Category Archives: QSL Gallery

A Special QSL Card: Remembering the BBC and Deutsche Welle DRM Partnership

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Many thanks to SWling Post contributor, Paul Jamet, who hares the following article and notes:

I enjoyed this beautifully illustrated article: Snail Mail QSLs – A Few Stories from a Bygone Era

I’m also taking up the invitation to share a memorable QSL card of my own.

I’ve received hundreds of QSL cards by snail mail. After some hesitation, I’ve chosen a QSL card that I received quickly (in 6 days) but which reflects a time when two very important international radio stations were strong believers in Digital Radio Mondial (DRM):

Testimony of a Joint BBC / DW DRM Programme for Europe

by Paul Jamet

My most memorable QSL card bears witness to the collaboration between the BBC World Service (BBC-WS) and Deutsche Welle (DW). These two broadcasters launched a major radio project in the late 2000s: a joint shortwave transmission in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale), aimed at providing a high-quality digital service for Europe.

The BBC and DW established a partnership to pool their transmission capabilities and deliver a single digital stream (in English) across Europe. Transmission sites located in Sines (Portugal), Woofferton (United Kingdom), and Moosbrunn (Austria) were used to ensure broadcasting from 06:00 local time until midnight.

This is why I invested around €300 in purchasing a DiWave 100 receiver to listen to this programme, broadcast using a technology that both broadcasters were intensively testing at the time. The AFS function—Alternative Frequency Switching or Signalling—allowed the receiver to automatically follow frequency changes throughout the day without any manual intervention. The programme originated alternately from Berlin or London, on one or more frequencies transmitted from the sites mentioned above.

This QSL card, along with the screenshot from the DiWave 100 that enabled me to obtain it, stands as evidence of a broken dream [mainly due to the rise of streaming, but also the lack of DRM receivers].

The BBC and DW eventually abandoned the project. In terms of digital broadcasting, DAB+—a technology stemming from the European Eureka project—has become dominant across Europe. Today, the BBC World Service, and especially Radio Romania International, continue to broadcast daily to Europe. TDF (Télédiffusion de France) is conducting trials on various frequencies from its Issoudun transmission centre.

Today, I still believe in DRM. This technology uses HF bands and makes it possible to cover vast areas with a single transmitter, while offering significantly improved listening conditions and additional services such as text transmission (Journaline), images, and emergency warning messages (EWF technology).

References :

Radio Bulgaria’s Latest QSL Card Celebrates the Historic TULAN Receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor David Iurescia for sharing the latest installment in Radio Bulgaria’s 90th anniversary QSL card series. This month’s card highlights the TULAN radio receiver—produced by Bulgaria’s first radio receiver factory and now prized by vintage radio collectors. The accompanying article explores the company’s history and explains how listeners can obtain this attractive new QSL card by submitting a reception report.

Click here to check it out at Radio Bulgaria.

Snail Mail QSL’s – A few stories from a bygone era

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by Dan Greenall

Before the days of the internet and e-mail, the most common way for the listener to contact a radio station was to mail them a letter. This would include requests for a QSL card or letter, which would “officially” verify that reception took place and the details heard were accurate.

Waiting for a reply was part of the SWL experience. A few weeks would go by, sometimes months, and the anticipation would build. I would arrive home from school or work each day in hopes of finding an envelope bearing exotic-looking stamps from halfway around the globe in my mailbox. This was the ultimate reward! Although I didn’t realize it at the time, many of these QSL’s would one day bear historical significance.

Today, I have to admit, much of that magic is gone. With the advent of online streaming and the availability of remote SDR’s, broadcasters are understandably less enthusiastic about receiving a report from a distant listener. Though I have one or two email QSL’s, I have not mailed out a reception report since 1999.

It was to Radio Veritas Asia in the Philippines, and their card finally arrived in 2001.

Some of my favorites were personal replies from a staff member at the station.

Examples are these 1986 letters received from FM stations KKAZ in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and KCME, Manitou Springs, Colorado, informing me that I was their most distant listener on the date of reception.

As well, B. Rudolph Paulus, the station manager at a low-powered maritime station in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, typed out a long friendly letter and even included eight colour photographs of the station, equipment, and staff members.

That was in 1988. Six years later, Rabaul suffered from a devastating volcanic eruption, and the fate of the station is unknown.

In some countries, the postal service could be irregular at best, so one could really never know if your letter got delivered. Then again, there were times when a station would fail to write my complete address on the card or envelope before mailing it. Fortunately, these managed to reach my hometown, where the folks at the local post office seemed to know who I was and added the missing information. These ones from Congo and the USSR were lucky to arrive.

