Re: 10th Anniversary
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Thanks Allen (and Paul),
It's hard to believe that ten years have passed since the first wild receptions of three TP's (594-JOAK, 747-JOIB and 972-HLCA) on a $15 Sony SRF-59 back in November of 2007.
A series of amazing coincidences helped us get the niche group off of the ground ten years ago. Colin Newell published my enthusiastic review of the SRF-59 on DXer.Ca the next month (December), and suddenly the dirt-cheap SRF-59 was the talk of the IRCA list. In appreciation of Colin's contribution I send about 15 free SRF-59 models to any Canadian who asked for one-- one of which went to Rob Ross in London, Ontario-- who promptly received 300 stations in 30 days with it. We quickly discovered other pocket radio models like the Eton E100 and Sony SRF-T615, and by January of 2008 our wild enthusiasm had "hijacked" the IRCA list. John Bryant was apparently recruited to politely ask us to move away from the IRCA list and form our own Yahoo group, but when he tried out a gift Sony SRF-T615 that I sent him, he became as "hooked" as any of us! John decided to use his superb organizational skills to make sure that the new Yahoo group was a smash success.
As most of you know we lost John in an accident in February of 2010, but in credit to his outstanding insight in setting up the Ultralight classification guidelines, Firsts and Records lists, DXing awards and other features, our Ultralight group has not only survived but thrived, becoming a major force in promoting innovation and creativity in the MW-DXing community. The FSL antenna was introduced by Graham Maynard shortly after John's passing, and three antenna fanatics in our group (Steve R., Kevin S. and me) devoted some serious resources to optimize it. Within a few months it was tracking down DU-DX in a wacky new location where DXers had never dared to set up-- an ocean side cliff. A few years later SDR-DXers followed us to the cliffs-- and quickly broke the all-time record for reception of New Zealand stations during a west coast DXpedition (87, compared to the previous record of 61 at Grayland). Rob Ross, Allen Willie and Richard Allen have all received over 1000 MW stations on Ultralight radios, and we are the leaders in pocket radio modification, long-range travel DXing and joint DXpeditions with the Japanese. Congratulations to all who have contributed to an exciting ten years!
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
-----Original Message----- From: 'Paul S.' ferrite61@... [ultralightdx] To: uldx Sent: Mon, Nov 20, 2017 11:36 pm Subject: [ultralightdx] 10th Anniversary Happy 10th Anniversary! Good things do indeed come in small packages.
At the end of the 20th Century Crystal Radios had become resurgent: there were several websites devoted to building them. As part of that group I was more involved in building a "1-Active-Device" radio using a single transistor. Several of members of the "Xtal Set Society" had begun their DXing using a 1-tube radio. I was just a youngin' and was taking apart defunct transistor radios and recycling them as a 1-Transistor radio. By 2004 the 1-Tubers and 1-Q'ers got our own contest. Key to logging these stations was the use of a spotter radio to confirm the RX. As such, I had a WRX-911 (new in 2005) and a Radio Shack DX350. I will note here that this was the 50th Anniversary of the first commercial transistor radios like the Regency TR-1, Motorola, Sony, etc. In 2007 word spread of the SONY SRF49 pocket radio having amazing Receptions when based on the W. Coast USA/Canada. Word got to us at Crystal Radios, and even Y-Groups like Glenn Hauser's World of Radio. Before I knew it there was the Ultralightdx Y-group similar to Colin's B.C. based coffee and DX club (sorry, cant off-the-top-of-my-head remember his web-group). A few of my logs actually predate the group from Feb. 2006 using the Kaito WRX911. A few others at the time of the Club's beginning use the Tecsun PL-200. It has been a rather marvelous experience here, these simpler sets are really quite good, and the ultralightdx group has/is a good place to share one's experiences. My thanks to the late John Bryant, and to Gary, Rob, et al for bring attention to, and providing a forum for these little receiver gems. Also, thanks for advancing the "science" of DXing. The ferrite "ring-core" antennas, and new U/L products have a place for test and review. Regards Paul S. in CT -------------------------------------------- On Mon, 11/20/17, <ultralightdx@...> wrote: Subject: [ultralightdx] Digest Number 3260 To: ultralightdx@... Date: Monday, November 20, 2017, 8:12 PM 10th Anniversary Congratulations to the ULTRALIGHT DX Group Mon Nov 20, 2017 1:48 pm(PST) Posted by: vo1_001_swl Hello To All, Ten years ago I was approached by our late friend and great radio DXer , John Bryant who had noticed my posting of radio logs on a group site and who had asked me to share some station logs which I heard using a recently received birthday gift, a brand new Sony SRF-M37V Ultralight radio. For yours truly this was the start of my exploits in "Ultralight radio DXing ". Given my great DXing location, it was the perfect opportunity to find out just what could be heard on these mighty "mini-receiver s" . It definitely was an added unique nitch to something that I had been doing for the past 40 years at that time. Recently hearing Alaska and China from here in Newfoundland using an ultralight radio really demonstrates that there are no boundaries to what can be heard with them. The past ten years of being involved with the Ultralight radio community has not only brought added personal satisfaction to a hobby that I have enjoyed for several decades but also good friendships and comradery along the way, as well as helping others discover the excitement and thrill of Ultralight Radio DXing. My Thanks to Gary DeBock , Robert Ross and others for getting me involved in the group , it has been a wonderful journey and I look forward to many more years of involvement ahead in this fascinating niche to a great hobby. Congratulations on the 10th Anniversary to the Founders and all members of the ULTRALIGHT DX Group Allen Willie Carbonear, Newfoundland
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