-1930s, published lists had become more useful. One of the best was the list published in Official Short Wave Listener. This one is from the February-March 1936 issue. There are some familiar frequencies there--the BBC on 11750, Australia on 9580.
• Pittsburgh Press "Radio Broadcasting Stations" - A very early BCB "log," this one from the Pittsburgh Press, owner of station WCAE. The log must have been the property of R. B. Dakin, whose name is penned in at the top of the cover. The size is 3-1/2"W x 6-1/2"H. To put the date in perspective, KDKA came on the air in November 1920, and the "broadcasting boom" took off in 1922 after a slow start in 1921. This item is dated January 1, 1923, and is thus from the time when the boom was really booming. It is hard to believe that so many stations had come on the air in so short a time, although it is worth noting that stations came and went quickly and some licensees never made it on the air at all. What makes this item especially interesting is that it lists the owners of the stations. Everyone wanted to get into the radio act, it seems, from the American Legion in Lincoln, Nebraska (WGAT) to the Motor Service Station in Casper, Wyoming (KFCQ) to St. Patrick's Cathedral in El Paso, Texas (WPAT). Note the handwritten notes on the third to the last image.
• The Silvertone World Wide Radio Log of 1934 - Silvertone was a Sears brand, and the Silvertone "logs" were published into at least the late 1940s, albeit in a smaller format in the latter years. This issue contains, in addition to the expected advertising for Silvertone receivers and other radio products, lists of U.S. BCB stations, a world time chart and a time zone map, "Ten Rules for Better Short Wave Reception," "How to identify Most popular Stations by Their Signatures," and "World's Shortwave Stations" and "Best Short Wave Stations" (by frequency).
• "First Class World Tours via the Superb New RCA Victor Magic Brain Instruments" was published in 1936. In addition to promoting the RCA "Magic Brain" receivers and instructing readers on how to use them, it contained a basic introduction to shortwave broadcasting and shortwave reception, lists of worldwide shortwave stations, American broadcast stations on shortwave, and domestic AM stations, and a glossary of radio terms and "Magic Brain" key words. The pamphlet also describes the RCA "Magic Eye" tuning eye. Some RCA radios of the day featured a "Magic Voice" speaker, and RCA also sold a "Magic Brain" record player. Be sure to check your tubes (back cover)!
• The "On the Short Waves" book and website are named after a column that appeared in Radio News from July 1928 to June 1929 and that was one of the first columns in any popular American magazine that was devoted exclusively to short wave broadcasting. Here are two "On the Short Waves" columns from the February and March 1929 issues of the magazine. The type is a little small, but careful reading of these columns will give a good feel for the status of SWBC SWLing at the time.
• Scott Allwave Short Wave Station Schedule - Here is another E. H. Scott item, a brochure called the "Scott Allwave Short Wave Station Schedule." This is a 1934 item containing news of the BBC, France, Germany, Spain, and Australia, a chart covering the transmissions of U.S. and foreign shortwave stations, and instructions on "How To Tune On Short Waves With Scott Allwave Fifteen."
• "Globe Girdling" - One of the most popular DX magazines of the 1930s was "All Wave Radio." Here is its shortwave editor, J. B. L. Hinds of Yonkers, New York, with the January 1936 edition of his column, "Globe Girdling."
• 1939 Scott Foreign and U.S. Short Wave Tuning Guide - Here is another E. H. Scott item. After you bought your Scott receiver, you could use this booklet to tell you how to tune and what stations to listen for. It features an introductory section, "How to Get Results On Short Waves," along with schedules of U.S. shortwave stations, a very nice list of stations worldwide, a world time chart, great circle map of the world centered on New York, and a list of U.S. BCB stations.
• J. B. L. Hinds "Picks the Ten Best" - What would be your vote for the "Ten Best Foreign Short Wave Stations"?��Here are the picks of editor J. B. L. Hinds in his first article for the shortwave section ofShort Wave Radio magazine, July 1934.
• "These You Can Hear" - 1947 publication by the Amalgamated Short Wave Press of London, reprinting a series of station profiles that had appeared in the British monthly, "Short Wave News."
• Marconi World Radio Atlas - This atlas appears to have been issued in the late 1930s. It contains information about the Canadian Marconi Company factory, shortwave--the "thrill band" of radio, propagation, how to tune, and how to obtain QSLs. This is followed by a list of shortwave stations of the world, "Empire" transmissions from Daventry, and a list of North American BCB stations.
• The 1961 "Hallicrafters Guide to Short Wave Listening" - Just what possessed Hallicrafters to publish this pamphlet in a 2" wide x 3" long format I don't know, but here it is, with all you needed to know to get started, including information about receivers and a list of stations to try for. Promised its author: "Only by short wave radio can you become a witness to history as it occurs. And only through short wave can you hear, in a single day, a Wagnerian opera from Heidelburg . . . a news broadcast from behind the iron curtain . . . and an airport control tower bringing in a crippled plane. Every moment of every day and night, Short Wave brings into your home an absorbing new interest--a fascinating way to keep up with international affirs, to be informed and stay informed."
• "Broadcasting Stations of the World" - Thanks to Tetsuya Hirahara of Japan, who has brought to our attention a University of Illinois link http://hdl.handle.net/10111/UIUCOCA:Serial/broadcastingstat where full copies of various of issues of "Broadcasting Stations of the World" from 1953 to 1974 are posted in several formats. BSW was published by the U.S.Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service (later Foreign Broadcast Information Service) most years until 1974. Although this site says the first issue was published in 1946, we have an early edition of BSW that is dated August 1, 1945. It is too long to scan in its entirety (66 pages), but here are the introductory pages and the pages covering the 60, 90 and 120 meter bands.
• "Simplified World-Wide Radio Log," advised that "Mystery, Romance, Adventure and Thrills Aplenty to Be Found in New Greater Field Opened Up by Short Wave Radio." This 16-page pamphlet from 1934 contained just about all you needed to get started: an explanation of propagation, descriptions of stations (there is Eddie Startz on p. 7), logs of shortwave broadcast, BCB and utility stations, and, on the back cover, an ad for some Stewart-Warner "Round-the-World Radios."
• The Philips Daily Shortwave Guide - From the U.K., the "Philips Daily Shortwave Guide, arranged by the hour" contains no date but appears to be from the 1930s. The U.S. stations exchanged their "X" calls for four-letter calls in 1939, and this booklet still reflects the former. Note the reference to "Br. India," and the use of wavelength rather than frequency.
