Think back to October 21, 1981. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. The neighborhood I grew up in had been annexed into the City of Hazelwood six months before. On that night, I used the money I made from the sale of a Stereo turntable to buy my first shortwave receiver. I still have it today. The Realistic DX-60, which receives AM and FM broadcast bands, the Citizens' Band and three shortwave bands, opened up a whole new world for me. Finally, I could tune in the world's leading shortwave broadcasters. Soon, I was sending out for QSL cards and letters; verification cards and letters, or "veries" for short.
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| My first receiver, a Realistic DX-60 |
The impetus for me to get my first shortwave receiver came in September 1980. I had a decent AM/FM receiver in the Panasonic RX-1350 with a cassette recorder. Even with a local (then Easy Listening WRTH) on 590 kHz, I could pull in a station relaying Radio Moscow's North American Service on 600 kHz. I would later find out that the relay was a 150 kW relay, CMKV from Urbano Noris on the western end of Cuba. The relay carried Radio Moscow's North American service until 10:00 p.m. Central U.S. time, with Radio Moscow World Service aired from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m., and The Voice of Cuba (produced by Radio Havana Cuba) from 11:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. Central U.S. time. I could even pull in image transmissions above 1600 kHz on this receiver, such as he Voice of America, Radio Canada International, WYFR (now WRMI) and HCJB. These broadcasts allowed me to hear a perspective other than what U.S. and Canadian broadcasters gave to their audiences.
Before I got my DX-60, I would wake up and get ready for school by listening to WOAI (1200 kHz) out of San Antonio, TX. During the summer of 1981, I visited San Antonio, going along the famous Riverwalk and visiting The Alamo. My oldest brother was stationed at Fort Sam Houston for advanced training in substance abuse counseling. The morning after buying the receiver, I tuned it in to Radio Australia. Thanks to that receiver, I could hear more perspectives on what was happening in the world from other countries. I sent out my first reports within a week; my first QSL card came from time and frequency station WWV out of Fort Collins, CO for reception on 10 MHz. Back then, air mail rates were double that of Domestic First Class rates, so a letter that cost 20 cents to send within the United States (the same rate also applied to Canada and Mexico at the time) would cost 40 cents to send to other countries of the world (35 cents to Central America and the Caribbean). My first international QSL card came from Kol Israel for reception on 11640 kHz.
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| My first QSL card, from WWV Fort Collins, CO (1981) |
Within two months, I would get "whole hog" into AM (MW) broadcast band DXing. I started sending out for verifications to the 50 kW AM stations first. My first AM BCB QSL card came from WOAI 1200 kHz San Antonio, TX for reception on New Year's Day 1982. Soon, I would receive cards from stations like WABC and WCBS in New York, WGN in Chicago, WWL New Orleans, KOA Denver and KNX Los Angeles. I also got QSL cards from CBC stations in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and even Chicoutimi (now part of Saguenay) in northern Quebec, as well as XEG in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and XERF in Cuidad Acuña, Coahuila (across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, TX). By the spring of 1982, I also got into FM broadcast band DXing and into TV DXing that fall.
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| Verification from WABC 770 (January 1982) |
During that first year in the hobby, I also discovered that I could make my own antennas to improve reception. I homebrewed my first shortwave antenna by mating a length of speaker wire with a broken hacksaw blade, and hooking it to the external antenna jack of the DX-60. With that antenna, I pulled in The Voice of Nigeria on 15120 kHz and numerous 60 and 90 Meter broadcasts from Central and South America. I would homebrew more antennas in later years, including one made from stripped telephone wire (my father worked as an Information Systems Auditor for Contel, providing phone service to rural areas) wrapped along the backyards fence.
During the spring of 1982, I joined my first DX club, the American Shortwave Listeners' Club (ASWLC, now defunct). I also got my first monitor call from the WDX Monitoring Service (KDXØSTL) in July 1982. In 1983, I joined the World Listening Service as WLS-5MO. In October 1984, I got my third monitor call from CRB Research (KMOØCN). When I joined the National Radio Club (NRC) in September 1982, I was introduced to other DXers in the Saint Louis area. The leader of the DXer group at the time was Terry Klasek (1947-2011), who founded the Saint Louis International DXers (SLIDX), whose bulletins combined DX logs with humor. Through SLIDX, I was introduced to legendary Saint Louis DXer Rich Eddie (1948-1996), experimenter Bob Flick (1918-2013), legendary DXer Roger Giannini, and young DXers Rick Overmann and Jeff King. I knew I wasn't alone! Keeping the DX flame lit in Saint Louis today are yours truly and Earl Higgins, along with promo item collector Ken Hawkins and a few others.
