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HankG wrote:
Hi All:

Thanks to all who responded; both factually and humorously. The
humor was
especially appreciated in light of my very recent, unexpected stay in
the
hospital (cardiac event). Let me elaborate.
snip
At what point does a transmission become DX? Is it a matter of
distance only, or distance when station power is considered?
snip
HankG
For me, DX is a funciton of both power distance and power.
Low power stations that are closer can be much more difficult
then a higher power distance station.

My personal best QSO, I am a ham radio operator and QSO
reffers to a 2way communication, was from the parking lot
where I worked in Lexington KY, to Port Morseby in Papua
New Guinea. The ham in Port Moresby was runnng 100W and I
was running ~1.8Watts. That qualifies in both distance and
low power. I was using a modified J.C. Penny CB that I moved
up to 10Mtrs.

Some of the low power "tropical" stations are much harder to
receive then R. Australia. The first station I eveer IDed was
R.A. back in 1963! It was on a olde Zeneth SW. I was hooked.
Some of "best" catches are the low pwoer aero weather xmissions
from south east asia. Back in Hihg School a friend and I had a
year long contest back in 1968 to see who could receive the most
AM bCB stations. He called me at 2:30 one Saturday morning
to tell me that the Los Angeles (CA) clear channel station was
load and clear. We where both shocked to receive it so well.
A week later I called him at midnight to tell that the BBC
domestic AM BCB was booming in. I have only received AM BCB and
LW signals from Europe 4 times in 40+ years.

DX can mean many different things. I received a ND air beacon from
St. Loius (MO) for 3 days several years ago. I think thaey were
running 25watts into a very poor antenna. Lofers are license free
LW broadcasts, and they are limited to 1Watt. A friend picked on up
that was about 800 miles away. Sadly I have too much local QRM to
receive LOFERS very well.

So instead of getting hung up on exactly what DX is, concentrate
on what interests you. I am currently mainly into listening to
international broadcasters, with some aero utility. In years past
I was into RTTY and FAX. Sadly press RTTY has gone the way of the
dodo. But there are lots of odd and interesting radio signals out
there demanding attentin.
I don't know what type antenna you use, but you might be helped by
John Doty's articles on low noise antennas and his 9:1 matching
transformer. Just do a net search.
Have fun and good listening.
Terry


Looks like you've made some good catches. Right now, my primary antenna is
a 33 foot folded dipole (inside of my roof). Gives me decent coverage. I
also use a longwire (about 200 feet) for MW and LW listening. It's directly
connected to my receiver and exits a second floor window, down to the
ground, around the boundry of the house, across the lawn, up onto and around
a six foot fence on two sides. The section which is inside the house is
shielded audio cable (directly connected). It tends to be noisy, especially
on the lower bands. I've read many of those articles on low-noise antennas
and matching transformers. Hope to be up and able come the Spring. I will
try incorporating a 9:1--maybe get rid of some of that noise.

HankG