Like everyone else, I'm sorry to read this morning's posts from Lee and John,
and the additional comments about the general decline of the AM-DXing hobby.
The domestic radio scene certainly isn't very inspiring, and pessimism seems to
be the order of the day. Some giants of the hobby are passing judgment on our
future, and calling it a day. Unlike almost everyone else, though, I'm
convinced that the AM-DXing hobby still has plenty of excitement to offer those
who are willing to take on new challenges-- and try out new styles of DXing.
At the peak of the IBOC-inspired pessimism in late 2007 DXers were all too
eager to throw off the funereal mindset that was dominating both the IRCA and
NRC lists, and take on an exciting new challenge. John Bryant and I formed the
Ultralight Radio DXing community primarily to provide DXers an alternative to
the gloom-and-doom atmosphere, and the new niche group caught on like wildfire.
A positive, exciting message will drown out pessimism every time. Ultralight
radio DXing is tough, challenging and completely different from relying on
table receivers and large antennas for success-- but the challenge forces you
to develop new skills and attitudes... something that you haven't needed to do
for decades. The other side of the coin is that the new challenge provides you
with DXing excitement that you haven't felt for decades, either!
The accidental loss of John Bryant in early 2010 was a shock to us all, and
could have given the ULR community a legitimate reason to "throw in the towel."
But guess what? John's organizational work had done had already laid a firm
foundation of optimism and excitement in our community, and we continued to
grow like wildfire. Today our Yahoo group has well over 1300 members, and I
honestly can't remember when anyone on Ultralightdx has posted a gloom-and-doom
message about the future of the AM-DXing hobby.
I was a teenage DXer in the IRCA in 1969, and can well remember how favorable
DXing conditions were with clear channels, Monday morning sign-off periods and
frequent DX tests. But I can honestly say that the past few years have been far
more exciting, with new discoveries like the FSL antennas, enhanced ocean cliff
transoceanic propagation and computer-based sharing of MP3 files. Recently two
of the most vibrant segments of the AM-DXing community (Perseus-SDR DXers and
the ULR community) have cooperated to develop the new Broadband FSL antenna,
which has the potential to provide breakthrough spectrum-capture capability on
ocean side cliffs. There will be other exciting AM-DXing challenges coming in
the next few years, both in antenna development and transoceanic DXing... and I
personally can't wait to see what the future will bring. I may sound like a
voice in the wilderness, but I'm sure that noted DXers like Allen Willie, Rob
Ross, Richard Allen, Gary Deacon and others wil!
l agree with me :-)
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
Ultralight Radio Group Co-Founder
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Schroyer <ibfredi...@gmail.com>
To: irca <irca@hard-core-dx.com>
Sent: Mon, Jul 1, 2013 11:14 am
Subject: [IRCA] DXers signing off
Reading the posts by Lee Freshwater and John Callarman left me feeling
saddened and nostalgic. Saddened for the obvious decline of AM radio and
our DXing hobby, and saddened to see two of our legendary DXers signing
off. And nostalgic for those magical winter nights when I was a teen in the
1950s-60s, listening first with a little Zenith table radio, then with a
Hallicrafters S-85, feeling the excitement of hearing 1 or 5 kw stations in
California from my western PA QTH, or the OCs suddenly bursting into the
SSB with the s/on of a 500 watter in the deep South, or the barely audible
1YZ on 800, or the amazing signals from daytimers doing Monday-AM FCs or
ETs or DX tests on actual clear channels, or the evening parade of s/offs
on 1580 progressing westward every 15 minutes, or the astonishing morning
when HCJB-1310 faded up to top the channel after sunrise for a once-in-a
lifetime clear ID, or typing my report to NRC's DX News and sending it
off...
Well, as the song says, everything must change, nothing stays the
same...but it's been a great ride, and I'm glad for all of us who got to be
a part of it!
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