[IRCA] 30 years of skywave DXing

[Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Or, in my case, it's quite a bit more.

I got started in the early 1950's at the age of 6 or 7, when I was spending a few weeks with my grandparents in Northern NJ, and I was given a radio by a family friend. Somehow I got the idea to try to see how many of the stations listed in the Newark Evening News ( yes, that Newark News ) local station listings I could hear. I never caught on to the club, but I did get hooked on DX'ing, because in the course of tuning around I discovered that there were actually stations between the locals which weren't listed.

That was the beginning of a lifelong hobby. I DX'ed most of my upper grade school and high school years either on my father's Fisher tuner or later an old Airline AM-FM table set which I'd picked up. I erected 3 wires, between a tree and the house, with one going through the attic. I set them up so that I could switch between them, or even use 2 or all 3 together, and built an L/C network antenna tuner for them.

On a March morning in 1963, I stayed up and heard KOA for the first time, shortly afterward followed by KSL for the first time, and just about an hour after hearing KOA, I heard the holy grail of my DX world - KFI.
I started QSL'ing then, heard my first test from then WPEP-1570-MA, and subsequently learned about the NRC from a couple of long-time members who had contacted me as a result of some of my verification requests as they visiting stations. I then joined NRC in August of that year, and soon was contacted by local DX'er Ron Schiller, who soon introduced me to Pvt. John T. Arthur, Joe Fela, and the late John Tweedie. Then shortly afterward, Ron took me to an NNRC picnic, and the next year I ventured to Brooklyn to one of Ernie Cooper's get-togethers, in both cases meeting many more DX'ers.

I've DX'ed from Syracuse, NY (while in college), Little Silver, NJ ( where I lived when I started ), Glen Rock, NJ ( my grandparents' home where it all began ), Parsippany, NJ, Kinnelon, NJ and now Blue Bell. I've enjoyed reading the various personal DX histories, and of course have enjoyed the hobby all along the way, including periods as editor of NRC's Verie Signers, DDXD, GY DX Achievements, and Target DX, as well as serving as Publishing Committee Coordinator and hosting two conventions. I also wrote a number of articles for both NRC & IRCA - most of these activities occurring during the 1970's and into the 1980's. I picked up my ham license in 1975, and have held it continuously since.

I'll now sit back and hope to enjoy more stories from others - perhaps these should all be copied and reprinted in the bulletins during the summer months when DX is slow......


Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia  
Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>
FM: Yamaha T-80 & Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot




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