Here’s a great example of a QSL report from Pirate Station X-FM Stereo Shortwave monitored Halloween 2015. Not only is it a beautiful card, Redhat (the Deejay) also included the playlist as a .txt attachment.
As I recall he also made live announcements of who had left reception reports/comments on the HF Underground forum as well as for those who sent him emails directly.
I sent a short recording as part of my reception report, and it was an added bonus to see that mentioned in his QSL card.
I am quite impressed with all the effort made to turn out a quality QSL card, but a Pirate transmitting in stereo obviously appreciates quality!!
Pirate Radio receptions are memorable events on their own, but the QSL cards really make them special! Happy Pirate hunting!
Robert Gulley, AK3Q, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Robert also blogs at All Things Radio.
Serious question, I mean curious question, what radio can receive C-Quam AM stereo at 6975 kHz? One would think that a SW broadcaster who wanted to transmit in stereo would transmit one channel in LSB and the other channel in USB. At the receiving end one could hear the broadcast in stereo with two SSB capable SW radios, one tuned to LSB and the other tuned to USB. Stereo could also be received with two SW radios with AM selectable sideband synchronous detection. One could even get a partial stereo effect by tuning one AM radio slightly below frequency and the other AM radio slightly above frequency. I recall reading of hobbyists using this technique to receive Kahn-Hazeltine AM stereo. It’s not as if the pirate station must conform to broadcast standard. 🙂
At the time the station was considering stereo, there were several options for the listener to listen to the stereo signal in C-QUAM format, mostly involving SDR’s and a select portable or two with modifications. There still is no software means to decode S-ISB,if we wanted to go down that road. Overall I think the quality of the received stereo would be better with ISB, but receiver support at present just isn’t there. It also helps that C-QUAM generation and test equipment is readily available or reasonably easy to build. The same cannot be said for Kahn/ISB equipment.
Beautiful QSL card with exquisite graphics. Thanks for posting.
This particular station is one of the best Pirate stations. At least IMHO! The quality of the broadcasts are great. The programming is professional sounding, and he tends to personally answer each report. Even though the Halloween QSL was a few months late in coming, Redhat did let me know I would be getting one. I have received e QSLs from other stations that are pretty awesome looking in the past also.
A month ago I was very surprised to receive a package in the mail from X-FM. In it was a hard copy signed QSL, a Station Sticker, and a CD recording of the program I had sent in a e mail reception report for. Wow, what a pleasant surprise that was. I told some of my other DXer friends and they said I was very lucky to get a package like that. I feel the same way! I enjoy finding and listening to Pirate Stations. I wish they would all QSL for reception reports.