In 1967 I picked up an old, 1950 tabletop radio at a yard sale. At first, I listened to Top 40 stations WAVZ and WNHC from New Haven, Connecticut. Then one night I started to explore the short wave band and was amazed to hear the BBC broadcasting from London, England. That experience started my adventure into a hobby called DXing or listening to distant radio transmissions. BBC was 3,000 miles away. My Top 40 stations were only 8 miles distant. In time I found more stations from around the world. Eventually, I studied how short wave radio works, built custom dipole antennas in all the backyard trees, and saved enough money for a Radio Shack shortwave receiver. I mailed reception reports to many stations around the world like BBC, Radio Moscow, Radio Peking, Radio Budapest, HBJ, and many more. They in turn sent colorful QSL cards to confirm my reception reports and often included broadcast schedules. The QSL postcards were a glimpse into foreign lands and cultures. They contained pictures of beautiful landscapes, cultural treasures, and fantastic cities. I saved them but they were destroyed by fire when my house burned to the ground in 2006.

In 2010 I picked up my old habit of listening to faraway radio stations and started to once again collect QSL cards. Below are eight sections representing the seven continents pictured above and space beyond our planet. As my QSL collection grows I will post the cards and/or letters here. All of the broadcasts originated as radio waves. Strictly speaking, listening to a station on the web is not DXing as little skill or luck is involved. DXing is difficult and receiving QSL cards is even more difficult. Many stations no longer send them. International postage is expensive and station budgets are often small. Stations also come and go so many QSL cards are a unique slice of history.

Shortwave radio transmissions easily cross national boundaries and are almost impossible for an enemy to shut down. They embody the right given to us by God to speak what we wish. Thus they were necessary and popular during the cold war. As we have seen in Ukraine the cold war never really ended and nor did the need for short-wave broadcasting.

Most of my QSL cards come from stations broadcasting on the short wavebands. I also DX the AM and FM radio bands and will include those QSL cards. For me, pulling voices from thin air is magical. DXing is a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy. I hope you enjoy the cards. Maybe you will pick up the hobby too!

The radio I am currently, February 2022, using is an Airspy HF+ Discovery connected to their You Loop antenna. I have that connected to a Windows 11 HP15 bs 2xx laptop running SDR# software.