Blackswan73
Active Member
Looking back:
Part 1:
As I sit here listening to Radio Australia, I have been reflecting back over a lifetime as a SWL. *I remember the first shortwave broadcast I heard. *It was in '63 and I was 13. *I was at a friends house, and he asked me if I wanted to hear overseas radio stations on his dad's radio. *I said sure, and he brought it out on the porch. *I was the biggest radio I had ever seen. * It had what I later learned was a slide rule dial with all the foreign cities printed on it, and a telescopic antenna that, with the radio on the porch floor, touched the ceiling. *I was unlike any thing I ever seen. *Now, just a little background here. *My father was a disabled veteran in a wheelchair. *He supplemented his pension with a TV and Radio repair business in our home. *So I literally grew up in a TV and radio shop. *I built my first radio, a crystal set, from scratch when I was 9, and a two transistor radio when I was 12, so I was no stranger to radios. *But this radio was different. *The name was familiar, Zenith, but there was another name, began with a t. *I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, trans something. *Anyhow we fired it up and tuned in a few stations. Most were in foreign languages, but there were English stations too, but with heavy accents. *One station was coming all the way from West Germany! *Well, I was hooked! *I had been bitten by the DX bug, and I would never be the same. *I had to have one of these cool radios. *I had previously been satisfied listening to Cousin Brucie at WABC in New York, *and Wolfman Jack in Del Rio on my home-built transistor radio. *But that was nothing. *That trans something or other would pick up stations in Europe, and Africa, and Russia! * I told my dad about the radio. *He got a National Geographic magazine out( he had been a member since the 40's) flipped through pages for a while, and showed me a picture. *There it was, sitting on a sandy beach next to a man and woman *in bathing suits in full color. *My dad asked if the radio looked like the one I had played with. *It was. *He said it was a Zenith Transoceanic. *I asked if I could have one for Christmas. *He said the radio hadn't been made for about ten years, and were very hard to find. *Even if I could find one, it would be too expensive. *He told me it was the most expensive radio made. *Disappointment was all over my face, and he could see it. * By the time Christmas came I was older. *I had turned 14 the month before. *I still listened to my 2 transistor home-built, but I dreamed of someday owning one of the unique radios that could pick up stations all the way across the ocean. *It was Christmas day and I knew pretty well what was under the tree. *No toys, after all I was fourteen! *No there would be a new sweater for school, and a new pair of pajamas, and that bigger box was obviously a new pair of shoes. *No Transoceanic for sure, but then Dad said there woundn't be didn't he? *But wait! *That box with new shoes was a bit heavy for just a pair of shoes. *Probably something packed in there with the shoes. *Dad sometimes did that to fool me since I had gotten pretty good at guessing my presents over the years. *Well I would just have to find out what was hidden with the shoes. *That would be the present I opened first. *I tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside there wasn't any shoes. *Instead it was a shiny new Elgin(yep, the watch company) radio with 14 transistors and a shortwave band! *My face must have been bright enough to light the entire room! *My own shortwave radio, wow! *I hugged my dad, and grandmother(Mom and Dad were divorced shortly after my brother was born), and thanked them for my wonderful new radio. *Several years later, after Dad had died, my grandmother told me just how special that Elgin really was. * After seeing how excited I had been after playing with the Transoceanic, he had tried to get me one. *He even put an ad in the paper for one. *He even had a guy bring one over for him to look at while I was in school. *But the old Transoceanic hadn't been well cared for. *It had a busted dial and cracked case. *He *didn't think the radio was worth buying. *He even offered to buy my friend's dad's radio, but it wasn't for sale. *Finally, as Christmas was approaching, Dad sent Grandma downtown to the appliance store to see if they had anything. *The salesman showed her the Elgin, and she told Dad about it. *It was expensive, $125, a lot of money in 1963. *But my dad got a loan at the bank and bought the radio. *He said he was afraid I might not like it, but it was all he could find. *He unknown to me, he paid on that radio for the next two years! *I can now imagine his relief when he saw how much I liked the Elgin. *Sure