DX Mailbag

[Sinifar]

Well the mail bird flew by again, and this time I got 3 !! of them in one day ... China, Romania, and Turkey ...



This one from Turkey is important - WHY? It verifies the July 15th broadcast. That was the date of the COUP. If you listen to short wave, you can hear history happening live as it was, from the source. The envelope is from Romania ....



A couple from China, and Romania ...

Just posting out as they come in -- there are several more still out, and Cuba owes me two ... including the t-shirt ...

Later ..

Sinifar

[mseifert]

Im confussed.. What are these for ..

[Squelchtone]

Im confussed.. What are these for ..

HAM radio hobbysists like to listen to far away station and see if they can tweak their radios and antennas to pick up far away exotic stations, other ham radio hobbyists, or short wave radio stations. Likewise on the other end, the people transmitting always wonder how far their signal reaches the across the world, at what time, during what kind of weather, on which frequency and in which mode, and what kind of radio or antenna someone was using when they heard the transmitting station. So the person who heard the station fills out a little report and mails it to the station, and in return for doing them this nice favor and making new friends, they send out a post card or trinket as a thanks. It helps build community and let's hobbyists know how their gear is working or what needs fixing, improving, maybe a better antenna, a microphone that isn't so scratchy or echo-ey, maybe a hummm on the line that needs to get filtered etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QSL_card

not to be confused with a reception quality report: RST http://www.hamuniverse.com/rst.html

*I think I got most of that right..
Squelchtone

[Tyler J. Thomas]

Im confussed.. What are these for ..

HAM radio hobbysists like to listen to far away station and see if they can tweak their radios and antennas to pick up far away exotic stations, other ham radio hobbyists, or short wave radio stations. Likewise on the other end, the people transmitting always wonder how far their signal reaches the across the world, at what time, during what kind of weather, on which frequency and in which mode, and what kind of radio or antenna someone was using when they heard the transmitting station. So the person who heard the station fills out a little report and mails it to the station, and in return for doing them this nice favor and making new friends, they send out a post card or trinket as a thanks. It helps build community and let's hobbyists know how their gear is working or what needs fixing, improving, maybe a better antenna, a microphone that isn't so scratchy or echo-ey, maybe a hummm on the line that needs to get filtered etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QSL_card

not to be confused with a reception quality report: RST http://www.hamuniverse.com/rst.html

*I think I got most of that right..
Squelchtone

You explained that far better than Wiki did when he made a similar thread a while back. Thanks. You made it sound much cooler than Wiki.

Used to work with a guy that would drive up to a local mountain in the Atlanta area every Saturday night to shoot the shit with another HAM enthusiast in Cuba. Wish I had the time to do something similar.

[smokingman]

Great hobby,I am listening to Radio Algerienne,Algeria right now on 7295.0,
some singing in Arabic.

[Sinifar]

It is what Squelch said, part of the hobby. The QSL card comes in this case from international broadcasters, and I do have others from hams as well. It is a card which says your signal was received, and what you told us about the program, and signal are correct. Collecting QSL cards from broadcasters is an interesting hobby in itself. I have some going back to the late 70's, and onto to today. Most are garden variety cards, just showing I was listening to your country. There are a good 150 + of those in the shack.

BUT some are very important, like this one from Turkey - this was the July 15th coup, and what went down over there was broadcast on TRT, 9505 KHz. This card verifies it if you look on the back for the date and time, and frequency. Others are the fall of the Berlin wall, heard on Deutsch Well (DW) Germany -- and the end of Communism heard on Radio Moscow. If you look on the back of the cards, the data from the reception report will tell the story. THOSE cards are real keepers. Like my "Misha Bear" card from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, I have posted that before -- and today, anything from the cold war days, from countries which are no longer there, well they are but --- those cards are as well real souvenirs of days gone by. Thinking R. Prague, R. Budapest, R. Moscow, R. Peking, although that last is China radio International CRI today. There are many more which are no longer there - so those like KOI, HCJB and others are real treasures.

Just a note back, come and enjoy the hobby and open your window to the world and find out what is really happening besides the political circus in this country.

Sinifar

[cledry]

It is what Squelch said, part of the hobby. The QSL card comes in this case from international broadcasters, and I do have others from hams as well. It is a card which says your signal was received, and what you told us about the program, and signal are correct. Collecting QSL cards from broadcasters is an interesting hobby in itself. I have some going back to the late 70's, and onto to today. Most are garden variety cards, just showing I was listening to your country. There are a good 150 + of those in the shack.

BUT some are very important, like this one from Turkey - this was the July 15th coup, and what went down over there was broadcast on TRT, 9505 KHz. This card verifies it if you look on the back for the date and time, and frequency. Others are the fall of the Berlin wall, heard on Deutsch Well (DW) Germany -- and the end of Communism heard on Radio Moscow. If you look on the back of the cards, the data from the reception report will tell the story. THOSE cards are real keepers. Like my "Misha Bear" card from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, I have posted that before -- and today, anything from the cold war days, from countries which are no longer there, well they are but --- those cards are as well real souvenirs of days gone by. Thinking R. Prague, R. Budapest, R. Moscow, R. Peking, although that last is China radio International CRI today. There are many more which are no longer there - so those like KOI, HCJB and others are real treasures.

Just a note back, come and enjoy the hobby and open your window to the world and find out what is really happening besides the political circus in this country.

Sinifar

Wow, HCJB no longer around. I would have figured with all the money pouring in from churches that one would be around forever.

[Sinifar]

Well this one took 12 weeks from the date they read my letter over the air, to getting the object ...



For those who do not know - this is Radio Havana Cuba's 55th anniversary. This t was offered as a prize on the air, so I entered the contest, and won this. SO who are the three gents? Fidel, his brother Raul, and Che.... AND I got a copy of the local rag as well with this one, but no QSL card. SO I guess you take what you can get and enjoy it!

Sinifar

[Squelchtone]

I'm gonna merge this with your existing DX Mailbag thread...