• Dial of the World - "Thrills, entertainment, education are at the command of the D-X fan . . ." says Stewart-Warner in a nice 16-page promotional booklet. There are instructions on how to tune (the lesson seems to be to "Tune Slowly"), photos of world events and some well-known stations, and a list of shortwave, longwave, mediumwave and police stations. The back cover contains advertising for their Ferrodyne Round-the-World shortwave radios. This booklet contains no dates, but it appears to be from the mid-1930s.
• WRTH Brochures - Here are some advertising brochures for the World Radio TV Handbook from the years 1967, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978. (Tnx to Michael Schmitz in Germany for the 1967 brochure.)
• Band Survey - Here is a band survey from the February 1957 NNRC Bulletin, listing all Caribbean, Central American and South American stations reported to be operating between 3 and 8 MHz. The list shows frequency, call letters and station name and location. On the right there are two columns showing the approximate times, morning and evening (EST), when the stations were heard. Keep in mind that this is not a survey of all stations heard in these bands--just those from the Americas. Read and weep.
• Kohler & Campbell Radio Log - In the 1920s, and even later, medium wave "radio logs," with lists of stations and places to enter dial readings were issued as promotional items by many different kinds of organizations--schools, markets, shoe companies, insurance firms, and, as this week's colorful item attests, piano companies, in this case Kohler & Campbell of Littleton, New Hampshire. This is from 1927. Note that station channels are shown only in meters, not kilocycles, and the original owner has enteerd a couple of dial readings from long ago.
• Radio Wheels - photos of several radio "wheels" that were used as aids in tuning. Included are wheels from Hallicrafters, Lines & Fitzpatrick, and Crosley.
• German Station Lists - Wolfgang Bueschel in Germany sends along two pictures of station lists taken by Bernhard Weiskopf, Mannheim, Germany at an exhibition of pre-World war II radio sets held by Prof. S��ll in Neu-Isenburg, near Frankfurt am Main. These LW and MW listings are from around the 1941-1944 era. Note that the Podebrad site in occupied Czechoslavakia is listed, along with various stations that are still on the air, e.g. Warsaw 224 (now 225), Luxembourg 232 (now 234), Stuttgart Muehlacker 574 (now 576), Vienna Bisamberg 592 (now ITU registered 585), Prague 638, Leipzig Wiederau 785 (now 783), and Warsaw 1384 (now Kaliningrad Bolshakovo [soon Sitkunai, Lithuania] 1386).
• Radio Design (Spring 1930) - Another review of SW logs from the Pilot Radio & Tube Corp. house organ, Radio Design, this time the Spring 1930 isue. Actually, the heart of these logs is a reprint of part of the February 10, 1930 issue of the bulletin of the International Short Wave Club of Klondyke, Ohio. There is an introductory feature about the club, including a photo of the club's founder, Arthur J. Green. For the definitive history of the ISWC, see George Zeller's article, "The Founding of the International Short Wave Club in Klondyke, Ohio."
• Radio Design (1929) - A 1929 article about the shortwave broadcasting stations of the world, their times and frequencies. It also included a world time chart. This is the first of several such articles that appeared in the magazine Radio Design, the house organ of the Pilot Radio and Tube Corp., Brooklyn manufacturer of the "Wasp" series of shortwave receivers. We will present more from Radio Design in the future.

QSLS & OTHER STATION MEMORABILIA

• Station-Designed Stamps & Seals Pt. 4 - Here is the final file of station-designed stamps and seals. The previous three files (below) have been from American broadcast stations. The stamps in this file are from stations other than American broadcast band stations. They are: CHNS-CHNX, Halifax, Nova Scotia; CKAC, Montreal, Quebec; CKCL, Toronto, Ontario; CMBC, Havana, Cuba; IBRA Radio; Radio Ecclesia, Luanda, Angola (not a postage stamp, possibly a fund-raising stamp); Radio Free Russia (a clandestine that was heard in 1954 and many years thereafter); Radio of Free Asia (a Korea-based organization); the Voice of Prophecy; and Spatari, the "international radio language" c. 1938-39.
• Station-Designed Stamps & Seals Pt. 3 - Here is another file with station-designed stamps and seals from American broadcast band stations. In this file are: WGBI, Scranton, PA; WGHB, Clearwater, FL; Master Kraft Oil Burner Radio Programs (NBC stations WGY-WJZ-WBZ-WBZA); WHAS, Louisville, KY (one of a five-stamp series of identical stamps but in different colors and bearing the numbers 1 through 5); WJAX, Jacksonviille, FL; WLAC, Nashville, TN; WMCA, New York, NY; the Ave Maria Radio Hour, Graymoor, NY (WMCA, New York, NY, and WIP, Philadelphia, PA); WOO, Philadelphia, PA (Wanamaker's); WREC, Memphis, TN; WSAN, Allentown, PA; WSB, Atlanta, GA; WSM, Nashville, TN; and WTIC, Hartford, CT.
• Monitoring Times QSL Articles - Several illustrated articles about QSLs have appeared recently in Monitoring Times. The October 2011 issue contained an article titled "Looking at QSLs and Seeing History" which discusses QSLs and political history. The second article, from the December 2011 issue, is titled "QSLs Give Life to Radio History," and it addresses QSLs and radio history.
• Station-Designed Stamps & Seals Pt. 2 - Here is another file with station-designed stamps and seals used by American broadcast band stations for verification and other promotional purposes. In this file are: KMOX, St. Louis, MO; KOA, Denver, CO (foil seal); KRKD, Los Angeles, CA; KSCJ, Sioux City, IA; KSL, Salt Lake City, UT; KWK, St. Louis, MO; WBAL, Baltimore, MD; WCAL, Northfield, MN; WCBA, Allentown, PA; WCFL, Chicago, IL; and WCOD, Harrisburg, PA.
• Station-Designed Stamps & Seals Pt. 1 - While EKKO stamps were the principal stamps that stations used during the verification stamp era, many stations designed their own stamps or seals for verification or other purposes. We have pooled our resources and posted a file containing a number of these stamps from American broadcast band stations. They are: KDKA, Pittsburgh, PA (25th Anniversary); KDKA (New Transmitter, 1939); KFDM, Beaumont, TX; KFI, Los Angeles, CA; KFQU, Holy City, CA; KFSD, San Diego, CA; KFWI, San Francisco, CA; KFWM, Oakland, CA; KFYR, Bismarck, ND; KGEZ, Kalispell, MT; KGO, Oakland, CA (a foil seal); and KGO again (a stamp).
