Radio Joystick
via Moosbrunn, Austria

Radio Joystick sent a partial data QSL letter and some stickers for a German language report of their program via Moosbrunn, Austria on 7330 kHz. Reception was made on a northern German SDR. The verie signer (Charlie Prince?) noted that he does not issue regular QSLs for SDR receptions, but that he liked my report and sent three stickers.

Madagascar World Voice
African Pathways Program

World Christian Broadcasting in Tennessee sent this QSL card with a chameleon for their African Pathways program for their Madagascar World Voice station at Mahajanga, Madagascar. Report was sent to World Christian Broadcasting, 605 Bradley Court, Franklin, Tennessee 37067. They are also the parent organization for KNLS in Alaska. New station for my collection.

ABC Capricornia
Emerald 1548 kHz

This is my first Australian MW QSL. I have heard 4QD many times over the years including from Korea in the 1970s, but never bothered to send the a report. This reception was made via an SDR in Norway. Graham Himmelhoch-Mutton sent this QSL less than two hours after I sent the report. Many thanks to Graham for taking the time to reply to my report.

Four weeks later, this handwritten QSL memo arrived in our mailbox for a reception report sent directly to the station. Thank you to Karyn Wilson for taking the time to write the memo and sending it back in reply.

Radio Discovery
The Voice of the Caribbean


Radio Discovery was on the air from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 1986 to 1989. It was a project of Jeff White and associates after Radio Earth and before WRMI – Radio Miami International. I believe that Rudy Espinal was also involved with this project. They put in a fair signal into Germany when we lived there. Note that Jeff White was the verie signer of this QSL Card.

REF: http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/Wavescan/wavescan131124.html

AFN SHAPE
The Voice of the BENELUX
Schinnen 89.2 MHz

While traveling through the Netherlands in 1989, we listened to AFN stations as we encountered them. In Schinnen, we heard their local programming on their transmitter. In return for a reception report, Henk Nijwening (who I assume was an engineer for AFN Schinnen) kindly sent an AFN QSL, a handwritten letter with information about radio in the local area, and his own personal ham card. This was a follow-up report. The transmitter subsequently moved to Brunnsum where it still is in use. Thank you to Henk for his reply.

The World Beacon

The Affiliated Media Group, an advertising agency, opened The World Beacon in April 2000. The World Beacon was a project which brokered religious radio programs for dissemination via the shortwave bands. I sent them a reception report soon after they came on the air and they replied with the limited edition special inaugural QSL card seen below for a transmission on 9675 kHz. A few months later they sent another QSL card with no data for the same reception report. I am not clear where the transmitting station was located, but believe it was Rampisham. The available DX literature indicates that they may have bought time on transmitters in Abu Dhabi, Meyerton, and an unnamed site in Russia. Affiliated Media Group shut down the project in April 2002 in order to pursue television and other projects instead.

REF: https://scottwesterman.com/?p=236 and https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2000/07/10/newscolumn5.html

World Harvest Radio

World Harvest Radio (WHR) officially first signed the air on Christmas Day 1985 with the call sign WHRI using a transmitter in Noblesville, Indiana. WHR stopped transmitting from Noblesville in 2003 and moved WHRI Cypress Creek, South Carolina where it still broadcasts.

In 1993, WHR opened up a second station in Naalehu, Hawaii with the callsign KWHR. This station remained on the air until 2009 when WHR moved its Pacific-Asian operations to Palau to a station which had been used by High Adventures Ministries. The new call sign for the Palau station is T8WH which is still on the air.

A third station transmitted from Greenbush, Maine from 1998 to 2009 using the call sign WHRA. This station is no longer on the air.

This gallery contains at least one QSL from each of the five transmitting stations used by World Radio Radio. Their headquarters is in South Bend, Indiana and reception reports can be sent to WHR on their web site at https://familybroadcastingcorporation.com/whr/quality-reception-report/

WMUC-AM 645 kHz
Carrier Current Station
University of Maryland

WMUC-AM was a student-operated carrier current station on 645 kHz located at the University of Maryland in College Park. As noted in the QSL letter below the reception was made in the parking lot across from the Jewish Student Center on campus. According to my measurements on a map of the campus, the reception was made about 1600 feet away from the transmitter at Montgomery Hall. How’s that for DX? From what I understand they moved to 650 kHz to avoid interference from WMAL on 630 kHz. WMUC-AM ceased operation in 1999, but its successor, WMUC-FM, continues on 88.1 MHz.

