Category Archives: QSL Gallery

Bill’s Shortwave Listener QSL Cards

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Meara who shares the following article from the SolderSmoke Podcast:

Some Short-Wave Listener QSL Cards

I haven’t received many, but I always like QSL cards from shortwave listeners. Someone out there is listening!

The top one is from recent contact. It arrives from Hungary via the W2 QSL bureau. Here is Tamas HA00001:

https://www.qrzcq.com/call/HA0002SWL

https://www.c3.hu/~ha0khw/ha00001.html

The middle one is from my youth. in 1975 Nick in Moscow USSR heard my contact with OD5IO. I didn’t remember the contact with Lebanon. It turns out that the operator was K4NYY (who is now a silent key. See https://www.qrz.com/db/K4NYY/?mlab=).

The bottom one pre-dates me by more than twenty years. It comes from Berlin in 1936. W5AIR was heard working EI7F. on 20 meter CW. Does anyone have any info on this SWL?

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QSL: Australian Radiofax Received in Brazil

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

For the first time, I received in Porto Alegre a noisy radiofax from the Bureau of Meteorology of Australia: Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) map.

Frequency of 20469 kHz USB, 08h45 UTC.

Radiofax (noisy)

Original

My request for a QSL card was kindly answered (attached along the radiofax and the original chart from BoM’s website). Notice that BoM’s transmitter is 1 KW only!

I realize that your Radiofax decode wa noisy, but I feel like that’s an impressive feat considering the distance involved, the fact that your radio was a portable, and their output power was only 1,000 watts. Proper Radiofax DX! Thanks for sharing!

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Don Moore’s Photo Album: Costa Rica (Part One)

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Radio Reloj, Costa Rica (1990)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Don Moore–noted author, traveler, and DXer–for the latest installment of his Photo Album guest post series:

Don Moore’s Photo Album: Costa Rica (part one)

by Don Moore

Costa Rica is one of the most visited countries in Latin America. I only visited there once, for three weeks in May-June 1990 when the country was just beginning to become a major international eco-tourism destination. Visitors were few and prices very affordable. Except for a short trip to the Monteverde cloud forest, we spent all our time in the central valley, staying in San José and nearby Heredia. Rather than nature, our visit focused on cultural and historical sites … and a lot of radio stations.

Since the 19th century, Costa Rica has been one of the most literate and educated countries in Latin America. That quality is reflected in its radio broadcasting industry, which has always been very professional. Curiously that’s even reflected in station verifications. Almost every Costa Rican shortwave station that I’ve verified had a professionally printed QSL card.

Despite being one of the smallest countries in Latin America, Costa Rica had a lot of shortwave radio stations. I have fifteen in my logbooks and some of the most famous ones were already off the air when I started DXing. Unfortunately, shortwave broadcasting from Costa Rica ended almost twenty years ago so there’s no more to be had. It is still possible to log Costa Rica on medium wave but it’s not as easy as it once was. When I started DXing in the early 1970s, stations in the San José were spaced twenty-five kilohertz apart. That meant that every other station, such as Radio Sonora on 675 kHz and Radio Columbia on 725 kHz, was on a split frequency that fell between the normally assigned 10 kHz channels. I logged nine Tico stations on medium wave while DXing from Pennsylvania in 1972-1981 and only one of those, Radio Reloj on 700 kHz, was on an even channel. Those split channels were eliminated in the 1980s so logging Costa Rica on medium wave is no longer a slam-dunk.

I visited a lot of radio stations and took a lot of photos on my one long-ago trip to Costa Rica. I’m going to focus on just five shortwave broadcasters in this first look at Costa Rica. The others will be featured in two or three future columns.

In the 1970s the first Costa Rican station most shortwave DXers heard was Faro del Caribe, or Lighthouse of the Caribbean. This religious station used two kilowatts on 9645 and 6175 kHz and got out surprisingly well as long as there wasn’t a more powerful international broadcaster also using the same frequency. In the late 1970s they added 5055 kHz in the sixty-meter band.

When I visited in 1990 the antennas were located right next to the studio building. The site was outside the city of San José when the station was founded but gradually a residential area built up around it.

Engineer checking one of Faro Del Caribe’s shortwave transmitters.

Fortieth Anniversary pennant from 1988. When Faro del Caribe began broadcasting on February 23, 1948, it was the first Evangelical Protestant radio station in Central America.

For DXers, Radio Reloj was one of Costa Rica’s best known radio voices for several decades. The station was founded as Radio Cristal by Roger Barahona in 1945. The shortwave frequency of 6006 kHz was added in the early 1950s. In 1958 the station was renamed to Radio Reloj when the format changed to focus on news and community announcements with very frequent time checks. (Radio Reloj means Radio Clock.) Roger’s brothers Isaac and Francisco had joined the broadcasting company and Radio Reloj was assigned the callsign TIHB for Hermanos Barahona (Barahona Brothers). Continue reading →

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Carlos’ E-QSL card from JFX Kagoshima

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Carlos Latuff, who writes:

I got an e-QSL card (see above) from Kagoshima fishery radio station, related to the Radiofax (below) I received on August 2, 2023, at 22h UTC, on 8658 kHz USB, here in Porto Alegre:

That’s just brilliant, Carlos! I didn’t even realize that JFX still issued QSL cards. Thanks so much for sharing this!

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How to Earn the W9IMS 2023 Checkered Flag Award

Once, Twice, Three Times a QSO: How to Earn the W9IMS 2023 Checkered Flag Award

By Brian D. Smith

Two out of three ain’t bad, proclaims the late ’70s classic rock song. But three out of three gets you the Checkered Flag Award from W9IMS.