In the fall of 1982, I upgraded my receiver to a Realistic DX-200, which Terry Klasek referred to as "a Kenwood R-300 in disguise". The DX-200 also had single sideband capability, so I could DX the Amateur Radio bands. It also had the longwave band, so I could tune in the "LM" beacon on 338 kHz and the "ST" beacon on 404 kHz (both decommissioned in recent years). I would add a Realistic Patrolman CB-60 that winter, using it for monitoring the 2 Meter Amateur Radio band, VHF Public Service, NOAA Weather Radio as well as the AM broadcast band. My first GE Superadio was a Superadio II, which I got in December 1983. The Superadio series was THE must-have portable receiver for AM broadcast band DXing at the time. In the summer of 1985, I would add a Realistic DX-400 to my setup, followed by a Realistic TM-152 AM Stereo tuner in the fall of 1986. I learned another trick in the mid-1980s; hooking my receivers through the speaker jack to stereo equipment to record DX on cassette tapes. This would become my standard practice in later years.
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| Yours truly in the shack on Lamplight Lane (1983) |
In August of 1988, my father's employer transferred him to Atlanta, GA. From that point until June 1991, I had my shack in Woodstock, GA (on the Cherokee-Cobb County line). The Worcester Electronics Space Magnet II, which I had off and on since 1983, became a permanent part of my shack; it was hooked up to a Realistic DX-200. I built a longwire antenna to put inside the baseboards of my bedroom for the DX-400. The first thing I discovered was that the ground conductivity in most of metro Atlanta was very poor; the only area of the United States with worse ground conductivity is in northern New Hampshire. I was used to very good ground conductivity in Saint Louis. The only Atlanta AM frequencies I could hear regularly at night were 590, 640, 750 and 920. 750 (WSB) is the 50 kW blowtorch; the only AM to have a clear signal throughout the area. The transmitter for 590 (then WKHX) was located in Austell; the ground conductivity was slightly better in Cobb County than in Fulton and DeKalb (pronounced "De Cab") Counties. WCNN 680 and WQXI 790 directed their night patterns away from my shack, allowing me to hear WPTF Raleigh, NC on 680 as well as WMC Memphis, TN and WTAR (now WNIS) Norfolk, VA on 790. On the FM side, most of the 100 kW Chattanooga FMs (75 miles NW of Woodstock) were semi-locals. 88.9. 89.7, 90.5, 92.3, 96.5 and 100.7 were at semi-local strength from southeast Tennessee. FM and TV DX were excellent in that area; however, the mountains affected tropospheric enhancement propagation to the northeast; the easternmost tropo I had from that location was Charlotte, NC. To the west and south, it was excellent, going as far south as Tampa Bay, as far north as Saint Louis and as far west as Shreveport, LA, Texarkana, TX, Fayetteville and Fort Smith, AR. I also tried my hand at logging ex-locals at my location. I logged Saint Louis area AM stations on 550, 590 (through a WKHX open carrier), 630, 690 (on a 1990 DX Test), 770, 850, 1120, 1260, 1380 and 1430. Saint Louis area FM stations were logged during a November 1988 opening on 90.7, 92.3 (through semi-local WDEF), 93.7, 99.1, 102.5, 105.7 and 107.7 MHz late at night. While I was in Georgia, I added a 1970s era Realistic STA-90; the sliderule dial made hearing adjacent channels a bit easier. When my father lost his job at Contel in 1991 due to the merger with GTE, the shack was moved across the county line to Marietta, GA. I built another homebrew antenna for shortwave out of speaker wire and a metal coathanger.
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| Verification received from KXOK (now KYFI) Saint Louis, MO (1989) |
At the end of June 1992, I returned to Saint Louis; this time, to my present location on Coachway Lane (two blocks northeast of where I grew up). The present QTH is a two-story, split-foyer home. I set up my shack in a basement room that was previously an art room. That provided extra height for better antennas. I then began attempting to log my ex-locals on AM; since returning, I logged 610, 640, 680, 750, 790, 920, 970, 1010, 1080, 1190, 1260, 1380, 1480, 1550, 1570 and 1600 from Metro Atlanta. On the FM side, I've logged 90.1, 94.1, 96.1, 98.5, 99.7, 101.5 and 107.1 from my old stomping grounds, as well as analog TV stations on channels 17, 36, 57, 63 and 69. I added DXing the NOAA Weather Radio bands in January 2001. Since returning to the Saint Louis area, I've met legendary Midwest DXers like John Tudenham (1929-2021), Ernie Wesolowski, Frank Merrill, John Callarman, Walt Breville and Earl Higgins.
It was also when I returned to Saint Louis that I decided to study for my Technician Class Amateur Radio license. I passed the first part of the test needed to earn the license at the Zero Beaters' Hamfest in Washington, MO in July 1992; the following month, I passed the other part at the Saint Charles Hamfest in Saint Charles, MO. On October 6, 1992, I received the call NØUIH, which I have used ever since, keeping it through upgrades to a General Class license in June 2007 and an Amateur Extra Class license in May 2012.