• Bryant Stamps - EKKO stamps--the verification stamps that were popular in the 1920s--are quite well known, Bryant stamps less so. Bryant stamps were somewhat of a competitor to EKKO stamps. However, we have seen many thousands of old BCB QSLs and, unlike EKKO's, we have never seen one bearing a Bryant stamp. Presumably you bought them direct from the company (P. M. Bryant, Chicago). Here is a file containing some sample pages from a 1925 Bryant stamp album. It is set up much the same as an EKKO album--pages for the stamps (which were a little less artful than the EKKO's), then lists of American broadcast band stations arranged by call letters and location, followed by pages for keeping a log of stations heard. Also shown are several sheets of unperforated Bryant stamps. A little research shows that the stations are arranged on the sheets alphabetically by state (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), though not necessarily alphabetically by call letters within the state. Could you send a list of stations to Bryant and have them send you a sheet of stamps for the requested call letters? Did you have to send the QSLs? There is some suggestion on line that you could buy the album with a complete set of stamps. Unlike EKKO's, which bore the words "Verified Reception Stamp," Bryant stamps carried no indication that they were meant to signify verification of reception.
• Who doesn't have fond memories of the Radio Netherlands Happy Station program? Here are four Happy Station calendars. These are from 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1989. The 1969 calendar contains some great old photos of Happy Station host Eddy Startz, "and friends." The 1989 calendar is a montage of various Happy Station graphics, and is best viewed by setting your Adobe Reader to "four panel square" mode.
• "PCJ," Radio Nederland - Here are six pages of info that you might have received in the mail from "PCJ," Radio Nederland, in 1948, specifically the station's summer schedule and the schedule of Eddie Startz's "Happy Station" program.
• Christmas and New Years - Here are a number of Christmas and New Years radio-related cards of the past. Included are: TI4NRH, Heredia, Costa Rica; OTC, Leopoldville, Belgian Congo; Radio France Asie, Saigon, Vietnam (1955); two cards from Commander E. F. McDonald, Jr. of Zenith Radio Corp. (1942 and 1957); and two Christmas cards (Card 1, Card 2) which appear to date from the very early days of radio.
• Radio New York Worldwide traces its history to W1XAL, which came on the air in 1931 (and itself traces its history to W2XAL, which started broadcasting in 1927). W1XAL became WRUL in 1939, and - with the same call letters - Radio New York Worldwide in 1962. It adopted the call letters WNYW in 1966. This program schedule is from May-October 1964, and illustrates one of the best modern-day examples of American private shortwave broadcasting. It points out the station's coverage of the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York; the station's political, olympic and Wall Street coverage; a special Peace Corps program; the Indianapolis 500; and more. There is a brief history of the station on p. 6, and on p. 7 news from listeners (including a promotion for the ASWLC, which had been formed in 1959). Radio New York Worldwide's affiliation with ABC gave the station access to a professional news team, whose members are shown on the last page.
• WMAF, South Dartmouth, Massachusetts - One of the more colorful characters in early American broadcasting was Col. Edward Howland Robinson Green, a bigger-than-life resident of the majestic Round Hill estate, most of whose land is now part of the town of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Green's broadcast band station, WMAF, came on the air in 1922 with 100 watts (later increased). Here are two interesting items from WMAF. One is a Round Hill "poster stamp" (a non-postage stamp) reflecting the station's call letters, plus some other sites at Round Hill. The other is a reception report sent to WMAF from England in 1923, which makes for interesting reading. The report is from a fascinating book, "Colonel Edward Howland Robinson Green and the World He Created at Round Hill" by Barbara Fortin Bedell. The book is available from http://www.partnersvillagestore.com/ in Westport, Mass., or directly from Ms. Bedell at bb280z@yahoo.com. (The report is reproduced here with Ms. Bedell's permission.) The origin of the poster stamp is unknown; notwithstanding her considerable knowledge of the Round Hill story, Ms. Bedell was unfamiliar with the stamp.
• Let's Hear It for Applause Cards.
• Two QSLs from Art Collins, founder of Collins Radio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa - by Bill Smith.
• Certificates - Here are some of the certificates of achievement that many DXers have enjoyed collecting. From clubs past and present, they are: Boys' Life Radio Club "DXer" award (QSLing all continents), 1958; International Radio Club of America (IRCA), 2,800 BCB stations verified, 1973; International Shortwave Club (ISWC) "Heard All Continents" award; International Short Wave League (ISWL) (U.K.) "Century Award" (100 countries), 1958; NNRC "Certificate of Achievement" award, 30 zones verified, 1971; NNRC "Certificate of DX Qualification," 400 BCB stations verified, 1947 (updated to 1,000 in 1952); NNRC "Certificate of Merit" award, 100 BCB stations verified, 1946 (with stickers, including one for 1,100 stations, 1951); NNRC "Super Ace" certificate, 500 BCB stations QSLed, 1947; NNRC "Short Wave Explorer," 1958; National Radio Club (NRC) "Medium Wave DXer Award," 51 countries verified, 1965; NRC "DX Award" certificates for verifying eight Canadian provinces (1980) and 2,876 BCB stations (1977); SPEEDX "African Listener" certificate with stickers for 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 stations heard (1989); and a Universal Radio DX Club "Countries Heard Certificate" for 182 countries. These certificates are from the collections of Eugene S. Allen, William F. Flynn, John C. Herkimer, Roger Legge, Robert S. Knox, and Jerry Berg.
• More Certificates - More certificates, this time membership certificates from ACE (1983), ADXR (1983), ASWLC (1967 and 1970), the Australian DX Radio Club (1946), the British Short Wave League (1945), the International Round Table (1946), the Great Circle Shortwave Society (1987), the International Short Wave Club (1940), the International Short Wave League (1946 and 1956), the International DXers Allliance (IDA, 1935), and a charter establishing the Minnesota chapter of the IDA (1939). These originated with Bill Flynn, Roger Legge, Larry Lundberg, Sid Steele, and Jerry Berg.
• And More Certificates - Here is another group of membership cards and certificates. They are from NASWA (c. 1967), NNRC (1950s), New Zealand DX Club (1945), New Zealand DX Radio Assn. (1956), New Zealand Radio DX League (1960), Quixote Radio Club (1939), Union of Asian DXers (1980), Universal Radio DX Club (membership cards from the 1950s, and an "Official DX Listening Post" certificate), Victory Radio Club, and the VK-NZ SWL Card Exchange & Friendship Club (1939). These items are from the collections of Bill Flynn, Larry Lundberg, Roger Legge, and Jerry Berg.
