{"id":46643,"date":"2020-11-26T09:43:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=46643"},"modified":"2020-11-26T11:51:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T15:51:29","slug":"qsl-how-i-traveled-the-world-and-never-left-home-by-ronald-w-kenyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/qsl-how-i-traveled-the-world-and-never-left-home-by-ronald-w-kenyon\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home&#8221; by Ronald W. Kenyon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-e1606308595885.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46644\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-e1606308595885.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A few weeks ago, I was contacted by author Ronald W. Kenyon who has written non-fiction books covering a variety of subjects, but primarily collections of essays and albums of photography.<\/p>\n<p>He was very proud to announce that his latest book, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/39ha9DB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><em>QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, focuses on his pursuit of DX during his youth.<\/p>\n<p>Kenyon is a radio archivist at heart.\u00a0 He has carefully preserved QSL cards that he received between 1956 and 1961&#8211;a time period many of us consider the zenith of international broadcasting and DXing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_46648\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Radio-Mozambique-QSL-e1606315686685.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-46648\" class=\"wp-image-46648 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Radio-Mozambique-QSL-e1606315686685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"722\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-46648\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From Ronald W. Kenyon&#8217;s collection<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Kenyon&#8217;s book presents color reproductions of over 100 vintage QSL cards\u2014most displaying both front and back\u2014issued by 89 shortwave stations in 75 countries. For the uninitiated, he includes an introduction that acquaints with shortwave radio listening, submitting listener reports, and obtaining QSL cards. Radio enthusiasts will be familiar with these topics, but this addition is an important one since we often forget that we&#8217;ve a niche pursuit and for many of his readers, this will be their first introduction.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_46649\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Radio-Nederland-QSL-e1606315728794.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-46649\" class=\"size-full wp-image-46649\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Radio-Nederland-QSL-e1606315728794.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"851\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-46649\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From Ronald W. Kenyon&#8217;s collection<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Kenyon sent me a pre-sales sample of his book. It&#8217;s what I&#8217;d call a &#8220;coffee table&#8221; paperback. The format is 8.5 x 8.5 inches which gives each QSL image proper page space to be presented. The color reproduction and print in this publication is excellent.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-46652\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1-300x214.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1-1024x730.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1-768x547.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/QSL-Book-1-624x445.jpeg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve thoroughly enjoyed taking in Kenyon&#8217;s book at a very leisurely pace. It&#8217;s divided into three main sections:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Section One<\/strong> of his book is a gallery of 107 vintage QSL cards from radio stations in 78 countries.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Section Two<\/strong> features SWL and ham radio cards.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Section Three<\/strong> features seasonal greeting cards sent to listeners by radio broadcasters from nine countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There&#8217;s even an appendix featuring, \u201cA Letter from Antarctica,\u201d which recounts how Kenyon was linked to a British meteorologist at a base in Antarctica via a radio station in Montevideo, Uruguay of all places. A fabulous example of how radio&#8211;especially in the late 50s and early 60s&#8211;was a fabulous medium for connecting listeners across vast distances.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a nostalgic fellow&#8211;especially during the Thanksgiving and Holiday season. I&#8217;ll admit: this wonderful, simple bit of radio nostalgia is just what the doctor ordered as we celebrate the season. We all can relate to and enjoy Kenyon&#8217;s gallery of radio nostalgia and history. Indeed, my hope is that his book will encourage others to document their radio journey as well.<\/p>\n<p>Being a limited print, full-color, 150 page book, the price will be $35 US. However, the author has offered 10% off his book if ordered before December 31, 2020. That will lower the price to $31.50 US via Amazon.com or \u00a323.95 via Amazon.co.uk.<\/p>\n<p>If you enjoy browsing QSL cards like I do, you&#8217;ll love <em>QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home<\/em>. Certainly, a fabulous gift idea for the radio enthusiast in your world.