Is DXing A Thing Of The Past?

[Gilbey]

DXing is the art and science of listening to distant stations (D=distance X=xmitter or transmitter).
Before the days of the internet, I used to have this Sony ICF 2010 shortwave radio that I listen to regularly. It was always exciting to look and hunt for those far away distant stations whether is was Radio Luxembourg or the BBC or the Voice of America, they were all informative and entertaining, and sometimes mesmerizing as you hear music from exotic lands.

I have sold my radio since. I have shifted gears since the advent of the internet and have discovered a whole new different experience in this realm. Although it may not be as challenging as zeroing in on a distant station, now it's about what you type in on the keyboard that gives you a website. It's easier to get hooked to the net than it is with dxing, not only do you hear it, but see it as well! And it gets more personal when there's forum interaction such as this one.
Nowadays, it's not only the net requiring your attention, but cable TV, ipods, iphones, etc ...

Who's got time for dxing ... any ex-dxers here at all?

 

[Ray George]

How 'bout you all ... any ex-dxers here at all?

I'm an ex-dxer...

When I was in High School, I used to have a Hallicrafters Short Wave set. I spent many hours through the night tuning in those fading in and out short wave stations. And that sound that always sounded like aircraft flying over... And the famous, "This is Radio Havana Cuba!" Yes, it was quite an exciting experience3 tuning in the world...

More locally, before I got my Hallicrafters, when I was in grade school, I used to put my transistor radio under my pillow at night, and try to tune in the distant AM stations... Living in Chicago, I was thrilled when I received a station from Kentucky or Ohio... Thrilling... It was best to surf for distant station on Sunday nights, because most of the Chicago stations that were blocking the distant ones, signed off around midnight to do the mysterious transmitter work!

 

[DutchIndo]

I'm not a radio head but would like to be one day when I have time. What I heard was to hang on to radios. Satellites can go down and I read somewhere even the humble CB will come in handy.

 

[GallatinHatMan]

Unfortunately, yes, I believe it is. I have been a SWL for as long as I remember, first on a large GE "portable" then upon a Yaesu FRG 8800 and upon the Sangean portable currently sitting on my credenza. I have an outdoor longwire, but, alas, there isn't much to listen to anymore. I miss Radio Moscow and the other communist bloc stations for the hours of entertainment they provided me and an insight into real propaganda.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I used to listen to shortwave. My receiver was only a portable sony one....so never got -too- distant..but it was a godsend when I was in odd places.

In Brazil it was the only way I heard English for months on end, and any news I got from VOA and the BBC World.

I still have it, and its always fascinating to listen to it, but I just don't get enough time.

 

[GallatinHatMan]

Unfortunately, yes, I believe it is. I have been a SWL for as long as I remember, first on a large GE "portable" then upon a Yaesu FRG 8800 and upon the Sangean portable currently sitting on my credenza. I have an outdoor longwire, but, alas, there isn't much to listen to anymore. I miss Radio Moscow and the other communist bloc stations for the hours of entertainment they provided me and an insight into real propaganda.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The big Philco console in my living room tunes three shortwave bands, and I used to listen to the VOA, AFRTS, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Moscow, Kol Israel, Radio Beijing, and other big international broadcasters regularly -- but as others have said there's very little left on those bands anymore but brokered religious programs and survivalist propaganda shows. The only international broadcasts I ever seem to hear are Havana and Prague, although China still comes in from time to time.

I do, though, still make regular use of Radio Canada's time signal station, CHU. Set my alarm clock by it every night.

 

[anon`]

Somewhere I think my dad has an old shortwave radio that--so I'm told, at least--got great reception. I'd like to find it someday, as I'd love to join this club.

But alas, I keep forgetting about it!

So I'll just listen to internet recordings of numbers channels =P

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I do enjoy on a clear nite, listening to AM620 WSM, the Grand Ole Opry Station out of Nashville. It's really a kick to get it all the way in Wisconsin. I do beleive it has the strongest signal and is grandfathered by its old licensing. I can get it at home or in the car on clear nites.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

dxing sounds like something i can get into. listening to radio from europe & asia sounds like fun

 

[Flivver]

I've never been too interested in shortwave listening, but I've DXed on AM, FM and Television since I was a teenager in the 1960s. AM reception was better then and I was able to log over 600 AM stations in North America using a 1938 RCA-Victor 813K given to me by my Grandfather. I had a map of the U.S. and Canada on my bedroom wall showing all the stations I logged.

I was never able to get California from my central Massachusetts location. My furthest in the U.S. was KSL in Salt Lake City. Today, DX-ing on AM is more difficult since the band is much more crowded. But I still get my automotive news every morning from WJR Detroit on my drive to work (in the dark).

FM and TV DX-ing is fun in times of high sunspot activity. Under such conditions I can get FM stations from Bangor Maine to Philadelphia PA with stunning clarity. I once got an FM station in Salina Kansas due to sunspot related skip.

 

[Fletch]

I got into this briefly around 1990. I very shortly gave it up. Whether AM or shortwave, there was very little to attract the listener - as opposed to the compulsive list-maker, box-checker-offer or QSL card collector.

There is even less now that AM stations are just empty shells, left standing only to harvest money from white male motorists. I can bring in WBT, Charlotte, late at night, but why? I can get George Noory better over WABC if I want to hear him, and believe me, I don't.

To borrow David Sarnoff's metaphor, the pipes are still working, but what's going thru them is not very pleasant.

 

[Chas]

Back in the 70's, I used to tune in to the English language broadcasts of Radio Moscow, for the hilarious red propaganda.

Is there still anything to listen to on shortwave?

 

[Flivver]

I got into this briefly around 1990. I very shortly gave it up. Whether AM or shortwave, there was very little to attract the listener - as opposed to the compulsive list-maker, box-checker-offer or QSL card collector.

There is even less now that AM stations are just empty shells, left standing only to harvest money from white male motorists. I can bring in WBT, Charlotte, late at night, but why? I can get George Noory better over WABC if I want to hear him, and believe me, I don't.

To borrow David Sarnoff's metaphor, the pipes are still working, but what's going thru them is not very pleasant.

You're so right Fletch!

I got into DX-ing in the 1960s...the golden era of top 40 personality-based radio. It was stations like WABC, WKBW, CKLW, WLS and WCFL that got me hooked. I never liked the music that much but the DJ's banter, the jingles and the advertising from distant places got me hooked.

Today, AM radio is a repetitive wasteland.

 

[Tomasso]

My father was a big fan of Zenith's Trans-Oceanic line;he probably owned every model that they ever rolled out. I would often listen in with him but I was essentially a child of television whereas he was a child of radio.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Don't forget WMAQ, they were legendary for their Jockeys.

 

[russa11]

I am also a SWL listener. I have quite a few shortwave radios. The bulk of which are tube based. I am able to listen to Radio China International and the voice of Russia. The former soviet block countries now that they are independent countries seem to each have their own Shortwave program/station. Some are better than others in their programming.

I basically use my Hallicrafters for listening but also use my 1938 RCA for this. this radio has both shortwave and medium wave (AM)