• And More Certificates - These originated with various magazines, and belonged to William F. Flynn, Richard E. Davis, Eugene S. Allen, Roger Legge, Jr., and Larry Lundberg, all of whom have gone on to that great DXpedition in the sky. The certificates are: (1) Two "official radio broadcast monitor" cards from Popular Electronics (1957 & 1960). Hank Bennett used to send these to contributors to his PE column. (2) One of many certificates of achievement offered by the Electronics Illustrated DX Club, which operated from 1961 into the 1970s. This one was issued in 1967 and was for 100 countries heard. The "club" existed solely for the purpose of issuing awards, and by 1965 over 2,000 had qualified and had their names listed in the magazine. The "club" had its own countries list, and a monthly column of loggings and news called "Notes from EI's DX Club." (3) An "Official Certificate of Verified International Reception," issued by Radio Digest magazine for the international medium wave tests which took place during International Radio Week, January 24-30, 1926. During the several such tests which took place during 1923-26, many U.S. and European stations stayed off the air at designated hours in order to give DXers on both sides of the ocean a better chance at long-distance reception. (4) An "Official DX Listening Post Certificate" issued in 1938 to contributors of Radio News. (5) A similar certificate issued in 1952 by Ken Boord to supporters of his Radio & Television News column. (6) A card issued to subscribers of the DX magazine, Radio Index (RADEX), circa the mid-1930s. (7) A charter establishing the "Minnesota Golden Gophers" chapter of the Radio Signal Survey League. It is undated, but the RSSL was a project of All-Wave Radio during the years 1937-38. And (8) a certificate issued by the RSSL in 1938 for verifying all continents. Note the foil seal in the lower right, and the crossing out of the "All-Wave Radio" designation. This certificate is from October 1938, two months after All-Wave Radio had been taken over by Radio News.
• And Even More Certificates - This time we have some cards and certificates issued by shortwave station "clubs" et al. These include: (1) & (2) two BBC World Radio Club membership cards (Hobart Beal and Ernie Behr); (3) a BBC World Service Reception Survey card (Russ Mappin, 1972); (4) a BBC World Service World Radio Club DX Award (Bill Flynn, 1970); (5) Radio Budapest Shortwave Club Worldwide membership certificate (Larry Lundberg, 1970); (6) Radio Bulgaria Monitor Club membership certificate (Ian Wilson, 2000); (7) Radio Canada Shortwave Club (Harold Sellers, 1969); (8) Radio Kiev DX Club (John Herkimer, 1979); (9) Radio New York Worldwide Listeners Club membership certificate (Bill Flynn, 1970); (10) Radio Prague Monitor Club membership certificate (Harold Sellers, 1969); (11) & (12) Radio RSA Monioring Panel membership certificates (David Walcutt, 1979 & 1983); and (13) & (14).
• Pennants - Here is a photo from Henrik Klemetz of a "pennant wall" from his shack in the early 70s in Sweden.
• DX Jewelry - For the listener who does not like to be too far from reminders of the hobby, some DX jewelry, specifically three pins. One is from station OTC, Belgian Congo. (Also shown is an OTC QSL.) The second is a pin from HCJB. It was issued in 1956 in commemoration of 25 years of broadcasting. (The card to which it was attached is shown as well.) The third is from Radio Nederland, issued at a time, and for purposes, unknown.
• EKKO Stamps - Here is a 1924 EKKO stamp album.
• Voice of America Medal.
• A vintage postcard from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, with the handwritten warning in Spanish, "Science is truth, but don't trust in the wireless."
• The new AWR QSL designed by Dr. Adrian Peterson shows radio stamps issued by AWR over the years.
• An "Applause Card" from Uruguay dated 1926, from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay.
• Applause Gram - A telegram version of the 1920s "Applause Card" - from George Zeller, Cleveland, Ohio.

EQUIPMENT & ADVERTISING

• "Scott Custom Built Radio--Special Deluxe Installations" - If you were a well-heeled SWL in 1940, your "shack" could have looked like one of those in this booklet. Scott receivers were not DX machines, but they had room filling audio, and these were some pretty nice rooms. Do you prefer Gene Autry's setup, or Barbara Stanwyck's? (For best viewing set Adobe Acrobat to "side-by-side with continuous scrolling.")
• Hallicrafters 20th Anniversary Brochure - Here is a Hallicrafters brochure, issued circa 1954, containing brief writeups of receivers, transmitters, and other equipment.
• "Official Log - National Association of Armchair Adventurers" - In the late 1950s, shortwave receivers manufactured by the National Company of Malden, Mass. were among the most popular. Here is a promotional logbook distributed by National circa 1958. Welcoming users to the "National Association of Armchair Adventurers," it contained a promotional preface about National; a 7-page introduction to shortwave listening, courtesy of Electronics Illustrated; a very nice list of mostly-SWBC stations that brings back some fond memories; a page for the user's statistics; 20 pages of log sheets (only one is included in the scan); and an inside back cover with brief writeups on the National NC-60, NC-66 and NC-188 receivers.
• "1931-32 Short-Wave Receivers" - This is a 1931 publication of James Millen, chief engineer and general manager of the National Company. Serious shortwave receivers were just coming into use, and National was one of the first on the scene. The National "Thrill Box" came out in 1928, and by 1931 was being offered in the SW-3 and SW-5 models, both of which are described in this pamphlet. There is also a discussion of early television reception. National was one of the most famous of the early manufacturers of shortwave receivers designed for consumer use, and for decades remained a major player on the shortwave receiver scene. Although the list of stations on the inside back cover is titled "Short-Wave Broadcast Stations," the term "broadcast" is used in its widest sense. The list does include the broadcast stations of the day (W8XK, W8XAL, G5SW, I3RO, VUC, NRH, VK3ME, CT1AA, 7LO, etc.), but most of the stations shown were commercial or experimental stations.
• National Radio Company - Here is a pamphlet from the National Radio Company containing photos and brief writeups about the receivers in the National line. Although undated, this looks like it hails from around 1960.
• 1935 Hammarlund Short Wave Manual - This was a periodic pamphlet-style publication of Hammarlund Manufacturing Co. The earliest one we've seen is 1929, the latest is an undated edition that appears to be from the early 1940s. For many years Hammarlund was in the parts business as well as the receiver business. This manual shows various home-bulit receiver designs, and specifies the Hammarlund parts to be used, together with the parts of other companies. A collection of the Hammarlund "high tech" parts of the day is shown in the centerfold.
• "Flight of the Skyrider, 2010" - Jerry Berg has a "new" receiver--a Hallicrafters SX-28A, vintage 1944. Here is his writeup, with photos, about his experiences in fixing up and operating this classic old receiver.
