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My earliest recollection of radio began at our home in Pinelands, Cape Town, South Africa. This photograph, taken in October 1958, shows our new home with Devil's Peak and Table Mountain in the background. As an introduction to a series of chronological posts regarding the dxing experience, I thought that I would share a few early memories of my fascination with radio.
LOCAL RADIO IN SOUTH AFRICA
I was fortunate to grow up during the golden years of radio broadcasting in South Africa (Radio was the main broadcasting entertainment available in South Africa up until 1975 when television was introduced).
I was apparently drawn to the sound of the radio as a toddler. I searched through our family photographs and discovered a 1960 pic of yours truly as a 2 year old in front of an interesting looking 1950's "Global" mediumwave radio :
A subliminal interest in radio probably began with music and announcements from the family mediumwave receiver behind me !SPRINGBOK RADIO
Springbok Radio was a popular local radio service which operated in South Africa from 1950 until station closedown in 1985.
Like many of my school friends I used to look forward to listening to "No Place To Hide", featuring the adventures of Mark Saxon which was broadcast at 7:15 pm every week night during the 1960's. "Squad Cars" was broadcast at 7:30 pm every Friday night a few years later and used to capture the imagination of the entire family too !
This 1963 photograph suggests that as a 5 year old, I was practising my drumming along with music from the "Siera" family radio. The same modest valve receiver would eventually be used to hear exotic Trans Atlantic dx in the 1970's !RHODESIA
A family visit to Salisbury, Rhodesia in December 1968 included a memorable tour around the country. Apart from a highlight of being able to watch TV for the first time as a 10 year old, I recall listening to the local radio services which included the RBC (Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation) and Radio Jacaranda.
This photograph of the family was taken at a rest camp near Victoria Falls. My guess is that the "Normande" portable radio was tuned to the RBC for a news update. LM RADIO
Lourenco Marques Radio or "LM Radio" broadcast from neighbouring Mozambique. In the late 1950s the station underwent a major format change in order to target the younger generation in South Africa.
An attempt to listen to the "Top Twenty" hits from LM radio as a 12 year old in 1970 marked the beginning of an interest in distant radio reception. Two years later in 1972, I discovered the fascinating world of dxing !
WEBSITES
Two excellent websites worth checking out :
* The internet radio service of Springbok Radio athttp://www.springbokradio.com/ includes a 24/7 rebroadcast of some of the fascinating radio programmes of a bygone era.
* The LM Radio Museum and Sound Archive athttp://www.lmradio.org/ records the history of Radio Clube de Moçambique and Lourenco Marques Radio.
The Early Years Of A Dxer In South Africa - Part 2
This vintage Pilot 293B radio was manufactureed in the U.S.A. in 1936 and was one of the first radios to include a "magic eye" tuning indicator (Photograph Gary Deacon).1930's PILOT RADIO
My interest in radio was enhanced as a 12 year old while visiting a friend next door. An interesting looking vintage 1930's Pilot radio (similar to the pic above) used to occupy a corner of their garage. My friend's older brother used to listen to LM radio from Mozambique with the vintage valve receiver.
I recall being quite fascinated with that radio, especially the foreign radio locations displayed in the classic circular glass dial which seemed to indicate what one might expect when tuning in !
A wide choice of interesting radio stations from the Eiffel Tower to Drummondville as indicated in the glass dial display of the Pilot 293B.
DXING FOR THE FIRST TIME
In 1972 at the age of 14, I decided to try and tune in to foreign radio stations with the family transisitor portable receiver. I set up a basic 10 metre longwire outdoor antenna along the side of our house and simply connected this to the receiver's whip antenna. I was pleasantly surprised to hear many foreign radio stations for the first time despite a certain amount of overloading !
DX JUKEBOX
I gained valuable information by listening to Radio Netherlands' excellent programme for shortwave listeners and dxers entitled "DX Jukebox" which used to air on Thursdays. I was also fortunate to receive a few of their free publications including a booklet entitled "Give Your Antenna Some Air" (pictured above).
A few overseas radio publications used to include a monthly shortwave column which I read with great interest. The reported reception of distant stations from exotic locations such as Ghana, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea really fired up my dxing enthusiasm !
RADIO NETHERLANDS QSL CARD
I first heard about QSL verification cards in 1973 when Radio Netherlands issued a special QSL card in order to promote "World DX Friendship Year". I sent off a reception report for one of their relay transmissions from Madagascar and was rewarded with my first shortwave verification / QSL card pictured above.
VINTAGE RADIO BLOGSITE
Visithttp://www.caperadio.blogspot.com/ for photographs of a few more vintage radios which I've collected from a bygone era
The Realistic DX150A Communications Receiver - Fun to operate and a sensitive performer on shortwave (Photograph Gary Deacon). Top Shelf L to R : Hitachi Cassette Recorder and Toshiba Reel to Reel Recorder. Bottom Shelf L to R : Akai Headphones, Sony Microphone, Siera Valve Receiver (MW Reception) and Realistic DX150A Receiver (SW Reception). My first QSL card was received from Radio Lesotho , broadcasting on 899 kHz in the mediumwave band. My first TA QSL card was received from 1010 WINS in 1974. Source: The Early Years Of A Dxer In South Africa - Part 3
This 1960's Siera valve radio produced good mediumwave reception.
