My Faux QSL Cards

I just created a new webpage, My Faux QSL Cards, to accompany this blog.

I don’t send listener reports to broadcast and utility radio stations because of the time and expense involved. Instead, I create my own QSL cards for stations I log and write about in my blog.

My new webpage collects all the QSL cards I created including cards that have never seen the light of day on the blog. I hope you enjoy viewing the collection and check back often because I will add new cards to the page as I create them.

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Tung-Sol World Radio Log

While looking for something else, I found this booklet in my archives. I think I acquired it about 30 years from my wife’s uncle, who was a ham radio operator.

Copyrighted 1935, the Tung-Sol World Radio Log was the World Radio TV Handbook of its day. It was very interesting perusing it and I was surprised how few radio stations were on the air from Connecticut – six to be exact. Three are still on the air today with their original call signs (WATR, WICC, WTIC. One with a different callsign (WHUS nee WCAC). And the remaining two (WMFI, WNBC) are gone. I was also surprised that back then the AM radio band ended at 1500 kHz nee kc.

The 32-page Log also lists US television stations (all 27 of them!), foreign AM/MW radio stations, world shortwave stations, ocean liner radio stations and other useful radio-related information.

You can download a copy of the booklet from here.

2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast

June 21, I received and recorded the BBC's annual midwinter broadcast "to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. The BBC plays music requests and sends special messages to the small team of 40+ located at various Antarctic research stations. Each year, the thirty minute show is guaranteed to be quirky, nostalgic, and certainly a DX-worthy catch!" You can read all about it on The SWLing Post and see 49 seconds of my recording below.



2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast as received on June 21, 2019, 2158 UTC at WA1LOU in Wolcott, CT, USA using an ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical antenna.

I programmed the four frequencies that were originally announced for the broadcast into the IC-R8600, but learned afterwords that only three were used (5875, 7360, 9455).

I had solid copy on 9455 throughout the broadcast. 7360 had a lot of fading, but was still fair copy. 5875 was very poor copy during the last 10 minutes; there was no copy for the first 20 minutes.

VOA 77 Today

Today marks the 77th anniversary of the establishment of America’s largest international broadcaster – Voice of America.

Read all about it here.

WWV 25 MHz in the log

Since posting this story about WWV's experimental 25 MHz broadcast, I have been checking 25 MHz regularly. Saturday morning (June 23 at 1513 UTC), I finally was able to hear it here in Wolcott, CT. Signal was an S-6 with the 80-meter inverted Vee antenna and barely audible with the HyGain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna. Receiver was an ICOM IC-R8600.

WWV Seeks 25-MHz Reception Reports

Anyone hearing the experimental High Frequency 25.000 MHz NIST WWV broadcast from Fort Collins, Colorado, USA?

The broadcast information includes time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections, a BCD time code, geophysical alerts and marine storm warnings.

Modulation is double side-band amplitude.

Radiated power is 2.5kW into a half-wave vertical dipole.

Prior to 06 September 2017, the configuration used was an experimental turnstile antenna with circular polarization with a radiated power of 2.0kW.

Listeners comments and reception reports may be mailed to wwv@nist.gov or sent via postal mail to:

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Radio Station WWV

2000 E. Country Rd. 58

Fort Collins, CO 80524

(TU Mike Schaffer, KA3JAW, for the heads-up!)