• Atwater Kent Radio - There wasn't much going on in the shortwave world of 1926. A few American stations (KDKA, WGY) were dabbling in shortwave, as was PCJJ in Holland. But with no consumer-grade shortwave receivers, even an avid broadcast band DXer wouldn't know much about the short waves. Things were much farther along on the standard broadcast band, where, if you were looking for a high quality receiver, you might have considered an Atwater Kent. Here is an AK promotional catalog called Atwater Kent Radio. It describes the year's offerings, and discusses radio reception generally and the Atwater Kent company in particular.
• For many years the National Radio Company of Melrose, Massachusetts was one of the leading names in shortwave receivers. Here is a booklet that was published by National in 1964 in commemoration of the company's 50th anniversary. It contains photos of much of the fondly remembered National equipment. National started business in 1914 (!) as a manufacturer of power plant specialty items. It expanded into the toy business, then aircraft parts and household items, finally getting around to radio in 1924.
• Here is a nice Hallicrafters catalog dating from around 1948 or 1949. There are a lot of familiar communication receivers here - the SX-43, S-40A, S-53 and S-38, as well as FM, TV, and amateur equipment.
• Electronics Illustrated-January 1962 - Here's something that will bring back memories for SWLs who were active in the late 1950s and early 1960s: a SW equipment feature from the January 1962 issue of Electronics Illustrated. The first six pages contain brief writeups on some of the most popular equipment of the day--the Knight Ocean Hopper, the Space Spanner, the Heathkit AR-3, the National NC-60, the Hallicrafters S-38, the Hammarlund HQ-145X, and others, plus accessories. Following this are three articles on "new" receiver kits of the day--the Heathkit GR-91, the Philmore CR-5AC, and the Knight-Kit R-100. "Those were the days!"
• Disk Cutting and DXing - If you were listening during the late 1940s and the 1950s, and if you were recording your DX, you were using a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Before reel-to-reel there was wire recording, but home recording did not really catch on until tape. What was available before tape and wire for those who couldn't wait? Disk cutting, and some DXers used the technique to record their DX. Here are three articles from 1935 about disk cutting and DXing. The first, from the February issue of Short Wave Craft, deals mainly with the technology. The other two articles, from the September and December issues of Radio Index (RADEX), discuss practice. Tuning a receiver while also cutting a disk looks like no small feat--a very long way from today's digital recording.
• "Short Wave Listening Radios" - Here is a combination catalog-primer from Hammarlund. Note the references to Popular Electronics, Gilfer, WRTH, NNRC and Radio New York Worldwide on p. 13. This was probably issued in the early 1960s.
• 12-tube Scott Allwave Deluxe - Here is some information about the 12-tube Scott Allwave Deluxe superhet sold circa 1932: a 12-page illustrated advertising brochure, and a two-page "Technical Questionnaire." "Roll up the carpet and dance to music direct from the Hotel Mayfair in London! . . . You have a totally new experience awaiting you--when you listen to programs not only in U.S.A. but from the far distant points of the earth through the peerless SCOTT ALLWAVE DELUXE."
• Hammarlund SP-210 - A pamphlet from Hammarlund on the company's SP-210 (with the 10" speaker--if you wanted a 12" speaker it was the SP-220). This was an 18-tube superhet with bandspread, crystal filter selectivity and coverage up to 20 mc. in five bands. It was sold during the 1940s, having first appeared around 1942. Check out those list prices on page 15.
• World-Wide Nine Radio - A 30-page booklet about the World-Wide Nine Radio, "custom built by McMurdo-Silver," circa 1934.
• Allied Radio 1940 - Here's a look at what Allied Radio was offering the discriminating SWL in 1940. And how about those "terms": a Hallicrafters Sky Buddy for less than $5 down and less than $5 per month.
• "Short Wave Listeners' Guide" - Not entirely an advertisement, but a pamphlet from the National Co., "Short Wave Listeners' Guide," containing some basics about shortwave reception and a list of stations to try for. The receivers shown--NC-183D, HRO 60, NC-125 and SW-54-- suggest that this is from the early 1950s, but the station listings seem to belong to an earlier period.
• "Your Guided Tour of the Amazing World of Short Wave Listening" - A six-page brochure from Hallicrafters presenting their 1961 line of receivers along with information about how shortwave works and what you can hear. "Those were the days."
• Hallicrafters 1949 - Surely there is no company that produced more shortwave receivers over the years than Hallicrafters. Here is a 1949 catalog from Hallicrafters--"the radio man's radio."
• What gear did you use when you first started listening?
• Hallicrafters Letter Writing Contest - During late 1944 and early 1945, Hallicrafters would offer cash prizes for letters from servicemen describing their experiences with Hallicrafters equipment. Every writer received $1, and prize winners received from $10 to $200. Here are three ads for letter writing contests that appeared on the back covers of Radio News in October, November and December 1944.
• Allied Radio Corp. - Many DXers got their start in the hobby by buying an inexpensive ready-made or kit radio from Allied Radio Corp. of Chicago. I remember paging through those big catalogs over and over. Recently I come across an Allied catalog from 1929 and was surprised to see that the company went back that far. But according to an Allied history at http://www.alliedelec.com/AlliedHistory.asp the company was founded in 1928. So this is about as early an Allied catalog as is likely to be found. I have copied some pages containing receivers that were offered at the time from Silver-Marshall, Hammarlund, Scott, National, and Pilot, plus some interesting antennas. I was also suprised to find in this 1929 catalog many items from the "Knight" line which was well-known to electronic hobbyists many years later.
• Aero Products, Inc. - a four-page promotional pamphlet from Aero Products, Inc. of Chicago. This is a rare piece of advertising that appears to date from 1929, as it promotes "the new 1929 'Aero-Call' Converter Box." "This amazing radio instrument now makes it possible to reach 'round the world--England, Germany, Holland, France, Australia, Panama, Java and many foreign stations are some that are tuned in regulalrly on short wave." No less interesting is the collage of QSLs on page two (shortwave QSLs from the 1920s are seldom seen), and the station list on page three. Operating instructions are on page four.
• Hammarlund - Here are some advertisements from the war years. These are from Radio News, 1943, and show the contribution that the Hammarlund Super Pro was making in the war effort.
• Two tours of vintage shortwave radio manufacturing plants. (1) From Scott, there is a brochure called "The Story of Advanced Design and Precision Engineering in Radio," circa 1932. (2) And from the Pilot Radio & Tube Corp., an article about the "new" 1.5 million sq. foot plant in Lawrence, Massachusetts to which the company moved from its old location in Brooklyn. This is from the Fall 1930 issue of Radio Design, the company's house organ.
