Topband: Top Band DXing Long Ago

[k3ky at erols.com]

On 22 Jan 2004 at 23:39, W5UN wrote:

> I am reading with interest, all the comments about 160 DX nostalgia. My
> first experience was listening to a couple of local Hams running AM on my
> crystal set in the late 1940's as a young teenager.
> 
> Long live the memory of W1BB, Mr. 160 meter DXer in the 1950's.
> 
> 73, Dave - W5UN						w5un at wt.net
> 
I remember hearing locals on 160m AM on my old Clarion
AM radio sometime around 1960. This was a great old
tabletop radio probably built in the 1940s or 50s which
had a wood veneer case and actually tuned up well above
1600KHz, the traditional top of the broadcast band. I sure
miss that radio, and wish I had held onto it. What I heard
was only one side of a ragchew. Often a woman would
take the microphone from her husband and chat at great
length. One thing that puzzled me was that she would
occasionally say "hi" and then pause for no obvious
reason. I guessed she must be babysitting and someone
in the room was competing for her attention. After getting
my Novice license in 1963, I was eventually able to
recall the experience and realize that the "hi" was ham
laughter.

In the previous year, 1959, I had gotten a brief glimpse
of a complete, homebrew ham setup in a friend's home.
I did not meet the ham father, but I did see a very
impressive station with a lot of rack-mount gear. Later
I realized that brief look at all that gear had made a
very big impression on a 10 year old kid. So did that
long-winded ragchew on top band. That missing side
of the conversation, whether it was offset in frequency
or just too weak to hear on my built-in loop antenna,
was my first radio 'DX'. I was intensely curious at
what the other party in the ragchew might be saying.

BTW that same year I received a crystal radio as a
Christmas gift, but we lived within a mile of a 10KW
broadcaster on 630KHz. I rarely heard any other
stations on that radio. On the positive side, there
was a local announcer who did a jazz-oriented show
for several hours in the evenings, so I learned to
appreciate some great artists on the cutting edge
of music.

The seeds of interest had been planted, and for me,
getting into ham radio a few years later came easy.
All my early experiences, from building my modest
Heathkit receiver and Knight transmitter to stringing
my first antenna to making those early QSOs were
truly thrilling. Rare DX is still thrilling to me, and all
that really ever changes is the degree of difficulty.

Looking back to early childhood, I clearly remember
how intrigued I was at the adult's conversation when
my parents had guests over and they laughed and
chatted late into the evening. It was so very frustrating
to be sent to bed. I would quiet my breathing and
movements in bed and strain to hear those faint
conversations in the living room. This clearly showed
those ham DXer traits in me- a fascination with
interesting people and places, great powers of
concentration, and a natural tendency to push the
limitis of my hearing abilities and to dig for 'signals'
nearly buried in noise. Apparently I was born with
'good ears' Oh, yes- and it set the pattern of being
a 'night owl' from an early age. (grin).
73, David K3KY