MEDIUMWAVE DXING
One evening during 1973 I decided to tune across the mediumwave band on the family Siera valve radio. The sensitivity of the set proved to be quite good on mediumwave and I was pleasantly surprised to hear and identify Radio Botswana (50 kw) on 971 kHz for the first time. The signal was remarkably clear and marked the beginning of a search for other stations operating in the mediumwave band.
Within the next few days I managed to hear and identify Radio Mozambique on 737 kHz (50 kw), Radio Swaziland on 881 khz (10 kw) and Radio Lesotho on 899 kHz (10 kw). Part of the fascination of listening to stations on the mediumwave band was the content of the programming which included local news and announcements - an interesting change from the external service shortwave broadcasting of the day.
DX PUBLICATIONS
A few dx publications helped to futher my knowledge while providing inspiration and enthusiasm for the hobby.
HOW TO LISTEN TO THE WORLD (1972)
I purchased a 1972 edition of "How To Listen To The World" from Technical Books for R3.70. Interesting chapters included : "How To Live With A Budget Receiver" by Gordon Nelson & Russel Edmunds and "Intercontinental Mediumwave Listening" by Richard Wood.
WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK (1974)
The "World Radio And TV Handbook" remains a valuable source of information for today's dxer. I purchased the 1974 edition of the handbook for R5.80.
DRAKE RECEIVERS
Although it would be quite a few years before I would be able to locate a classic second hand R7, I used to read about the ledgendary range of Drake Communications Receivers with great interest.
This advertisement for the Drake DSR1 receiver appeared on page 45 of the 1974 WRTH. The receiver included an innovative digital synthesiser display with an accuracy of up to 100 Hz - an awesome facility for a dxer in 1974 ! The advertised price in the 1974 Popular Electronics Communications Yearbook was 2 295 dollars U.S.
The Drake SPR4 was also advertised and proved to be a well built, top performing set. It has since achieved the status of a classic receiver. The 1974 retail price was a somewhat more affordable 579 dollars U.S.
THE SADXC
I joined the SADXC in 1974 and received my first copy of the SA DX News. I was astonished to read about the remarkable loggings of experienced and dedicated South African dxers at the time.
The front cover of the SADXC Magazine and the first page of the August 1974 edition of the "DX Logbook" column. Many of the reported stations were heard fairly regularly in South Africa via modest receivers and random longwire antenna. Click onto the image for a high resolution.
The mediumwave loggings especially caught my attention. Various mediumwave radio stations got through from Africa and Europe with good signals. The trans Atlantic reception from the U.S.A. (heard in Cape Town) and trans Indian Ocean reception from Australia (noted in Durban) was intriguing and almost unbelievable to say the least !The Early Years Of A Dxer In South Africa - Part 4
REALISTIC DX150A RECEIVER
My first communications receiver was a Realistic DX150A, obtained in 1974 from HAMRAD (A popular electronics store in Cape Town at the time). The set was a single conversion analog reciever with good looks and a sensitive performer on short wave with a quiet noise floor. Signals could also be peaked with the antenna trim control which worked well with a modest longwire antenna. The performance on the mediumwave band was attenuated though. The Siera radio remained the receiver of choice for mediumwave reception at the time.
THE LISTENING POST AT PINELANDS IN 1974
TRANS ATLANTIC MEDIUMWAVE RECEPTION
Encouraged by the 1974 SADXC reports of trans Atlantic reception of mediumwave stations from the U.S., I decided to try listening out for signals from that part of the world. The length of a basic outdoor longwire antenna was increased to 20 metres. I also managed to increase the height of the antenna by another metre or two.
A few mornings later while tuning across the mediumwave band with the Siera receiver, I stumbled across a station broadcasting news reports from an announcer with an American accent. The station turned out to be WINS New York NY on 1010 kHz at over 12 558 kilometres away !
The excitement of hearing my first trans Atlantic mediumwave station from the U.S. was repeated with the reception of WRVA Richmond VA on 1140 kHz soon afterwards ! 1010 WINS and 1140 WRVA became good indicators for TA reception from the U.S.
MEDIUMWAVE QSLs
I posted my first reception report to Radio Lesotho on the 6th July 1974. It was exciting to receive a QSL card from the station in only 8 days !
This marked the beginning of an interest to try and obtain a few more verifications from stations operating in the mediumwave band. A conservative total of 13 mediumwave reception reports were sent out in 1974. The return percentage was encouraging with a positive response from 11 radio stations.
QSL highlights received from the U.S. that year included 820 WBAP, 1010 WINS, 1110 WBT, 1140 WRVA (a record distance), 1520 WKBW and 1530 WCKY.
QSLs also serve to preserve a little bit of broadcasting history. Many radio station logo's and formats have changed over the years and are reflected in the verifications. Radio stations from Ascension Island, Zimbabwe and Zambia no longer broadcast on mediumwave. QSLs from these countries are quite historical and certainly worth preserving.Cape Dx - Gary Deacon
http://capedx.blogspot.com
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