• The Pilot A.C. Super-Wasp was the successor to the battery-operated set (below). "At last you can enjoy the thrills of short-wave reception with all the conveniences of full lamp-socket operation." These two articles are from the Fall 1929 and Winter 1929 issues of Radio Design. The A.C. Super-Wasp was one of the first A.C. shortwave sets.
• Here are two articles from Radio Design, house organ of the Pilot Electric Manufacturing Co., later the Pilot Radio & Tube Corp. The company was first located in Brooklyn, New York and later moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. The magazine was published from 1928 to 1931 and was an interesting early source of information on shortwave stations and receivers. These articles are from the Spring 1929 issue and cover one of the earliest available "consumer" shortwave receivers, the battery-operated Pilot Super-Wasp (successor to the earlier Pilot Wasp). You assembled the Super-wasp from a kit of parts obtainable from Pilot. The first article, "The Pilot Super-Wasp," describes the receiver and how to build it. Says the article: "It should not take you more than an hour and a half to assemble a Super-Wasp. Once you have mounted everything you should be able to wire the whole outfit in another hour, or even less." The second article, "How to Get the Most Out of A Short-Wave Receiver," explains how to use the set.
• "Proof of Consistent Foreign Reception," a 20-page booklet produced by E.H. Scott in 1932.
• "Methods for Improving Short Wave Reception," a pamphlet from Postal Radio explaining why the Postal Two Stage Tuned R.F. Pre-Selector and Booster is just what the doctor ordered. There is no date on this, but the NRA symbol places it in the period 1933-35.
• Gilfer Associates - Here are some memories of Gilfer Associates, Inc., a favorite shortwave mail order house in the 1960s, 1970s and after. Oliver P. (Perry) Ferrell and XYL Jeanne began the business circa 1952 and were well-known in the DX community. Perry died in an automobile accident in 1984 and Jeanne carried on the business until she sold it in 1994. Gilfer closed in 1997. Here are some Gilfer catalogs from 1970 and 1974. R.I.P., Gilfer and Perry Ferrell.
• Silver-Marshall, pages from the December 1, 1928 catalog of one of the great names in early radio manufacturing.

LITERATURE & HUMOR

• More Humorous Postcards - Radio and humor were a frequent combination in radio's early days. Here is a file of humorous radio-related postcards. The first three were used by radio repairmen, presumably to inform customers of their services, and were printed by National Union Radio Tubes.
• "Your First Wireless Set" - From Britain's Punch magazine circa 1940.
• Charlie Loudenboomer - Some of today's DXers may have heard of Charlie Loudenboomer, whose attempts at hobby humor appeared in the NASWA bulletin, "FRENDX," from January 1966 to January 1977. But how many have actually read them? Here are some early examples taken from "The Best of Loudenboomer, the Collected Works of Charlie Loudenboomer, Vol. 1," published circa 1973.
• "The DX Editors' Lexicon" - Two pages of tounge-in-cheek DX definitions taken from Bandspread, the publication of the British Association of DXers. Bandspread was published from 1970 to 1974 by Alan Thompson, an early leader of the World DX Club and former Secretary General of the European DX Council. Thompson's intensity for the hobby and his wry sense of humor show through in these definitions.
• Humorous Postcards - Radio often tickled the funny bone in its early days. Here are some postcards that make the point.
• Here are two articles from the early days of broadcast band listening: "A First Night With a First Set," a December 1924 story from Radio News about a set constructor's experiences (with a surprise ending); and a March 1928 Radio News article, "Wisdom for Radio Widows," "A straight-from-the-shoulder talk to the woman whose husband belongs to the Order of the Sleepless Knights of DX."
• La Rayotelefonia - A poem in Spanish that appeared in the 1922 radio publication "Radio Revista" - from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, and translated into English by Horacio Nigro and Don Moore, Iowa.

PEOPLE

• More DXing Horizons "Shortwave Profiles" - Here is another group of "Shortwave Profiles" from "DXing Horizons." This group includes John and Marjorie Gibson, Al Niblack, Sidney Pearce, Sam Rowell, Ab Saylor, and Paul Silver.
• DXing Horizons "Shortwave Profiles" - "DXing Horizons" was a short-lived but very nice DX magazine that was published from January 1960 to April 1961. Nearly half the magazine was devoted to shortwave, with other forms of DX taking up the rest. The shortwave editor was Ken Boord, probably the best known DX editor of the time. This was Ken's final appearance as a DX editor. Among the "DXH" features was the "Shortwave Profile" where Ken highlighted particular DXers. John Herkimer has gone through DXH and extracted these profiles, and we have posted the first group. Included this time are profiles of August Balbi, Anson Boice, Floyd Backus, George Cox, Arthur Cushen, and Jerry Berg.
• Hank Bennett's First NNRC Column - All American SWBC DXers who entered the hobby in the 1950s and 1960s know the name Hank Bennett. Hank was shortwave editor for the Newark News Radio Club for decades, right up until the club closed in 1982. He became interested in shortwave listening in 1938, and obtained his ham license eight years later. His name started appearing as a bulletin contributor in 1945, at which time he was in the Seventh Army's Signal Corps in Europe. Here is Hank's first column for the NNRC Bulletin. It appeared in the December 1949 issue, when he took over from Jimmy Hart, who had edited the column since 1943. Bennett also served as Popular Electronics shortwave editor from 1955 to 1970. In 1970-71 he edited a SWBC column for the short-lived Radio Today magazine, and he wrote a column in Monitoring Times from 1983 to 1986.
• "The Way We Were in NASWA" - Before March 1972, when Dan Ferguson took the club to offset booklet-style printing, the North American Shortwave Assn. (NASWA) bulletin was mimeographed. For a couple of years starting in 1970, "FRENDX" would sometimes contain picture pages featuring photos of members. Here are some of the picture pages from 1970-71, including the brief writeups which accompanied the photos. Here are some of the picture pages from 1971-72. And more of "The Boys of NASWA," these picture pages are from 1972. And, finally, these picture pages are from 1973.
• Cesar Objio - Here is a photo of the well-known DXer from the Dominican Republic who passed away on September 3, 2004 at the age of 76. Cesar was well-known and highly regarded by DXers the world over. Thanks to his daughter, Ana Objio, for sending this picture.
• August Balbi - Here is a 1971 shack photo of the legendary California DXer along with some photos from his logbook for 1936.
• Newark News Radio Club - In 1937, the NNRC published a series of 3" x 5" photo cards containing a photo of the member on the front, and something about the member and his or her hobby interests on the back. Jerry Berg has almost 50 of these cards and they are posted here.
