Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lennart Weirell, who shares the following
I read the posting about Radio FAX, and I heard the station 1988-10-23, but on MW 1611 kHz a frequency they also used.
[Please see above and below] a copy of the QSL-card and stencil from Radio FAX.
Back of QSL Card
Thanks so much for sharing your report with us, Lennart!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Cooper, who shares the following:
In today’s mail I received a big surprise. Not one, but two QSLs verifying BBC program transmission reception reports from Ascension Island that I sent them in 2014. At that time I was working on a NASWA Dx Award for verification of 50 SWBC Countries. I was able to verify Ascension Island through another station that BCed through their transmitters in 2015.
I guess it just goes to show you should never give up on hoping you can get a confirmation. I didn’t even do any follow ups because I was told BBC didn’t verify anymore. Apparently Babcock/BBC will if you give them time. It makes me wonder where the reception reports were hiding over the past three years?
That is certainly a long delay! Frankly, I’m impressed you received a response from the BBC–as you mention, they seem to no longer issue QSLs. What a great surprise.
Post readers: Anyone else have a long-delayed reply from a broadcaster? Please comment!
I thought this little tidbit or two of information might be useful to those DX’ers seeking a QSL from DZRP Radyo Pilipinas.
DZRP broadcast in English and Filipino on several frequencies, as seen here: http://shortwaveschedule.com/index.php?station=1089
I found two email addresses listed for them, [email protected] and [email protected] which I’ve sent reception reports too, but I can’t say either of the two QSL’s I’ve gotten from them came because of the email address. What worked?
Contacting them on Facebook!
It took a few days, but sending the reception report to them via private/inbox message on Facebook got a reply with a promise of a QSL card each time!
Find them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/DZRPRadyoPilipinas/
While writing this post, I found a third email address, [email protected], which I didn’t know about before. Radyo Pilipinas posted this one on their Facebook page in reply to a DX’er asking about reception reports and QSL cards.
Paul Walker is located in Galena, Alaska and is a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Be sure to check out Paul’s YouTube channel and SoundCloud channel where everything he logs is recorded and posted. Click here to read his other contributions on the SWLing Post.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who writes:
Wether you do AM, shortwave, longwave, FM or something else, I think this will prove useful.
I have a pretty high return rate when submitting reception reports and asking for QSL cards/letters. I’d say my return rate is probably better than 60 percent, sometimes even 70 or 80 percent. It just depends.
But what helps me so much? EVERY reception report I email or snail mail includes an audio recording. Sometimes it’s only 30 seconds if the signal is really rough, weak or hard to pick out anything useable. Sometimes I include anywhere between 5 minutes and 30 minutes with a detailed report.
Well, how do I record? I use my smartphone! I have an iPhone 6 Plus with 128 GB of storage. iPhones record some of the best audio I’ve ever heard from a smartphone. Androids do a pretty decent job–not as good, but not bad.
The best app I’ve found for this is Voice Recorder Pro 7.
Voice Recorder Pro 7 Screenshots
You can select the recording format (mp4, mp3 or wav), you can select the sample rate, bit rate (32kbps all the way up to 320kbps), you can select mono or stereo as well.
But where this really comes in handy? You can email the audio file to yourself or someone with the click of a button, you can upload it to a google drive, dropbox, one drive or a box cloud account. You can even have it upload to an FTP server or to your Facebook page if you want!!
The one feature I like is being able to turn audio into a YouTube video and uploading it directly! I was recording videos by holding it up to the radio’s display and while the audio was good, it wasn’t great because it was a bit further away from the speaker so I could show the S meter and frequency on the display.
So what I ended up doing is to put the phone right near the radio’s speaker and start recording… this produces better audio then a straight up video. Then you click a button after the recording is over and it generates the video frames for you, putting a picture there; you fill in the particulars of your video and it uploads it to your YouTube account.
See what I’m talking about here, by viewing my YouTube account:
https://www.youtube.com/user/OnAirDJPaulWalkerYou can easily tell which videos were made by me holding up the phone to the radio’s display and which are audio only with the video generated by Voice Recorder Pro 7.
Here’s an audio only track I recorded to give you an idea how it sounds.
https://soundcloud.com/paul-walker-11/radio-mediterranne-international
I don’t recall if they have this app for Android phones, but if they don’t, there’s something similar. It’s worth investigating.
A detailed written report is one thing when requesting a QSL, but audio is indisputable and absolute confirmation of what was heard.
Many thanks for the recommendation, Paul. I use an Android phone (the Moto X 2nd generation). I’m hoping a Post reader can suggest a recording app that is equally robust.
Like you, I typically send an audio recording when submitting a reception report. It’s certainly a valuable piece of information for broadcast engineers. Thanks again!
SWLing Post reader, Ian Cattermole, writes:
I am listening to Dandal Kura Radio here in NZ. Reception is very good now at 0645 UTC on 7,415 kHz. Would you happen to have an e-mail contact for this broadcaster? I would like to send them a reception report.
Any help appreciated. Many thanks and best wishes.
I checked online and my copy of the 2015 WRTH, but could find no contact info for Dandal Kura Radio. The Dandal Kura Radio website appears to be down at the moment. Ian, they do have a Facebook page, so you could attempt to contact them with a private message (assuming you have a Facebook account).
Here is an article about the station from The Globe and Mail.
Does anyone have an email address or postal address for Dandal Kura Radio? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Tom Ally, who shares a link to Wavescan‘s 2014 Annual DX Contest where you are invited to share your rare, unique and unusual verifications.
(Source: AWR Wavescan)
Shortwave listeners, international radio monitors and DXers around the world are invited to search their collection of QSL cards and letters for rare, unusual and unique verifications. You are invited to make up a list (up to 5 in number) of your QSLs in this collective category, and to write a short paragraph about each. Partial entries for this year’s contest are considered to be valid.
Prize: At the conclusion of the contest, we at Wavescan are planning to write up and publish a detailed compilation of interesting information on a world wide basis about the rare, unusual and unique QSLs that come to light in this way. This will be the first occasion in the history of international radio broadcasting for the compilation of such a QSL list, and you all are invited to submit entries.
Submission period: Through September 2014.
