Musings

I have been listening to the airwaves lately. Picked up Voice of Russia and got enough to go for a QSL. That's good. I have not been picking them up the best for a while. I also have not been going for QSL's as regularly as I have in the past. It is not a big concern. My listening goes up and down and it is the listening and not the QSL's that is the heart of the hobby for me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the QSL's they are a great record of what I have listened to. The point is to listen. The point of the QSL is the thanks you for the reception report. It helps make it a two way communication. I also appreciate it when the QSL managers do an email that the QSL is on its way. They don't have to but it is nice to get a confirmation.

Besides, this is very much a solitary hobby. I may have my wife with me but it is still my hobby and I am doing basically alone. It is nice to hear from someone else concerning the hobby. Sometimes, I think I need to get on the ham side of things so I can share the hobby with someone else. Maybe i need to get on some shortwave forums. There has got to be some. There are forums for anything anymore. The internet is full of people who want to share their views on everything which may go a long way to explain this blog.

Until later.

CHWO-AM 740 Special QSL

This post is the conclusion of a series of posts I started doing last year. I had mentioned I could hear CHWO in Toronto here in Indiana and how the Ontario DX Association was doing QSL's for the station. I have to agree with them. The station is carrying as well as a shortwave station or pretty darn close. That's good for me since I like their programming and it is rather nice to hear them at home and on vacation.

The top picture is that of the QSL for the station done by ODXA. The second is a thank you from the station for participation in the QSL challenge. The side bar picture is of the bookmarks they sent along. In addition they sent along a nice history of the station. Some of the informations in this history is that the station started out on 1250 KHZ and was the power was 1,000/500 in 1956. In 1979 the power was increased to 10,000/5,000 and finally in 2001 it changed over to 740 KHZ and increased to 50,000. Sure comes in nice when you live away from the station.

If you want to know more about the station or where to get a QSL of the station, check out the following websites.

AM740 website www.am740.ca
reception reports www.odxa.on.ca/chwo.html
AM 740 Yahoo!group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AM74/

Off Grid Capabilities

It is a sunny.mild winter day in north east Indiana. Nothing that would indicate a power outage but one happened, anyway. I have not heard what caused it yet but I was listening to the local AM station and police scanner for details. It reminded how necessary it is for anyone's radio shack to be able to keep going even the the power company is not delivering the life giving power to the shack. You don't necessarily need to be able to power the whole thing but there are parts of everyone's shack they want or need to keep going. I am not going to go into what you need to cover this. I think the demands are going to be too diverse. However, with spring and summer storms and the problems that come up anywhere and everywhere, you may want to look over your shack and see what you can and can't take off. I am already in the habit of taking parts of my shack with me on vacation which means I am set up for it. I also don't have the best shack around so I don't face some of the challenges others do. This is more of a heads up rather than an advice piece. Here's to good listening off or on the grid.

Reception Report

I have still trying to scan the shortwave bands. WBCQ is coming in marginally better but still an inconsistent listen. I got tot hear the Voice of Russia in English but on a frequency unexpected to me. Even CHCO out of Toronto (740 KHZ) has been less than the stellar blow torch I have gotten use to. It has not all been a bummer lately. i have been enjoying listening to the local minor hockey team on local weather. I have also been purposely listening to my police scanner and weather radio. The flooding has been unreal. I have seen water levels higher than the normal flooding I see in spring. It is scary when you hear that people are being evacuated by boat and there is 4 foot of water across the road. It turned really cold and it looks like they had to chip the ice off the road. At least the water is going down now. Hopefully the water can recede before we get the rest of the spring rains.

I have also been taking this low reception time to listen to some podcasts. I never konw If I should call then podcasts since I am not using an Ipod. I have been listening to mp3 files on my mp3 player. If one mode of reception is not there, I will use another. The shack will not be denied.

Until later, 73's.

Lost Disc Radio QSL

Yes, this is the most politically incorrect QSLs and for that reason it is one of my most favorite QSLs. I generally really like the show and the music they find and play. Sometimes the show is less than stellar but then again what show does not run that risk.

Got Mail?

The shack got some mail today. A QSL from NHK Japan. Kinda funny that it came in the mail the day I posted one that I got earlier from Radio Japan. They have the best photographs for their QSLs and always a treat to get. I enjoy them and and it is interesting to see the artwork and photography work they put into these. I would listen just because I like shortwave programming but the getting of QSLs is a neat dimension to the hobby. So is sharing my observations here.

Japan QSL

This QSL I got back in February of 2005. The signal I heard was not directly from Japan but transmitted by a Radio Canada International Transmitter in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is probably a very good thing fgor me since I get reception from there pretty well for the most part. There has been some crappy periods but it is sweet when the listening is good.

Dxpedition

During my trip to Lebanon, Indiana trip, I did take my radios so I could do some listening in a new area. I got to do some listening but not as much I wanted. I got more aircraft than first responder on my scanner. Probably die to the closeness to Indianapolis and I may not have had the optimal frequencies f0r Lebanon programmed in. I also listened to the local NOAA stations. Always informative and it is interesting how the information varies from local to local. I also got to hear 87.7 out of Indy. It is an audio only of a Indy tv station so you can at least hear the station during your commute. It was also the first time I use the computer to listen to a radio station back home to get weather and news. I have listened to the station before but that was just to listen to music. Handy way to get the weather when you are going to travel back home. Yeah, I know I could of used weather.com but sometimes getting a local perspective is better. I like to listen to radio station over the air and by rf but sometimes that does not work and alternate means are needed. Does not mean I am giving up on the radio shack but the shack has gone digital. Three radios and a laptop with a wifi card means a steady flow of information. Here is to good listening.