• In 1956, DX Editor Ken Boord authored and published a DXing handbook called "The World At A Twirl." Among the most interesting items were the picture pages featuring photos of DXers and broadcasting personalities. We have reproduced the pages containing photos of DXers, and they are a who's who of the hobby in the 50s and earlier.
• "Where Are They Now"? Harold Sellers of Ontario, Canada, sends along photos of some Canadian DXers taken from the January 1965 issue of "electron" magazine.
• Bob Hill Log Reports - Here are some of the log reports of Littleton, Mass. DXer Bob Hill that date from 1965-66. This was the period when Bob was listening first from Boston, then from Washington, D.C. Thanks to Bob for permission to post these.

PHILATELY

• Danish Radio History - This file contains several items relating to Danish radio history: four first day covers displaying a stamp commemorating the 25th anniversary of Danish state radio, April 1, 1950; the same stamp on a postcard view of the Kalundborg Radio towers, postmarked 1951; and a 1975 first day cover displaying a stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of Danmarks Radio (Danish state radio).
• Radio Japan 25th Anniversary First Day Covers - We have previously posted some first day covers honoring Radio Japan. Here are seven more commemorating the station's 25th Anniversary. The stamp was issued on June 1, 1960.
• More Cuban First Day Covers - We have posted some Cuban first day covers before. Here is another group: two covers commemorating Servicio de Radiodifusion Internacional (1962, the year following the inauguration of Cuba's 100 kw. shortwave transmitting plant); one recognizing Radio Habana Cuba's 40th Anniversary (2001); and three covers acknowledging the 40th (1998), 45th (2003) and 50th (2008) anniversaries of Radio Rebelde.
• Voice of America - On August 1, 1967, the U.S. Post Office issued a five-cent Voice of America stamp, and here are some of the covers that were available at the time.
• Radio Club Seals/Stickers - Many radio clubs have issued seals or stickers from time to time for use on reception reports or members' correspondence. Here is a new file which includes seals or stickers from: (1) Canadian DX Relay, an early Canadian broadcast band club; (2) the International Short Wave Club; (3) an early sticker from the Newark News Radio Club which displays an inset for the "Newark News DX Club," the club's original name; (4) the traditional NNRC seal (in both red-black-gold and green-black-gold); (5) the National Radio Club; (6) the Radio League of America, a Gernsback-sponsored amateur radio organization formed in 1915; (7) the otherwise-unknown Round the World DX Club; and (8) the Radio Signal Survey League (RSSL), a group formed in 1937 by All-Wave Radio magazine.
• More Poster Stamps - Here are more radio-related poster stamps. These are from Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Rochester, St. Louis, and Detroit.
• Poster Stamps - A "cinderella" is any stamp that is not useable for postage. "Poster stamps" are a subcategory of cinderellas, usually used for advertising or promotional purposes. Poster stamps were a popular collectible in the 1920s and 1930s. Here is a file containing examples of a number of radio-related poster stamps, mostly for radio shows where manufacturers displayed their latest wares. The stamps are from New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Detroit. The "Radio Exhibition Olympia" stamp is probably from the U.K.
• More First Day Covers - Here are seven radio-related first day covers: Radio Romania, 80 Years, 2008; Radio Gambia, 10 Years, 1972; Radio Andorra, 2010; Radio Vaticana, 1959; Radio Kuwait, 50 years, 2001; Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corp. of India), 50 Years, 1998; and Radio Luxembourg, 50 Years, 1979.
• Canadian Covers - Here are eight radio-related postal covers from Canada. The first five were issued in connection with the 1971 "RCI Speaking to the World" stamp commemorating RCI's installation of new high power transmitters in Sackville, New Brunswick (the fourth cover has an explanatory insert). The sixth cover features the CBC "exploding pizza" stamp issued in 1986 (the reverse of the cover explains this well-known CBC symbol). The seventh cover is also from 1986, and features an overprint memorializing the 1986 ANARC Convention in Montreal. The final cover memorializes the first Seventh Day Adventist Church World Session held in Canada (2000), and includes an Adventist World Radio-Toronto imprint on the front. Two other Canadian covers were posted in this "Philately" section in the past, one from 1971, the other from 1986.
• Here are some new philately items: (1) an envelope from HCJB showing the various mediumwave and shortwave frequencies that the station was using at the time (1948, if I read the postmark correctly); (2) a 1979 stamp from Radio Nacional de Bolivia commemorating the station's 50th anniversary; (3) a stamp from Peru depicting the Radio Nacional del Peru antennas and giving the call letters and frequencies of familiar R. Nacional shortwave channels 9562 and 6082 kHz.; (4) a first day cover issued in 1970 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Trans World Radio transmissions from Bonaire; (5) a first day cover issued in 2008 in recognition of Radio El Salvador; and (6) a great looking 12-stamp sheet issued by Galei Zahal, the Israeli armed forces station, in 2008.
• More First Day Covers - (1) 50th Anniversary of Swiss Radio International, 1985; (2) 50th Anniversary of Norsk Rikskringkasting, Norway, 1975; (3) the inauguration of new Radio Canada International transmitters in Sackville, 1971; (4) 50th Anniversary of broadcasting in Japan (NHK), 1975; 50th Anniversary of Radio Nepal, 2000; and (6) a 25th Anniversary commemorative sheet from Radio Nacional de Angola.
• More First Day Covers - (1) the new HCJB first day cover commemorating the station's 75th anniversary; and (2) a file containg a variety of FDCs for Vatican stamps issued to commemorate Vatican Radio--a 1981 series for the station's 50th anniversary, and some 1959 stamps for the inauguration of the Santa Maria di Galeria transmitter site.
• All India Radio - Here are some items from All India Radio, which began broadcasting in 1936: a first day cover issued on June 8, 1961 in commemoration of AIR's 25th anniversary, an informative pamphlet issued by AIR in connection with the event, and a postcard of the AIR building constructed in New Delhi in 1940. The postcard was sent from Colombo, Ceylon to New York in 1954.
• More First Day Covers- More stamps, these from 1991, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Radio Quito, a longtime presence on 4919 kHz. Also, a first day cover with the same stamps, along with an explanatory folder; plus a first day cover and explanatory card for three stamps issued in 1980 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of HCJB.
• More First Day Covers - Two first day covers celebrating Radio Japan's 25th anniversary, June 1, 1960, together with an English-Japanese explanatory card; two additional first-day covers from the BBC Ascension Island relay station, one commemorating the station's 25th anniversary (1991) and the other celebrating its 30th anniversary (1996); a FDC from Radio Maryja, Poland, celebrating its 10th anniversary (2001); and a 2005 FDC celebrating the 100th birthday of Lahti, Finland. One of the two stamps on the Lahti cover depicts the Lahti transmitter towers from which Radio Finland broadcast on shortwave for many years, and on the back is an aerial view of the transmitter site. Finally, there is a brief article about radio stamp collecting from the July 1956 issue of Popular Electronics.