it only had one shortwave band, that covered 1.7 to 6.5 mic., and it only had a two foot whip antenna, but it was a shortwave radio! *Well, I made a log book, and started writing down the stations and times I heard them. * After a few months I had pretty much exhausted the capabilities of that two foot whip. *I was thirsty for more even more distant stations, like Australia, and Japan. *One day, while leafing through an Electronics Illustrated magazine in the school library, *I stumbled on an article for building a BCB loop antenna out of copper wire and wood. *It had an alligator clip to attach it to a portable radio. *Hmmm, if a loop of copper wire wrapped around a foot square frame would boost AM reception, then several loops of wire ought to boost shortwave reception. *Well, it was an idea worth exploring anyway. *I didn't have any wood, *but maybe a box would work. *I found a box in the shop I thought should work. *It was about 18" square, and about 4" deep. *I closed the box and taped it shut. *I took out my trusty Purina knife and cut small slits in each corner of the box about a half inch apart. *I ended up with nine slits on each corner. *Then I took the spool of magnet wire left over from when I built my crystal radio five years before, and started wrapping the wire in the slits around the box. After wrapping the wire around the box about eighteen times, two wraps in each slit, I taped the wire in place leaving about three feet loose. *I borrowed a clip lead from my dad's bench and cut it in half. *I then twisted the bare end to the magnet wire after removing some of the enamel. *I clipped the alligator clip to the antenna of the Elgin. *Would it work? *I tentatively fired up the radio and started tuning across my single shortwave band. *Did it work, boy did it ever! *I had gobs of stations I never had before! *For the next year my Elgin and I had a beautiful relationship together, and I spent many hours listening to Swiss Radio, Radio Moscow, Tirana Albania, Deutsche Welle , Radio Sofia, La Voz De Andes, among others. *But there were changes in my future, some good, some bad.
To be continued.........
I originally posted this on another forum in six parts. Thought you all might find it interesting here. If you want. I will post all six here. If not, that is OK. It is a life history as a SWL. I am now 64. I posted this when I had just turned 63.
Part 1:
As I sit here listening to Radio Australia, I have been reflecting back over a lifetime as a SWL. *I remember the first shortwave broadcast I heard. *It was in '63 and I was 13. *I was at a friends house, and he asked me if I wanted to hear overseas radio stations on his dad's radio. *I said sure, and he brought it out on the porch. *I was the biggest radio I had ever seen. * It had what I later learned was a slide rule dial with all the foreign cities printed on it, and a telescopic antenna that, with the radio on the porch floor, touched the ceiling. *I was unlike any thing I ever seen. *Now, just a little background here. *My father was a disabled veteran in a wheelchair. *He supplemented his pension with a TV and Radio repair business in our home. *So I literally grew up in a TV and radio shop. *I built my first radio, a crystal set, from scratch when I was 9, and a two transistor radio when I was 12, so I was no stranger to radios. *But this radio was different. *The name was familiar, Zenith, but there was another name, began with a t. *I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, trans something. *Anyhow we fired it up and tuned in a few stations. Most were in foreign languages, but there were English stations too, but with heavy accents. *One station was coming all the way from West Germany! *Well, I was hooked! *I had been bitten by the DX bug, and I would never be the same. *I had to have one of these cool radios. *I had previously been satisfied listening to Cousin Brucie at WABC in New York, *and Wolfman Jack in Del Rio on my home-built transistor radio. *But that was nothing. *That trans something or other would pick up stations in Europe, and Africa, and Russia! * I told my dad about the radio. *He got a National Geographic magazine out( he had been a member since the 40's) flipped through pages for a while, and showed me a picture. *There it was, sitting on a sandy beach next to a man and woman *in bathing suits in full color. *My dad asked if the radio looked like the one I had played with. *It was. *He said it was a Zenith Transoceanic. *I asked if I could have one for Christmas. *He said the radio hadn't been made for about ten years, and were very hard to find. *Even if I could find one, it would be too expensive. *He told me it was the most expensive radio made. *Disappointment was all over my face, and he could see it. * By the