The fascinating and scientific hobby of radio listening is entirely different from other hobbies and it requires a lot of patience. Perhaps everybody knows that dxers are famous for their patience. But what is dxing? Who is a dxer? Nowadays it is observed that interest in sw listening is falling and everybody is moving to Internet- based online radio, which is convenient for all, wherever they are living. The popularity of cable TV, the Internet etc. has brought about a lot of changes in the listening habits of people. Everybody selects the method they find the easiest, and they want everything on their fingertips. We have to do a survey of how popular this hobby is.
The listener who sits in front of the radio turning the knobs of the receiver to catch a whisper of sounds from a distant foreign broadcast station, with the expectation of picking up new stations is called a Bc dxer, and this hobby is called Bc dxing. All you need to have is a good SW receiver, and it does not require any monetary investment. A dxer always scans the entire SW spectrum day and night to pick up new radio stations. For a dxer, monitoring a new station is just like discovering a new star in the galaxy. The dxer listens to the foreign stations especially to get up to date information about foreign countries, their people and their traditional music. He may also collect QSL cards from the stations and keep them as a record of his achievement.
Special thanks to our supporter The beginner dxer in the initial stages of dxing must devote much time to this hobby and be ready to listen to the well-known and powerful stations. He can listen to the stations which are broadcasting to his area either in English or another language. Once you are involved in this hobby, you cannot escape from it. By listening to all stations he will get a good understanding of the world in which he lives and knowledge of different cultures, and make contact with dx friends all around the world. After listening to the transmission he should send a reception report to that concerned station. In the reception report he includes the date, time in GMT or UTC, frequency in kHz or MHz, language, type of receiver and antenna, content of the programs, and reception condition in SIO or SINFO code. This reception rating code is internationally accepted by foreign radio stations.
Soon after the station receives the reception report, it will check the same with the station log and will send QSL cards, a sticker, and other material. As far as the QSL policies of foreign radio stations (which are not beaming to your area) are concerned, they appreciate return postage like international reply coupons etc. Now stations have an email address and it is easy for listeners to collect an E-QSL. So for a BC station, a dxer is doing a wonderful job by reporting the reception and commenting on the program.
There are many official monitors appointed by radio stations and it is their duty to monitor all frequencies and report from time to time. Many foreign radio stations have special programs for dxers. One of the most active stations is Radio Netherlands, with a communication program which is now available on the Internet. Waves scan is an interesting dx program from Adventist World Radio from Guam, heard every Sunday. This station broadcasts a dx program called ‘Wave scan”, which is popular among sw listeners. If you are tuning to the ham band at 8.30 am IST on 7085 kHz, you will be hearing hams exchanging bc dx information. The discussions were carried on the BC DX NET, which will be celebrating its 28th anniversary on 27th November 2016. Many well-known dxers come together every Sunday and you can share your views with them. This net has been controlled by the author for many years.