• More First Day Covers- Taiwan, 30th Anniversary of Broadcasting, 1927-1957; Austria, 50 Years of Radio Austria (1974); CBC-Radio Canada (1986); and Fiji, Birth of Radio Communications, 1996 (ZJV was the Fiji Broadcasting Corp., Ltd.).
• 50 Years of Mexican Broadcasting - DXer Tetsuya Hirahara of Japan has sent along two first day covers, a postal card, and an explanation (in Spanish) from 1971 when Mexico commemorated 50 years of broadcasting.
• "Golden Days of Radio" - four Australian stamps issued on June 13, 1991.
• Radio Monte Carlo - A 1951 first day cover recognizing Radio Monte Carlo, Monaco.
• Radio Oranje - A first day cover and information sheet issued in 1993 to honor the Dutch "clandestine" program broadcast via London during WW II.
• BBC Ascension/Radio Netherlands Bonaire - Two first day covers commemorating the opening of shortwave relay stations--the BBC on Ascension (1966), and the Radio Netherlands relay on Bonaire (1969).
• Marconi & Fleming First Day Covers - Here are two recently released covers from Canada.
• Cuban Radio Covers - Here are some interesting first day covers memorializing various aspects of Cuban radio.
• Here is a first day cover from the International Telecommunications Conference of 1938 held in Cairo, Egypt.
• Edward S. ("Ted") Rogers, Canadian 3BP, the inventor of the first American tube with an AC-operated filament that produced an acceptable low level of hum (1924-25) was recently honored on a stamp issued by the Canadian post office.

POW MONITORING

• Amazing War Effort By A Small Group - Here is an article received from the New Zealand Radio DX League authored by long time Kiwi DXer Jack Fox, detailing the history of the POW message monitoring effort in New Zealand during World War II.
• World War II Radio Heroes: Letters of Compassion - A review of a new book by Lisa L. Spahr which focuses on two elements of the POW monitoring story: the Short-Wave Amateur Monitors Club, which was formed to organize POW monitors, and the American government's reaction to POW monitoring.
• Radio Tokyo POW Message - Here is an actual POW message read over what was then known as Radio Tokyo. It was recorded on January 5, 1945 by one B. O. South of San Francisco, California, who must have made POW recordings regularly, as the envelope in which the recording was mailed contains the machine-printed message, "Postmaster: Contents--Recorded Voice from Prisoner of War in Japan. Please HAND CANCEL." As shown on the envelope, the home made, cardboard-style record apparently traveled from Wilmington, North Carolina (home of the family of the POW, Milton G. White), to Fort Bliss, Texas, to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The back of the envelope also contains a Columbus, Ohio postmark. The POW message was read by a studio announcer, which was the standard practice back then. A transcription of the POW message, the record, and mailing envelope can be seen here.
• "A Passion With A Purpose--The Prisoner of War Message Service, 1951-1952," by Dr. Frank Glen of New Zealand. The POW message services of World War II are now fairly well known. This article, which appears in the September 2003 edition of the New Zealand Radio DX League's New Zealand DX Times, chronicles a similar but little known effort during the Korean war wherein SWLs monitored POW broadcasts over Radio Peking and passed their contents along to loved ones and the government. Thanks to Frank Glen and the NZRDXL for permission to reproduce this excellent article.
• POW Monitoring in World War II - by Morton Bardfield, W1UQ.
• Short-Wave Radio Monitors Let Families Know of Their Capture by Thom Wilson.
• August Balbi's POW Monitoring, Part I - Among the August Balbi DX materials that were turned over to CPRV in 1988 are some fascinating items pertaining to World War II POW monitoring, i.e. the practice of transcribing POW messages broadcast over the shortwave station where the prisoner was interned and forwarding the message on to family members. Here in Part I are lists of some of the POW messages that August Balbi heard over Radio Tokyo, MTCY-Manchuria, and Berlin.
• August Balbi's POW Monitoring, Part II - In Part I we showed typed lists of some of the POW messages that August Balbi heard over Radio Tokyo, MTCY-Manchuria, and Berlin. This time we have scanned some of August's notes that contain details of the messages themselves.
• August Balbi's POW Monitoring, Part III - After sending a postcard to the POW's family, POW monitors were often rewarded with a card or letter of thanks.

GENERAL RADIO HISTORY

• "The Future of International Short-Wave Reception" - As more and more stations reduce or cancel their shortwave activity in favor of other media platforms, it is worth remembering how much hope shortwave engendered in its early days. During the months of April through July, 1935, Charles A. Morrison, President of the International DXers Alliance, an international DX club, wrote a four-part series in Radio News called "The Future of International Short-Wave Reception." Morrison felt the world was on the verge of a "new international unity," thanks largely to shortwave. In addition to his prognostications about the future of shortwave, he gave a nice review of the DX scene--stations and equipment--of the day. Here are the the four Morrison articles in one file.
• "Rip Discovers Radio" - This is a pamphlet from RCA called "Rip Discovers Radio" in which an RCA information girl explains to an awakening Rip Van Winkle all about the wonders of 1939 RCA.
• Soviet Jamming - Here is a potted history of Soviet jamming, issued by the USIA in May 1987
• Wireless Telegraphy - An article from the November 1899 (!) issue of Machinery magazine, reminding us of what high-tech was back then.
• "Ultra-High" Broadcasting - During the 1930s and 1940s, many U.S. stations conducted experimental broadcasting in the 25-27 and 42-50 MHz. bands. One of those who followed these developments closely was Perry Ferrell, who decades later would be the co-founder of Gilfer Shortwave and a good friend to DXers (including many ontheshortwaves followers). Here is an article by Perry from the January 1940 issue of Radio & Television (originally Short Wave Craft). A few years earlier Perry wrote a regular column on "ultra-high" stations for another magazine, All-Wave Radio. On the last two pages of this file, check out the Pacific shortwave news and "Let's Listen In With Joe Miller," with items from Italian East Africa, Manchukuo, and Indo-China. It was indeed another era.
• War Across the Airwaves by Lesley Chamberlain - an interesting piece about the early days of the BBC Monitoring Service, pointed out by Mike Barraclough of the World DX Club.
• Early Amateur Radio History by Bill Smith.
• Reginald Aubrey Fessenden by Brian Smith.
• Long time DXer Jim Cumbie of Dallas, Texas has sent along some interesting magazine articles about early radio.