I read in a Popular Electronics Magazine that even AM stations sent QSL cards so I decided to stay up all night on 21/22 December 1969 to see what I could receive and maybe if things work out, send off reception reports. I had heard WCCO a few times before, and WWL a couple of times. But there had to be other stations out further east there. Sure enough, I heard WHAS for the first time ever. The next day, I spent some time writing the reception reports, and sent them off. A few weeks later, these cards arrived in my mail box!
I think I will pull an all nighter on 21/22 December 2019 to celebrate 50 years since I did it the first time, and try for QSLs from these same three stations. They are all still around in 2014, they should still be around in five more years.
WHAS, WWL, WCCO all heard in 1971 from New Zealand. Very first US station logged was KPNW Eugene OR 1120 on December 20 1969, same day as CFCN Calgary AB 1060. Very first AM report was to 2ZM Wellington NZ 1130 heard November 17 1969. All nighters – too many to mention, luckily I was young enough to recover to stagger off to school bleary eyed but pumped at hearing stations from across the USA, Australia, Asia and Europe on AM. Good memories.
There were a handful of transoceanic MW DXers back then here in North America. However, back then, most DXers would concentrate on listening to daytimer stations signing off at sunset to see if there was another station lurking. We would also wait until around local midnight when many if not most of the other stations would sign off. In the morning it was the reverse, we would wait for stations to sign on.
Yes, those were the days.