{"id":33273,"date":"2018-08-10T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T10:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=33273"},"modified":"2018-08-09T06:56:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T10:56:33","slug":"listener-post-fred-remembers-the-early-days-of-dxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/listener-post-fred-remembers-the-early-days-of-dxing\/","title":{"rendered":"Listener Post: Fred remembers discovering the shortwaves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Radio Japan QSL (Source: Fred Waterer)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to my buddy, Fred Waterer, who shared the following message with friends on Facebook and has kindly allowed me to post this here on the SWLing Post<\/em>. I thought it would make a welcome addition to our Listener Posts<\/a> category.<\/p>\n

Fred writes:<\/p>\n

On a hot humid day in July 1978, much like today, I discovered what would become a life long avocation. International broadcasting aka shortwave radio. I was playing around with a radio belonging to my father.<\/p>\n

It was a Nordmende, manufactured just after WW2, everything on the radio, the dials and buttons were all in German. The summer before, I had figured out that UKW was FM and listened to it off and on, despite the fact it only went up to 100 MHz. No Rock 102 or CHUM-FM on this baby.<\/p>\n

But on that day 40 years ago, I pressed KW, kurzewellen, German for shortwave. I turned the dial and heard a woman speaking English. Not unexpected. A few minutes later she identified the broadcast as coming from Radio Sofia, Bulgaria! I was astounded!!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"

Radio Sofia QSL (Source: Fred Waterer)<\/p><\/div>\n

The rest of that day I tuned around and heard the BBC, and Radio Moscow, HCJB in Ecuador, Radio Prague, Radio Canada International and so many more. It was the beginning of what has become a life long hobby\/obsession.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(Source: Fred Waterer)<\/p><\/div>\n

In 40 years I have heard everything from the mundane to the dramatic. Lectures on Soviet grain production. The invasion of the Falklands. The fall of the Soviet Union. Wars. Elections. Assassinations. Music. Literature. Jamming. Propaganda. Three filing cabinets full of program schedules, reception logs, magazines and other goodies. Binders and boxes full of QSL cards, stickers and pennants. Bankers boxes full of audio recordings. That day in July 1978 changed my life. 40 years passes way too fast. Oh well, now it’s onwards to 50 \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazing, Fred! Yes indeed, for many of us one moment of discovery makes for a welcome lifelong companion!<\/p>\n

Let me know if you’d like help digitizing those off-air recordings–I’d love to add them to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.<\/a><\/p>\n

I encourage other\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0readers and contributors to submit their own\u00a0listener post<\/a>! Tell us how you became interested in radio!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to my buddy, Fred Waterer, who shared the following message with friends on Facebook and has kindly allowed me to post this here on the SWLing Post. I thought it would make a welcome addition to our Listener Posts category. Fred writes: On a hot humid day in July 1978, much like today, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2262,3,305,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listener-posts","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-8EF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65029,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/video-when-shortwave-radio-connected-soldiers-overseas-with-their-families-in-wwii\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":0},"title":"Video: When Shortwave Radio Connected Soldiers Overseas with Their Families in WWII","author":"Thomas","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes: \"The History Guy\" (a terrific YouTube channel) talks about the technical marvel of uniting the four radio networks and soldiers overseas via shortwave at Christmas 1942 and 1943. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xiS4Imqs47M Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/xiS4Imqs47M\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64320,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/radio-world-the-world-is-at-your-mouse-click\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":1},"title":"Radio World: The World Is at Your Mouse Click","author":"Thomas","date":"October 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer who shares this article from Radio World that takes a closer look at how online SDR networks have transformed shortwave listening. Even for those of us who regularly use Web SDRs, it\u2019s an interesting perspective on how these global receiver networks continue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/KiwiSDR-Japan-e1588953466247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/KiwiSDR-Japan-e1588953466247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/KiwiSDR-Japan-e1588953466247.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/KiwiSDR-Japan-e1588953466247.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63038,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/hallicrafters-1944-film-voice-of-victory\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":2},"title":"Hallicrafters\u2019 1944 Film, “Voice of Victory”","author":"Thomas","date":"May 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes: I've fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole. This time a video that is part propaganda, part Hallicrafters ad, and part documentary. Pretty interesting how they adapted the radios to wartime conditions: https:\/\/youtu.be\/Jps0_2adUvo?si=YFrPkaVUloRHBrMT Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/WWII-Hallicrafters.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50661,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/fred-suggests-a-halloween-spooktacular\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":3},"title":"Fred suggests a Halloween Spooktacular!","author":"Thomas","date":"October 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fred Waterer, who writes: This is going to meander a bit from shortwave, but I'll give you a heads up in case it's of interest. October 31 is a Sunday this year and lines up with Michael Godin's Treasure Island Oldies show But... This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/halloween.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9218,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/remembering-bill-bergadano\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":4},"title":"Remembering Bill Bergadano","author":"Thomas","date":"April 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The shortwave radio community lost a friend last week:\u00a0Bill Bergadano (KA2EMZ). I never got to know Bill personally, but I knew of him and we had many mutual friends. Fred Waterer, my friend and fellow writer at The Spectrum Monitor magazine, worked with Bill at his online radio station, Radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bill","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Bill-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/a-love-for-radio-wtnd-106-3-fm-and-the-legacy-of-tom-and-darryl\/","url_meta":{"origin":33273,"position":5},"title":"A Love for Radio: WTND 106.3 FM and the Legacy of Tom and Darryl","author":"Thomas","date":"July 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who writes:\u00a0 Longtime WBCQ listeners may remember The Tom and Darryl Show which was on WBCQ for several years. I don't know too many people with more knowledge of music or a larger music collection. Great guys too. Here is an article\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/CCRadio-EP-Pro-Dial-Accuracy-Close-Up-e1541164398236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/CCRadio-EP-Pro-Dial-Accuracy-Close-Up-e1541164398236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/CCRadio-EP-Pro-Dial-Accuracy-Close-Up-e1541164398236.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/CCRadio-EP-Pro-Dial-Accuracy-Close-Up-e1541164398236.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}