Re: [IRCA] Yes, SAH!

Bob Foxworth's account of Gordon Nelson's work was absolutely right on. Sub-Audible Heterodyne was what the acronymn stood for, and Nelson's second most important strength, to back up the research into then-new techniques that he did, was that he shared his information with others so his results could be duplicated by others less technically endowed than he.

Another important element was that when he heard something that might have been a new station, he reported specifically what he heard and the evidence he offered to support his belief. I recall how hard he chased after "Radio Mendéz, the 10 kw. Bolivian on 680 that was available to me in Houston and Larry Godwin in Boulder during a 20-minute break on Monday morning after KNBC signed off and before WAPA signed on. In Colorado and Texas, we had no QRM from the Boston station (WNAC back then -- 1966, because of its directional pattern, and Mendéz was in the clear. I had moved to Watertown, just a few blocks west of Nelson's apartment at 19 Irma Avenue, and early in 1967, he found a Monday morning when WNAC was silent, made a tape of the unmistakable Aymará music sound, and I was able to confirm absolutely what he had heard. By the way, I should give credit to Larry Godwin ... he was the first to discover the Bolivian ... he beat me to it by one week ... but we both got good, detailed letter veries before the deluge to the station came on.

The way I measure the true ace DX'er is based upon 1) the ability to find and identify new or rarely heard stations; 2) immediately reporting their findings so other DX'ers can tune in. Nelson was the premier.

Godwin was good, too. He rediscovered summer Southern Hemisphere DX in 1958, back when most of us were turning off our radios because of summer static. I think he and I were the first DX'ers to hear JBC-700 when it came on the air in 1958, among others, but Larry was able to spend more time at the dials than I, so he was first on a lot of stations.

Mark Connelly on the East Coast, Pat Martin on the West Coast and all the fellows who participate in the DXpeditions in Newfoundland, Massachusetts and the Puget Sound follow in the Nelson/Godwin footsteps. I've never met Mark and I'm sorry I'll still be on the way home from China when the Seaside convention is on ... but I was fortunate to know Godwin and Nelson back in their heyday.

Not to mention Bob Foxworth, who has never, in the nearly 50 years I've known him, has written a thing with which I would disagree.

And there's Ben Daingerfield in Pennsylvania who is Mr. Steady, Mr. Reliable, when it comes to TA openings. He and Connelly keep us alert today.

John Callarman, Krum, Texas