Re: [HCDX] Why I am an SWLer (and, why are you?)

["Phil" <k6eid@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tomas

Here's my story.

1. We lived in Burbank, CA, and used to have a large Silvertown console
radio in the hall between my bedroom and my sister's (it used to be in the
living room until we got our first TV). I had found an old cloth aviator's
helmet with earphones while I was on my paper route in 1952 or 53. I was 13
and figured out how to hook them in parallel with the console's speaker
though I got some bad shocks while doing it (I wonder if the B+ flowed
through the speaker's line?). In those days, my father made us go to bed at
1930 LT so this was perfect as it gave me a chance to listen to BCB (XERF in
Del Rio, KOA in Denver, and others on the built-in-loop antenna) after
bedtime by running the earphone wires into my bedroom. Anyway, one night, my
Dad caught me and slammed the radio against the wall in his anger. The next
day, I turned the radio on and it was a strange new world as his banging it
had knocked it on a SW band. The first station I heard was Radio Australia.
In the early days I heard (of course) Radio Moscow and one morning regular,
Radio Hong Kong on 9.525. I was in the Boy Scouts so I found out from Boy's
Life about my new hobby and how to get QSLs. I remember regular mail
overseas was only 5 cents in those days and air to Europe was 15 cents and
to the Pacific was 25 cents though my paper route only netted me a few
dollars a month. Later my folks gave me an old Zenith pre-war table top and
I used that until I finally bought an S-40B from a local car repair place
that had taken it in in trade (I paid $50 as I recall over several months).

2. I was always interested in geography and had grand plans to travel the
world. SW gave me that opportunity in a proxy way, at least until I joined
the Navy at 17 and got to see the Pacific area. BTW, the skipper of my ship
let me bring my SX-71 on cruises and I ran a long wire between the stacks
and had the rx in a radar shack next to the aft stack (the ship was a
destroyer, the USS Picking (DD-685)).

3. I got licensed in 1957 and, after, I settled down and was married,
transitioned primarily to ham radio. I am still very active on ham radio and
am QRV on 160 through 6 meters, cw, psk31, rtty, and some phone. I still
listen to LW, BCB, and SWBC primarily during the winter (though not much in
the last year because of spectacular 6 meter conditions). Besides the ham
rigs, I have a JRC NRD-535 for listening. Ham radio is first, then LW, then
SW, then BCB.

4. Thanks to the years in the hobby supplemented by the internet, I can't
think of many things that I need answers for.

5. During summer, I am usually on 6 meters chasing sporadic E QSOs.

6. Most of my listening is done in the evening hours from sunset on during
the winter.

Phil Finkle, K6EID (ex SWL-W6)

PS I have had many of my and some friend's old SWBC QSLs on the web for the
last 5 or so years and it's currently located at:

http://k6eid.tripod.com/index1.html


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