As a radio amateur VE3HLC in 1978, I was thrilled to receive this beautiful postcard from a station I had contacted in the jungles of Guyana.

A few months later, I was horrified to learn of the unspeakable tragedy that had occurred at the Peoples Temple in Jonestown.

Even the postmark could prove significant, as evidenced by this card from Radio Nacional de España that came direct from their relay site at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

In 1992, the island of Palau was still being governed by the U.S. The postmark on this card from KHBN shows the old zip code they once had.

Many long-time listeners continue to keep these historical treasures tucked away in boxes or albums, waiting for their stories to be told. What is your most memorable QSL?

Shortwave Memories — Ghana’s North American Service

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by Karl D. Forth

Many of the African nations achieved independence in the 1960s, and as they raised their new national flag they wanted to be connected to the outside world. One of the first things they often did was build an airport so they could be accessible. The second was setting up a shortwave radio station so their national voice could be heard both domestically and internationally.

Radio Ghana, an early independent country (1957), took this a step further by establishing a North American shortwave service, audible in the mid-afternoon in the eastern United States. In my early listening months, this was one of the more exotic places I could receive on my portable shortwave radio.

I sent them a letter, seeking a QSL card verifying reception, and more information. Employees at the Accra General Post Office gathered letters, rather infamously so, and a few weeks later I received a pen pal aerogram from a postal worker in Accra. At the time, this was welcome and a little bit exciting. I remember showing the first letter to my mother and father. They seemed to approve, with a reaction of “this hobby may not be so bad.”

My correspondence with the postal employee continued for a year or two, beyond the life of the North American service. He never did ask for money or anything else (many other listeners received requests for money from other postal workers), but he did dispense a bit of advice that I’ve always remembered. After learning that I was a high school student, he advised: Don’t Play With Books. That means don’t screw around with your educational opportunity.

Ghana Broadcasting Corp. had a number of frequencies for domestic broadcasts in places such as Ejura and Tema. The external service was based in the capital, Accra, and its broadcasts included two frequencies to North America from 2000 to 2100 GMT daily.

For many years after the North American service ended, Ghana could be heard on several 60 meter frequencies in the late evening and sometimes during late winter afternoons.

Karl D. Forth has been interested in radio and DXing for more than 50 years. This story was included in the book Radio Nights and Distant Signals.

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Radio Bulgaria Marks Its 90th Anniversary with a New QSL Card Series

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Paul Jamet, who shares the following update and QSL card images related to Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) and Radio Bulgaria.

As Radio Bulgaria looks ahead to its 90th anniversary in 2026, Bulgarian National Radio has announced a new commemorative QSL card series for listeners who submit reception reports. The series will include 12 different QSL cards, each highlighting a key moment from the history of BNR and the Radio Bulgaria service. According to BNR, a new card will be released each month, along with a short publication explaining the historical background behind the featured image.

One of the cards commemorates Bulgaria’s first radio transmission in 1929, an important milestone that marked the beginning of organized radio broadcasting in the country. Additional background articles from BNR revisit the early days of Radio Bulgaria and trace how the service evolved into an international broadcaster with listeners around the world.

Paul also points to a broader retrospective titled “BNR at 90 – A Story of Pride and No Prejudice,” which looks back on nine decades of Bulgarian National Radio. The piece reflects on BNR’s history through periods of political change and technological transition, while underscoring the role of public broadcasting in preserving culture and maintaining a connection with international audiences.

Attached at the top and bottom of this post are two QSL cards from Paul’s own collection.

Many thanks again to Paul for sharing both the news and the QSL images!

A DXer Looks Back at the Voice of America

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by Dan Greenall

50 years ago, Voice of America broadcasts could be found all over the shortwave dial.

In addition to a number of transmitter sites located stateside, the VOA used to broadcast from a number of other facilities located in overseas countries in order to help get its signal into all corners of the globe.  Many of these “relay” stations made for challenging DX catches and there was even an award offered by NASWA to those providing sufficient proof of reception of them all.  An example of this can be found on this link: https://k5nd.net/2011/06/voice-of-america/

The familiar tune of Yankee Doodle (heard at the beginning and end of a transmission) along with station ID in English would often include the particular transmitter site in use.  Several old recordings of these can be found on my links to these on the Internet Archive.

Technical staff hired to help maintain equipment at overseas facilities were often licensed amateur radio operators. See the attached scans of two QSL cards from amateurs who worked at the station near Monrovia, Liberia.

Most of the various VOA transmitter sites are listed below. Some include links that will lead to related historical information, articles and/or photographs and are well worth exploring.

