I was sitting here tonight going through some of the QSLs I have received in the over 43 years I have been at it. Some years, I did very little MW DXing and QSLing. Other years, that is all I did. So counting the 43+ years and 2986 MW QSLs from 95 countries and 50 states (AK & OR), it comes out to be about an average of 70 MW QSLs a year. Many years I did much better with well over a hundred. Some months I got 70 QSLs, and others none. A few years I was into avid FM & TV DXing & QSLing. Then other years a lot of SW DXing & QSLing. I am happy, a DXer in Elmont NY, Dave Listort got me interested in the hobby of QSLing in late 64. When I started DXing in 1962, I was only 13 and knew nothing except a few things my father told me. I was on my way home from school and saw an old Philco radio sitting on a garbage rack walking through the alley between our house and the school. I picked up the radio and brought it home. I remember my mother saw it and would not let me plug it in. The cord looked okey, but I had to wait until my father got home from work. Then he plugged it in and turned it on, and I knew it was a pretty good radio as it was in the Summer and broad daylight and the Anchorage stations all came in on it, including the little 1 KWer, KBYR, then on 1270. That night, the dial was loaded with stations from Canada and the US. By 1964, I was buying Popular Electronics and reporting my DX to the columns from my QTH in Seward AK. I also had the WPE call letters (KL7PE3W) listener I applied for. So I started exchanging the cards with others. Many wanted an Alaskan card, so I got quite a few requests. Dave Listort wrote me asking if I was into QSLing. I knew nothing about it, so he explained to me in a letter all about the hobby. My father knew about Ham QSLing, but not MW. I sent two reports out, KFBK-Sacramento CA and KPAY-Chico, also CA and within a couple weeks, came back two QSL cards. That is all it took. I was hooked, line, and sinker.I fell in love with the hobby and I still love it as much today. With 3,000 MW QSL's right arund the corner, I now wonder if I can get to 4,000? Time will tell.
73, Patrick Patrick Martin KGED QSL Manager _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