time Christmas came I was older. *I had turned 14 the month before. *I still listened to my 2 transistor home-built, but I dreamed of someday owning one of the unique radios that could pick up stations all the way across the ocean. *It was Christmas day and I knew pretty well what was under the tree. *No toys, after all I was fourteen! *No there would be a new sweater for school, and a new pair of pajamas, and that bigger box was obviously a new pair of shoes. *No Transoceanic for sure, but then Dad said there woundn't be didn't he? *But wait! *That box with new shoes was a bit heavy for just a pair of shoes. *Probably something packed in there with the shoes. *Dad sometimes did that to fool me since I had gotten pretty good at guessing my presents over the years. *Well I would just have to find out what was hidden with the shoes. *That would be the present I opened first. *I tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside there wasn't any shoes. *Instead it was a shiny new Elgin(yep, the watch company) radio with 14 transistors and a shortwave band! *My face must have been bright enough to light the entire room! *My own shortwave radio, wow! *I hugged my dad, and grandmother(Mom and Dad were divorced shortly after my brother was born), and thanked them for my wonderful new radio. *Several years later, after Dad had died, my grandmother told me just how special that Elgin really was. * After seeing how excited I had been after playing with the Transoceanic, he had tried to get me one. *He even put an ad in the paper for one. *He even had a guy bring one over for him to look at while I was in school. *But the old Transoceanic hadn't been well cared for. *It had a busted dial and cracked case. *He *didn't think the radio was worth buying. *He even offered to buy my friend's dad's radio, but it wasn't for sale. *Finally, as Christmas was approaching, Dad sent Grandma downtown to the appliance store to see if they had anything. *The salesman showed her the Elgin, and she told Dad about it. *It was expensive, $125, a lot of money in 1963. *But my dad got a loan at the bank and bought the radio. *He said he was afraid I might not like it, but it was all he could find. *He unknown to me, he paid on that radio for the next two years! *I can now imagine his relief when he saw how much I liked the Elgin. *Sure it only had one shortwave band, that covered 1.7 to 6.5 mic., and it only had a two foot whip antenna, but it was a shortwave radio! *Well, I made a log book, and started writing down the stations and times I heard them. * After a few months I had pretty much exhausted the capabilities of that two foot whip. *I was thirsty for more even more distant stations, like Australia, and Japan. *One day, while leafing through an Electronics Illustrated magazine in the school library, *I stumbled on an article for building a BCB loop antenna out of copper wire and wood. *It had an alligator clip to attach it to a portable radio. *Hmmm, if a loop of copper wire wrapped around a foot square frame would boost AM reception, then several loops of wire ought to boost shortwave reception. *Well, it was an idea worth exploring anyway. *I didn't have any wood, *but maybe a box would work. *I found a box in the shop I thought should work. *It was about 18" square, and about 4" deep. *I closed the box and taped it shut. *I took out my trusty Purina knife and cut small slits in each corner of the box about a half inch apart. *I ended up with nine slits on each corner. *Then I took the spool of magnet wire left over from when I built my crystal radio five years before, and started wrapping the wire in the slits around the box. After wrapping the wire around the box about eighteen times, two wraps in each slit, I taped the wire in place leaving about three feet loose. *I borrowed a clip lead from my dad's bench and cut it in half. *I then twisted the bare end to the magnet wire after removing some of the enamel. *I clipped the alligator clip to the antenna of the Elgin. *Would it work? *I tentatively fired up the radio and started tuning across my single shortwave band. *Did it work, boy did it ever! *I had gobs of stations I never had before! *For the next year my Elgin and I had a beautiful relationship together, and I spent many hours listening to Swiss Radio, Radio Moscow, Tirana Albania, Deutsche Welle , Radio Sofia, La Voz De Andes, among others. *But there were changes in my future, some good, some bad.
To be continued.........
I originally posted this on another forum in six parts. Thought you all might find it interesting here. If you want. I will post all six here. If not, that is OK. It is a life history as a SWL. I am now 64. I posted this when I had just turned 63.
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