That’s another way of reminding you that the third Indianapolis Motor Speedway special event of 2023, honoring NASCAR’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, will take to the amateur radio airwaves starting at midnight Indy time (0400 UTC) on Monday, August 7, and ending at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13 (0359 Monday, August 14 UTC).

Those who chalked up contacts or receptions during both of the first two special events in May – commemorating the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 – now have the opportunity to complete the clean sweep and qualify for the colorful Checkered Flag certificate.

But even if you’re just getting up to speed on the Speedway special event, or have caught only one of the two special events so far, you’re still in the running – not for a Checkered Flag Award (that’ll have to wait till 2024), but for one or more of the three collectible QSL cards that commemorate the individual races.

How to find W9IMS? The station operates primarily on 20 and 40 meters, but sometimes adds 80 meters later in the week (and occasionally 2 meters on Race Day for locals and fans in the stands at the Speedway). Preferred frequencies are 14.245 and 7.245 SSB, plus or minus QRM.

And the following suggestion will enhance your chances of putting W9IMS in your log:

Check DX Summit (www.dxsummit.fi) for spots listing the current frequency or frequencies of W9IMS, if any. By typing “W9IMS” in the search box at upper right, you can customize it to show reports for only Indianapolis Motor Speedway special events. Naturally, you’ll be interested in only the ones from August 2023.

Follow this link to the W9IMS web page (www.w9ims.org) and look for the heading, “2023 Operating Schedule.” Click on the NASCAR 200 link, which opens into a weeklong schedule listing individual operators and their reserved timeslots. Your odds of catching W9IMS on the air improve significantly during these hours.

Prime operating time on weeknights is 6 to 10 p.m. Indy time (2200-0200 UTC). However, W9IMS can appear anytime, even on two bands at once, between 0400 Monday, August 7, and 0359 Sunday, August 13.

Operators often get on the air at unscheduled times. That’s why DX Summit is your best bet for locating W9IMS’s current frequency (or frequencies).

If you plan on applying for the 2023 Checkered Flag Award, remember that the three required W9IMS special event QSOs (or reception reports) must come from all of the year’s three races – the Grand Prix, the 500 and the Brickyard. Making three contacts during the coming week still earns you the colorful Brickyard QSL card, but no extra credits toward the certificate.

Remember that the published schedule can be shortened by adverse circumstances, such as noisy band conditions, local thunderstorms or a lack of calling stations. Don’t wait till the final day and hour to chase W9IMS!

If you want to get off to the earliest possible start, keep an ear on 20 meters at midnight Monday (Indy time) and listen for a YL operator. Cathy Harris, W9QKR, is slated to kick off the festivities from 12-2 a.m. (0400-0600 UTC).

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Radio Slovakia International’s 2023 QSL Cards

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, who shares the following article originally published on the Radio Slovakia International website:

QSL 2023

Our 2023 edition of QSL cards are all united within the main motto “30 years of Slovakia – 30 years of RSI”. The photos depict important buildings in the Slovak capital, Bratislava.

Building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic

Building of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic

Residence of the President of the Slovak Republic

Bratislava Castle

Slovak Radio Building

Building of the National Bank of Slovakia

Source: RTVS

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2023 W9IMS Special Event Station Details!

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W9IMS Accelerates into Another Special Event Season – with a Chance for an Indy Racing Certificate

By Brian D. Smith

It’s back to the track for collectors of W9IMS cards and certificates.

The first of this year’s three special events tied to the major races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will begin at midnight Eastern Time (0400 UTC) this Sunday, May 7, and continue through 11:59 p.m. (0359 UTC) the following Saturday, May 13.

And for hams and SWLs, your chance for a 2023 Checkered Flag Award begins – and could end – with it. To earn the certificate, you’ll need to contact or tune in W9IMS during all three special events this year: the Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 (May 22-28) and the NASCAR 200 at the Brickyard (August 7-13).

Catch W9IMS during Grand Prix week and you’re one-third of the way to Victory Lane. Miss it and you’ll have to wait till 2024 for another shot at the certificate.

So when and where do you find W9IMS? Any time of the day or night is possible, but prime time is from 6 to 10 p.m. (2200-0200 UTC) weekdays, and the prime bands are 40 and 20 meters (generally around 7.245 and 14.245 MHz). And this year, improved solar conditions could prompt a rare move to 15 and 10 meters, likely around 21.350 or 28.340 MHz.

The choice of frequencies will be gametime decisions based on a variety of factors, including QRM, band openings and the number of calling stations. So your surest move is to check W9IMS spots, which are frequently posted on DX Summit (www.dxsummit.fi).

While some on-air times are unscheduled, you can also increase your odds by going to the W9IMS QRZ page (www.w9ims.com) and clicking the Grand Prix link under the heading “2023 Operating Schedule” – which displays the shifts that operators have already signed up for.

If time is running short, listen for happy hour – the last blast on Race Day (May 13 for the Grand Prix), usually starting at 11 p.m. Indy time (0300 UTC). That’s when W9IMS ops traditionally switch to contest-style QSOs and exchange only signal reports so they can work as many stations as possible. But remember that W9IMS special events can end early if the station encounters sparse QSOs or adverse solar or weather conditions.

Should you manage to bag W9IMS, don’t celebrate for too long: The Indianapolis 500 special event begins on May 22, only 9 days after the end of Grand Prix week. Then comes the longer wait till the NASCAR race in August.

You’ll qualify for a new and unique QSL card for each W9IMS event you log, regardless of whether you snare all three in ’23. But why not complete the set and nab the certificate – starting with the first race this coming week?

Hams and SWLs alike are eligible for any and all W9IMS cards and certificates; you can even QSL via the bureau. And if you forgot to send in your information from a previous year, it’s still possible to obtain nearly all of the previous cards and certificates. Consult the W9IMS QRZ page for full details.

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