VOA Greenville NC  

VOA Bethany OH

VOA Dixon/Delano CA

VOA Marathon, FL

VOA Wooferton UK

VOA Kavala Greece

VOA Thessaloniki Greece

VOA Rhodes, Dodecanese Islands

VOA Monrovia, Liberia

VOA Tangier, Morocco

VOA Okinawa, Ryuku Islands

VOA Poro/Tinang, Philippines

VOA Udon Thani, Thailand

VOA, Sri Lanka

VOA Sao Tome

VOA Botswana

A year ago, in January 2025, I made a couple of recordings, using remote SDR receivers, of some Voice of America programs being broadcast from their Botswana transmitter site.  These have been uploaded to archive.org and can be found here: https://archive.org/details/voa-africa-via-botswana-relay-january-19-2025

Since March 16, 2025, it seems the only former VOA transmitters being used are Greenville, NC (Radio Marti), Tinang, Philippines (Radyo Pilipinas world service), and Wooferton, UK (BBC and others).

Cold War VLF and a Bob’s Homemade “LWL” QSL Card

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Bob (K7ZB), who writes:

Hi Tom,

Bob, K7ZB here, and I was just looking at a post on your SWL site for NSS, the US Navy station which was activated back in 1918.

It brought to mind a very unique QSL card I made for a listening event back in the days that I served on board a Polaris missile submarine during the Cold War.

I created an “LWL” QSL card (I did this tongue-in-cheek) for Long Wave Listening confirmation of TACAMO transmissions sent from a special Hercules C-130 aircraft which was used in the event of nuclear war and the anticipated destruction of all land-based military communications capabilities. TACAMO aircraft are still in use in this system today and aviation enthusiasts track them occasionally.

The National Command Authority would issue commands to launch retaliatory nuclear strikes from our missile subs through the signals sent at VLF 17KHz from the aircraft and received by our boats while submerged.

The system is unclassified (like the Doomsday Machine in ‘Dr Strangelove” of the 1960’s film noir – if it is kept secret it is not a deterrent) so you can read about it here:

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/TACAMO

I was a Missile Technician and Navy SCUBA Diver on a missile boat during the Cold War and had been a ham radio operator (WA8KEX) for 6 years prior to serving on board. When I reported to the submarine, the LPO (Leading Petty Officer) of the Radio gang was also a ham and when I spoke with him he got permission for me to qualify as a Radioman of the Watch so I could stand watches in the radio shack while out at sea on our 75 day patrols in the Mediterranean Sea and above the Arctic Circle. I did that when I was off watch back in the Missile Compartment which was my normal duty staton.

Of course we maintained radio silence during patrols but we could copy VLF when we put out our long trailing floating wire antenna when we were near but below the surface. We could then pick up the transmissions from the TACAMO EC-130Q’s flying in very tight circular patterns just above stall speed with a 5-mile long wire trailing behind them which circled down in a helical form just above the sea somewhere out in the Atlantic.

This allowed the VLF signal to travel great distances and we could then copy it while submerged.

The transmissions were digital with the exception that Morse code was also used back in my day. I served on board the USS Alexander Hamilton SSB(N)617 Gold Crew from 1969-72 for 6 patrols out of Rota, Spain.

I was an MT1(SS)DV, and here is the uniform I wore. I am on the right in the photo of the two divers and with my swim buddy at the US Navy Diver School in Key West, FL (1970), who was a Recon Marine.

I or another RM (Radioman) would strap on headphones and sit at an IBM Selectric ‘mill’ and copy 5-letter code groups sent in International Morse code from a Navy RM up in the aircraft. That RM was working in tough conditions because the C-130’s had to fly at a steep angle approaching 45 degrees which put them at about 1G and they were sending on a straight key at 15wpm.

Once the messages were received I handed them off to the RM’s and then I left for the Missile Compartment because it meant we were going to have a Weapons System Readiness Test soon – a drill in preparation for the real thing.

Which never came, thank God, or we wouldn’t be seeing this email.

The special LWL QSL card I made shows a real C-130 with the antenna spooling out with its counterpoise – you can just see the drogues at the end of the wires – and the middle photo is of the aircraft internal transmitter gear where the signals were sent.

My submarine is shown in the card with our ship’s patch and a pencil sketch of what the radio shack on board an FBM Polaris submarine looked like – the RM with his headphones is sitting at the mill copying TACAMO messages.

I put a small QSL data block on the card detailing some of the conditions of a typical message received as if we had been SWL QSLing a ham station.

I posted this on my submarine’s FB group as well as the FB Submarine Radioman’s group for their enjoyment – if any of them were also hams or SWL’s they would get it immediately.

73,

Bob
K7ZB

Thank you, Bob, for allowing us a glimpse into this chapter of Cold War communications history through your unique LWL QSL. It’s a wonderful blend of personal story, service, and radio heritage.