My DX arsenal has changed over the years since returning to Hazelwood. The DX-200 was retired in the spring of 1994, when the tuning string to the top tuning cylinder snapped. The DX-400 did double duty for AM and shortwave DX in 1994 and 1995 before I bought the Sangean ATS-803A from a DXer at the 1995 Halloween Hamfest. In the winter of 1994, I added the General Electric Superadio III, which became my main AM BCB DX rig when I retired my DX-400 in 1997. The DX-200 and DX-400 were donated to the High Frequency Lab at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's School of Engineering in 2007. A late 1950s-early 1960s era National NC-60 Special was added in 1998, followed by a Kenwood AR-304 AM/FM receiver (filter modification by Dr. Bruce Elving) and a Grundig S350 portable in 2004. The AR-304 replaced the STA-90. A Radio Shack PRO-79 handheld scanner was added in December 2000, followed by a Radio Shack PRO-2052 in the summer of 2004 and a Uniden Bearcat BCD996P2 digital scanner in the summer of 2016. The Yaesu FRG-7 was purchased at Winterfest in January 2011; I use this for AM BCB and SW DX. I took up Ultraight DXing in the fall of 2016, when I added a CountyComm GP5/SSB Gen3 receiver. In the fall of 2018, I began taking my radios out in the field to various parks and conservation areas in the Saint Louis region, using a Tecsun PL-600 (purchased in 2017) and the GE Superadio III. My most recent addition to the receiver lineup is an SDRplay RSPdx software-defined receiver, added in the summer of 2020.
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| Software-defined receiver, tuned to 1230 kHz (2021) |
Antenna-wise, I built two 30-foot longwires for shortwave radio, one at my home location and one for portable use. I also built a 150-foot dipole in the attic in 2010; first for shortwave radio listening; I now use this with my ICOM IC-718. I also have a G5RV antenna; I bought it for SWL in 1997; I now use this for digital modes on HF. The Radio Shack discone antenna for VHF/UHF Public Service monitoring has been in use since 2004. Today, I use a Channel Master CM3020 for TV and FM DX; I modified one of my 2-Meter beams for NOAA Weather Radio DX in 2020. The most recent antenna addition is a W6LVP loop, which I put into service in October 2021 and use with my SDR. I also have an Apex 303WA-2 vertical antenna for shortwave and AM hooked to the SDR; I added that in the fall of 2018. For Ham Radio, in addition to the HF antennas, I use a five-eighths wave ground plane for the local 2 Meter repeaters; I bought it in 1993 and have it in the attic. I use a Cushcraft three-element beam for 6 Meter SSB, AM and CW; I bought that in January 2007. For 2 Meter Sideband and CW, I added a Gizmotchy G241 dual-polarized beam in June 2021. I built an inverted "V" for the Citizens' Band in 2010.
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| My newest antenna, a W6LVP loop (2021) |
My Ham equipment now includes a Yaesu FT-2800M, which I bought new in 2005 for 2 Meter FM. For 6 Meters, I use a Kenwood TS-60, which I bought in the fall of 2006. 2 Meter SSB/CW is the domain of the Yaesu FT-221R, which I bought at the Lewis and Clark Hamfest in 2009. For HF, I bought an ICOM IC-745 at Winterfest in January 2010. I bought the ICOM IC-718 new in April 2021. I have a Kenwood TM-731 dual-band (2 Meter/70 Centimeter) mobile in storage, which I bought in 2007.
In 2017, in honor of the DXers that came before me, I adopted the handle "The Florissant Valley Dial Twister". Hazelwood is part of the Florissant Valley, and a "dial twister" is another name for a DXer. These handles are similar to handles on the Citizens' Band (my CB handle is Alligator Junior), except these were used in print rather than on the air. "Dial Twister" was the handle used by early DXer Warren Carpenter.
The DX hobby also led to a 22-year broadcasting career. Starting at KCFV 89.5 Ferguson, MO in the fall of 1985, I did some freelance work for the station in the fall of 1988, after moving to Georgia. I volunteered for a month in the spring of 1989 at WRFG 89.3 Atlanta, but was lured away to Christian radio station WFTD 1080 Marietta, GA. The worst-run station I ever saw was also in Georgia: WGHR 102.5 (also in Marietta) at Southern Tech (now Kennesaw State-Marietta). I returned to KCFV in the summer of 1992, and stayed there until the summer of 1995. I worked as a fill-in engineer/announcer at WGNU 920 Granite City, IL (now licensed to Saint Louis, MO) in late 1996 and January 1997, before becoming an engineer/announcer at WFUN-FM (now KXBS) Bethalto, IL. I worked at WFUN-FM from August 1997 to June 1999. I finished my career at WSIE 88.7 Edwardsville, IL, where I served as a DJ (the final five years in morning drive), studio engineer, fill-in sports reporter, hockey coverage coordinator and PSA director in my nine-year stay (May 2000-July 2009). I left the industry due in part to Deregulation; I was NOT "blackballed". It was just too difficult to find employment in the radio industry with fewer owners than 25 years ago. I used the air name of E.B. Stevenson throughout my career.
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| Me on the air at KCFV 89.5 (1995) |
Forty years later, I'm still spinning the dials in search of DX. And I will continue to search for DX as long as my health allows.
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