[IRCA] Hello and a New psuedo-ULR

["HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS" <DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi;

First of all - for all of the IRCA list members, I'm Dave Hascall a MW
DX'er from Indianapolis, IN.  I used to DX out of Fortville, IN, so some
of you may remember me from there.  I didn't seriously DX from the early
90's to about 2004 when I re-discovered the fun thanks to our new
Windstar van which had a nice radio in it.  I have dusted off my old
equipment and I'm jumping on the ULR bandwagon.

Speaking of ULR's - I love to shop at our local Goodwill stores.  We can
save 30 percent every Wednesday, so the wife and I hit usually one or
two after work on Wed.  I have not found any of the "accepted" styles of
ULR's namely the Sony SRF-3/4/59 series but I have seen oodles of Sony
AM/FM/Cassette walkman units.  I bought one two weeks ago, a WM-FX421, a
PLL unit with digital tuning, and looks a little like the M37V.  It was
all of $2.99.  Even though it's not really a ULR it has many of the same
tendencies.  I could not believe how incredibly tight that the nulls
were!  

Last week I found a unit more similar to an SRF-59.  It is a GE AM/FM
walkman style unit, Model No.7-1637.  It uses 3 AAA batteries so it is
not quite the same setup as the 59 but again, I was impressed with the
nulls.  It brought me a new station just two days in, KDAK-1600
Carrington, ND 837 miles with just 90 watts, right next to a cheating
local on 1590.  The cost of this radio?  Forty-nine cents!

Last night I saw an intriguing yellow (of course) Sony Sports model,
that I initially thought might be the SRF-85.  As I got closer, I
realized that it was another cassette unit.  It is the WM-FS593, a
digitally tuned model.  Just the like my first Sony cassette unit above,
I doubt that the radio had ever been used as the presets were still the
factory 530, 620, 1000 and so on.  This newest Sony had batteries in it
and they were at full capacity.  I plugged my own earbuds into it,
powered it up and there was RVC Turks and Caicos on 530, which is 1500+
miles / 2450+ km, right off of the bat.  This one does not seem to null
as well as the first Sony cassette and daytime reception not as good.
It does have a backlight, which is nice,  as I DX when I can't sleep, so
I can stay in the bed as I don't want to wake my wife.

I realize that there is a standard definition to ULR's, for the 2008
Sprint and such but before throwing out the baby with the bathwater, try
a Sony cassette walkman, if you find one in a thrift store.  They may
even share some of the same components of the better known ULR's.  I am
trying to replicate what Rob Ross from London, Ontario has done by
logging "300 in 30."  So far I have logged "70 in 12 (days)" but I have
yet to log all of my locals and the "easy" clears.

Pardon my long post, I just think that these little radios have breathed
some new life into my (and maybe your) DX.

73
Dave Hascall
Indianapolis, IN

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