<\/p>\n<h1>Amazon purchase links<\/h1>\n<p>(<em>Please note that some of these are affiliate links that also support the<\/em> <em>SWLing Post<\/em>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/39ha9DB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.com (USA)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/35ZUBSV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.ca (Canada)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3m7PANA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.co.uk (UK)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3pZPzO3\">Amazon.de (Germany)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/33fEf6L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.fr (France)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/39aHK25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.it (Italy)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/35XANQ3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon.jp (Japan)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that this book will appear on other regional Amazon sites over time. Simply search Amazon for &#8220;QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home&#8221; or the author, Ronald W. Kenyon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago, I was contacted by author Ronald W. Kenyon who has written non-fiction books covering a variety of subjects, but primarily collections of essays and albums of photography. He was very proud to announce that his latest book, QSL: How I Traveled the World and Never Left Home, focuses on his pursuit [&hellip;]<\/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":[251,960,3,894,288,7566,129,43],"tags":[391,4090,899,9004,4091,9005],"class_list":["post-46643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-qsl-gallery","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-qsl-cards","tag-qsl-how-i-traveled-the-world-and-never-left-home","tag-radio-history","tag-ronald-w-kenyon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-c8j","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62613,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/radio-nederland-dx-contests-and-a-silver-spoon-ronald-is-seeking-answers-from-the-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":0},"title":"Radio Nederland, DX Contests, and a Silver Spoon: Ronald is Seeking Answers from the Past","author":"Thomas","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ronald, who writes: I am 83 years old now. When I was actively DXing from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, some stations, such as Radio Prague and Radio Nederland, and clubs such as the Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC) organized contests with prizes,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","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\/2025\/04\/spoon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/spoon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/spoon.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/spoon.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65306,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/radio-bulgaria-marks-its-90th-anniversary-with-a-new-qsl-card-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":1},"title":"Radio Bulgaria Marks Its 90th Anniversary with a New QSL Card Series","author":"Thomas","date":"February 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;International Broadcasting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Radio-Bulgaria-Sofia-QSL-Paul-Jamet-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Radio-Bulgaria-Sofia-QSL-Paul-Jamet-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Radio-Bulgaria-Sofia-QSL-Paul-Jamet-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Radio-Bulgaria-Sofia-QSL-Paul-Jamet-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Radio-Bulgaria-Sofia-QSL-Paul-Jamet-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47350,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/radio-pragues-2021-qsl-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":2},"title":"Radio Prague&#8217;s 2021 QSL Cards","author":"Thomas","date":"January 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Radio Prague International via David Iurescia) The three letters - QSL - constitute one of the codes originally developed in the days of the telegraph. All codes consisted of three letters beginning with \"Q\". Later some of these \"Q\" codes were adopted by radio-telegraphists and radio listeners. QSL means\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;International Broadcasting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Radio-Prague-QSL-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18378,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/pauls-rare-and-classic-shortwave-qsl-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":3},"title":"Paul&#8217;s rare and classic shortwave QSL cards","author":"Thomas","date":"April 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple months ago at my local ham radio club meeting (the NCDXCC), my buddy Paul Greaves (W4FC) mentioned that his passion for amateur radio DXing originated with shortwave broadcaster DXing. He told me: \"When I was a teen I could\u00a0hardly wait to check the PO Box to see what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"QSL collage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/QSL-collage-1024x663.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/QSL-collage-1024x663.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/QSL-collage-1024x663.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23351,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/2017-radio-prague-qsl-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":4},"title":"2017 Radio Prague QSL cards","author":"Thomas","date":"January 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes: Hi Thomas: As every year, Radio Prague has a new collection of QSL cards for its listeners. This year, this eight different QSL cards show Means of Public Transport in the Czech Republic. You can see them at: http:\/\/www.radio.cz\/en\/\/qsl\/qsl-cards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;International Broadcasting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Radio-Prague-CableCar-1024x567.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Radio-Prague-CableCar-1024x567.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Radio-Prague-CableCar-1024x567.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41675,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/2020-radio-prague-qsl-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":5},"title":"2020 Radio Prague QSL Cards","author":"Thomas","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who writes: \"These are the new 2020 QSL Cards from Radio Prague International. The theme of this year is \"Transmitters\" (Antennas):\" (Source: Radio Prague) The three letters - QSL - constitute one of the codes originally developed in the days of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","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\/01\/QSL-Radio-Prague-domamil_vysilac_moravske_budejovice-1024x723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QSL-Radio-Prague-domamil_vysilac_moravske_budejovice-1024x723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QSL-Radio-Prague-domamil_vysilac_moravske_budejovice-1024x723.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46643","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=46643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}