[IRCA] DX Test - sample request letter

[Chernos Saul <sauldx@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is a sample letter for requesting a DX test. Please feel free to usde or adapt it. I am happy to offer any advice to anyone wanting to organize a test, and to speak with anyone at a station who might possibly be interested in running one. We're here to help! Saul ChernosIRCA=NRC DX Test coordinator -------------------------------------------- Dear NAME OF
STATION CONTACT,

 

I’m writing
on behalf of The IRCA-NRC DX Test Committee, a joint committee of the
International Radio Club of America and the National Radio Club. Our clubs,
with hundreds of members across the United States and Canada and from around
the world, specialize in the hobby of listening to distant stations on the AM
broadcast band.

 

Some of our
members have mentioned that they would like an opportunity to log STATION NAME.
A special DX test broadcast would help many of our members add STATION NAME to
their logbooks.

 

A DX test
broadcast would most likely be conducted sometime in the overnight hours,
between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Perhaps just after midnight, or just prior to 6
am, or sometime in between.

 

DX test
broadcasts used to be popular during the early days of AM radio, and they
continue to this day. When done overnight, they’re perfectly within FCC
regulations, as is broadcasting with your full authorized power under the
"Experimental Hours" rules of 47CFR73.72. In fact, stations have
often combined DX tests with needed maintenance work or proof-of-performance
testing, and engineers have sometimes told us that reception reports they
received indicated the quality and strength of their signal, and gave them an
opportunity to see how far it travels under varying conditions.

 

Tests
typically consist of tones and easily identifiable music such as marches,
polkas or anything else you might classify as eclectic. This kind of material
really cuts through the interference and makes a station easily recognizable.
Morse code identifications using a 1000 Hz modulated tone are also widely used.

 

We would be
happy to provide you with DX test material such as Morse code identifications,
unusual music and an array of different tones and sound effects. We can supply
this by e-mail or, if you prefer, on a CD-ROM or USB stick by conventional
mail.

 

We are also
prepared to issue QSL verifications if you do not have the time or resources to
handle this. We do ask our members to include return postage with their
reception reports if they are requesting a QSL verification by conventional
mail. However, stations are also increasingly issuing QSL verifications by
e-mail.

 

Really, we’ll
do anything we can to make this test easy for you to conduct.

 

If you wish
to proceed with a DX test, we recommend at least two months advance notice, at
a date and time convenient for you. That way, we can notify as many people as
possible.

 

Please feel
free to visit our DX club web pages for information about our clubs and the DX
hobby.

 

IRCA --
www.ircaonline.org 

NRC – www.nrcdxas.org

 

Thank you
for your time and for considering a DX test.

 

Best wishes,

 

YOUR NAME

SNAIL-MAIL
ADDRESS

E-MAIL
ADDRESS

TELEPHONE
NUMBER +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

 		 	   		  
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