Wow I remember the NNRC picnics! We may have been there same time. I remember
Matt Zahner from MD among other biggies! I would love to see some old NNRC
Bulletins! Anyone remember Gary Collins? He live in Cranford NJ where I did. He
was first one to show me a 4' square box loop on which he heard Tonga 1020khz
on! I remember his mom not too fond of his hobby since it made him lose sleep. G
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-----Original Message-----
From: Russ Edmunds <wb2...@yahoo.com>
Sender: irca-boun...@hard-core-dx.com
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:11:31
To: <a...@nrcdxas.org>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America
<irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Cc: IRCA List<irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Subject: [IRCA] 30 years of skywave DXing
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
<wb2...@yahoo.com>
FM: Yamaha T-80 & Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM: Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot
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