REF: For more information about this station see, Saving College Radio: WMUC Past, Present and Future https://www.lib.umd.edu/wmuc

WFME 1560
Family Radio

Family Radio on-air-host David Manzi kindly sent the following eQSL for a report of WFME AM 1560 in New York City. According to Mr. Manzi, Family Radio no longer issues QSL card so he sent this email QSL instead. WFME is a usual channel dominant here in Maryland. I have never bothered to QSL them, but decided what the heck a few weeks ago. Thank you to Mr. Manzi for the reply.

Voice of America
On the Shortwave Bands

The Voice of America (VOA) is the United States federal government’s official institution for non-military, external broadcasting and is the largest U.S. international broadcaster. The earliest VOA QSL card in this gallery is for the Tangier, Morocco Relay Station and dates from 10 October 1971. Over the years, I have collected QSL cards from 30 different shortwave transmitting sites. There are still a few more to add, so standby.

SuperClan Radio
7440 kHz

This QSL from SuperClan Radio just popped into my email box just a few minutes ago. They were heard an SDR in Hilgenriedersiel, Germany. The broadcast was relayed via Channel 292 on 7440 kHz. Thank you to Herbert Visser for sending the QSL card. The email address is superclanradio@yahoo.com

Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation
株式会社福岡放送
Kabushiki Gaisha Fukuoka Hōsō, FBS)

FBS-TV (Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation) a UHF TV station in Japan on J-Ch. 37 printed up QSL cards for DXers. I viewed them in Gyeongju (Kyongju), South Korea after their signal traveled across the Sea of Japan via tropospheric ducting (175 miles). They sent this QSL card for my report. It is no data, but it still counts. (Click on the thumbnail/link for a full data.)

KFDX Channel 3
Wichita Falls, Texas

Many DXers probably have had the experience of KFDX Channel 3 in Wichita Falls Texas coming across their TV receivers before the changeover to digital TV. KFDX would occasionally boom into Maryland. They were one of the TV stations what was so common on skip they had a QSL card printed up, like the one here which they sent for my reception report.

WHK 1420
Cleveland, Ohio

In 1985, WHK sent a QSL letter for my reception report. At the time, the station was owned by the Malrite Communications Group. Earlier this month I sent another report to WHK, this time owned by Salem Communications and they responded with the QSL letter seen below. They can be easily heard here in Maryland.

WCAZ-AM 990
Carthage, Illinois

(Scroll down for a full view.)

WCAZ is a pioneer radio station which traces its origins back to 1918 when, according to Mr. Porter, the original owner Robert Compton signed on a station with the call letters of “BOB.” Mr. Compton received a license to operate WCAZ on 15 May 1922, which would make it the second oldest station in Illinois. After broadcasting for over 95 years, the FCC deleted WCAZ’s license and the station signed off the air on 31 December 2017.

A station already on the air in Macomb, Illinois on 1510 soon picked up the historic call letters WCAZ.

There are several web site with a more complete story of this iconic station. This little 1000 watt local station deserves a place in the annals of radio history.

REF:
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=15117
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/170211/new-wyec-owners-to-resurrect-wcaz-brand/

WKYB-AM
Hemingway, South Carolina

WKYB is a defunct station that was licensed to Hemingway, South Carolina on 1000 kHz. It first signed on the air in 1967, and its license was deleted in 1997. According to internet research, WKYB was a Top 40 station at least for a while. The call sign WKYB was picked up by a FM station on 107.5 in Danville, Kentucky. WKYB was a fairly common catch at sunset skip in the 1980’s. They sent the QSL card seen below for a 1983 report.

WRAR-AM
Tappahannock, VA

WRAR-AM is a defunct station that transmitted on 1000 kHz and was owned by the Rappahannock Broadcasting Corporation. It could be heard here at my home in Maryland with WIOO nulled during the daytime. My wife and I drove by the station on one of our weekend trips, but no one was at the station. I am not sure when they stopped transmitting. An FM station with the same call sign survives in Tappahannock. They sent the QSL seen below for my report.

Radio Caroline
648 kHz

Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 and was a pirate radio station that transmitted from five different ships until 1990. Although it was an unlicensed station, it was not an illegal operation. In 2017, Radio Caroline received a community license to broadcast to Suffolk and north Essex areas and since 22 December 2017, Radio Caroline has been transmitting its 1 kW signal using the mast abandoned by the BBC World Service at Orford Ness. The signal does pretty well as it was heard with a very good signal on the Hilgenriedersiel, Germany SDR which I used to listen to them for my reception report. On-the-air DJ Pat Edison kindly sent the QSL seen below by email within two hours of my sending the report to him.

WETC-AM 540
Divine Mercy Radio

This nice QSL letter from Divine Mercy Radio WETC-AM 540 was in our mailbox today. My wife and I heard it as we drove through the Raleigh area on our way home from Myrtle Beach in February. (Becky drove, and I logged the station.) They were playing a program called More4Life and the topic was “Take Care” and the hosts spoke about having a daily talk ritual between spouses to facilitate communication. We found the program to be interesting. Thank you to Cecelia Flanary, Executive Director of Divine Mercy Radio for the kind reply. We will be sure to listen again when we are traveling through the area again.

The Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (BSKSA) is an easily heard broadcaster if you know the time and frequency to tune to. However, they do not readily verify reception reports. But every once in a while they came through. I sent them at least five reception reports and they responded with the following QSL card and letter for my report in 1987. I believe it was for their English language service.

Meyerton Transmitting Station Tribute

After the recent announcement that SENTECH was closing down the Meyerton Transmitting Station at the end of March 2019, I am dedicating this gallery to the history of the station. The first broadcasts from this station happened in 1965 with Radio RSA, the Voice of South Africa. It was originally called the Bloemendal Shortwave Station and later it was called H. F. Verwoerd Shortwave Station until 1992 when Radio RSA ceased broadcasting and SENTECH took over operational control of the station after the end of apartheid. It has been known as the Meyerton Transmitting Station since then. Over the years the station has been the host to many broadcasters from South Africa and from other countries.

I am sure that some of the foreign broadcasters will just move their transmitting time to sites like Madagascar, while the most of the domestic broadcasters will continue operations on FM or maybe AM. Still, it is a sad to see a bit of shortwave radio history fade away.

(Scroll down to see the QSLs in this gallery.)

The Voice of the OAS

The Voice of the OAS (Organization of American States) was easy to pick up once you figure out what time they were on the air and one what frequency, That was because they used time on the Voice of America’s transmitters inside the USA. The broadcast for the QSL card below was from VOA’s Bethany, Ohio transmitter.

Radio Ohne Namen

This QSL from Radio Ohne Namen via Radio Channel 292 on 6090 kHz was sitting in my email box this afternoon. As noted on the QSL, the reception was made on a remote SDR in Hilgenriedersiel, Germany. They played a mixture of music. Vielen Dank für die QSL-Karte.

Pirate Radio Central
KPRC

This was my first pirate radio QSL. They broadcast on a SW frequency (6240) and a MW frequency (1616). If my fading memory serves me, they somehow tapped into the telephone system and got a phone number for listeners to call. “Pirate Pete” was kind enough to send this QSL in November 1985 for my report.

La Voz del CID
Anti-Castro Clandestine Station

Anyone remember this station?

La Voz del CID (Cuba Independiente y Democratica) was widely heard in the 1980’s. There are lots of interesting stories about this station on various websites on the internet. They responded to my reception report with the QSL card seen below. I can’t remember the address I used for the report. Anyway, it was an anti-Castro station which was said to be links to the US government. This particular outlet identified itself as “Radio Camilo Cienfuegos.”

KC2XIO 13.56 MHz

Almost 49 years ago in July 1970, I heard a mystery station called KC2XIO. It transmitted a time signal on 13.56 MHz. and according to the email reply below was associated with WWV and the National Bureau of Standards in Fort Collins. I heard them just six days after they first came on the air and decided last week to send an inquiry to the folks at WWV with some questions. The first image below is their response to my email. The second image is my email with questions about the station. The third and fourth images are a QSL letter and a prepared QSL card returned to a DXer in 1971.

I believe I sent them a reception report in 1970, but did not receive a reply. I am glad they took the time to reply this time with answers to my questions. I think this could be considered a verification almost 49 years after the fact, and would like to count it as such. What do you think?

Obviously, the QSL card in the banner is not mine, but an image of the prepared card from 1971.

WIOZ 550 AM
Southern Pines, NC

This friendly QSL letter from WIOZ 550 AM arrived in our mailbox today. It is a vacation logging, I logged the station while my wife drove the car. Thank you to Rich Rushforth, Operations Manager of WIOZ.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: The use of the logo above is to serve as the primary means of visual identification at the top of the article dedicated to the entity in question.

Radio Martí

A QSL from the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station for a Radio Marti broadcast came today in the mail. That is the second one for Radio Martí in my collection (see below.) Radio Martí was launched on 20 May 1985 as a broadcast towards Cuba and is modeled after Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. They can be heard throughout North America and beyond. A biographic sketch of the Cuban writer José Martí for whom the broadcasts are named can be seen on the first QSL card below.

Radio Jugoslavia and International Radio Serbia

Radio Jugoslavia was the external broadcasting service of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 1992 and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003. Its successor International Radio of Serbia (Međunarodni Radio Srbija) was the official international broadcast service of Serbia from 2003 to 2015. It signed off the shortwave bands on 15 July 2015.

Radio Jugoslavia and International Radio of Serbia sent the QSL cards below for my reception reports.