DP Tool Club 17/CD_ASCQ_17_101194.iso/dos/fr/radiodx3/00000004.dxt

Text File | 1994-05-04 | 4KB | 92 lines

                            RADIO DX INFORMATION


   WHAT IS DXing ?

   Those mysterious letters "DX" may do more to confuse and possibly
   drive away would-be radio listeners than anything else in the
   hobby.
   As it is, sometimes it's very hard to explain to friends exactly
   what one's hobby is. "Radio listening" doesn't really sound like
   a hobby, and if you emphasize the technical side they think you're
   a ham radio operator or a CBer.

   There's a lot of technical slang used in the radio listening hobby.
   Some of it is used because an abbreviation is a good way to quickly
   refer to a complicated technical term.
   A lot of it is unnecessary, seemingly used more to set radio hobbyists
   apart.
   Much of the radio slang today goes back to the days of telegraphy.
   When the telegraph first started an every letter had to be correctly
   keyed and sent out, telegraphers introduced many abbreviations, to
   save time and reduced their work.
   To abbreviate the word "distance" they choose the letters DX. That's
   all DX means -- "distance".
   By extension when applied to radio, DX means distant radio stations.
   A person who hunts distant stations is then a DXer.

   Of course one person's DX is another person's commonplace. If you live
   in Sweden it's easy to hear stations in the Middle East -- much harder
   to hear Latin America.
   If you live in North America the situation is reversed.
   And what's difficult or unusual for the beginner may be old hat for
   the more experienced listener.
   Nevertheless, DX remains the goal of many radio listeners -- the hunt
   for the new and unusual.

   Not everybody who listens to shortwave is always hunting DX, of course.
   Most listeners spend some time actually listening to favorite programs,
   and many -- probably the majority of shortwave listeners -- prefer
   program listening to station hunting.
   There have been occasional controversies in the hobby over DXing versus
   program listening , but the current attitude seems to be away from the
   extremist positions and towards a recognition that there is a spectrum
   of listening preferences, and almost everyone does a little of both.

   WHY LISTEN TO SHORTWAVE ?

   There are many reasons, which you've probably already discouvered.
   It's a good way to keep up-to-date on international news, especially
   since the domestic media in most countries tend to ignore the rest of
   the world, or present it from one point view.
   Shortwave is also a source of unusual and entertaining music.
   And listening to foreign stations provides pratice for people studying
   foreign languages.

   WHAT ELSE TO LOOK FOR

   If you've been spending much time exploring the radio bands, you've
   probably noticed that there is a lot of more to listen to than just
   international broadcasters like Radio Sweden and the BBC .
   The bands are filled with fascination signals.

   For example, there are the unoffical stations, the pirates and
   underground broadcasters.
   There are many conflicts in our world, and often when there's a conflict
   you'll discover it is refected on the air.
   Many guerilla movements have ther own stations -- either from occupied
   territory like the FMFN stations in El Salvador, or through the courtesy
   of a friendly neighbour government, such as the African National Congress
   broadcasts from Tanzania, Ethiopia, and a number of other African
   countries.
   Most of these clandestine stations can be found in the Third World,
   especially Central America the Middle East and southern Africa.
   In Western Europe and North America, one often finds hobby pirates
   playing pop music on sunday mornings when they figure the government
   authorities are least likely to be working.

   Both pirates and clandestines can be found on the all bands -- shortwave
   medium wave, an FM, but they are often clustered around the edges of the
   bands used by the legal stations.
   Favorite places on shortwawe are just outside the 49 meter band, above
   6200 Khz, or the 40 meter band, below 7000 Khz.

   IF YOU WANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT DXing ... Print and read very
   carefully the "GUIDE.TXT" file.

   THIS IS A SHAREWARE PRODUCT.
   For more information, please see the RADIODX.FRM file.