Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19
|DXlNG POPULAR
STILL WITH FANS
Head of Order Says Dia|
Twisting Will Be More In
Vogue This Winter.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

BY MARTIN CODEL.
VINO says DX-ing is passe? Though
this is the Summer season Of poor dis
lance reception, next Winter will set
| the devotees Of the Grand Order Of Dia
Twisters more active than ever at theil
sport OF fishing for faraway stations
in the opinion OF Charles j. Gilchrest
secretary Of the Chicago Daily News DIX
Club.
Even this Summer, says Mr. Gilchrest
there Is plenty Of evidence Of interest In
DX-ing, for the numerous tranSoceaniC
broadcasts being offered by the chains
really represent q revival of interest
among radio fans in the diStance-hunt-
ing sport. Moreover, according to Mr.
Gilchrest, the appearance on the mar
ket Of more short-wave broadcast re-
ceivers is eloquent evidence OF interest
In DX-ing.
Late Programs Provided.
It Is Mr.. Gilchrest's profound convic-
ton that the game Of long distance re-
ception will always be popular with q
large proportion Of set owners. He
bases the conviction on ample evidence
for there are several thousand members
in his club. There are still many sta =
tons, too, which put on special late
hour programs for the pleasure Of those
who hunt for distance.
Programs from afar," says Mr.. Gil
chrest, ARE bound to receive attention
when radio fans can hear Pope Plus
direct from Vatican City. the Rotary
congress in Vienna, the warbling of a
nightingale from the English country
side. Big Ben in London, talks from
Japan and elsewhere. The fact that
the networks go out for these long
distance programs signifies that they
are keenly aware of the interest radio
fans have In hearing programs origi-
mating thousands of miles away, even
when they come by proxy.
Two other indications Of general in
terest In DX-ing are apparent. Several
leading set manufacturers are advertis-
ng their sets as especially good for long
distance reception. During the past
year many stations here and in other
countries have presented special pro-
grams for faraway listeners.
Many Stations Heard.
For instance. during the past year
DIX club members, both In Chicago and
other cities, have tuned-in DIX specials
Rico; Stuttgart. Germany; many spots
in Mexico; CMC, Havana. Cuba TJW
Hamilton, Bermuda; MRH. Heredia
Costa RIGA; many places in Canada;
HRB. Tegucigalpa. Honduras. and many
similar faraway points. All of these
and many more programs were put on
the air at times when American listeners
would have the best chance of getting
them, as. for example. the early morli-
ing hours, sometimes between midnight
and daylight, since that Is the time
~ r~X
are on the air to interfere with those of
the foreign countries.
AT the same time many stations in
this country put on DIX special pro-
grams for long distance listeners. They
were the stations which were operating
on wave lengths hard to receive because
of strong signals from nearby broad
casters or the multiplicity of stations
on single channel. For instance, last
Easter Sunday morning found DIX spe-
Gals on the air from CHGS. Summer
side. P. E. l.: CMQ Havana. Cuba;
XETA, Mexico City: WSJS. Winston
Eoliege, Pa. and 1874. k9bRifs, gnte
ish Columbia.
Get Letters Of verihcation.
Some Of the other outstanding and
strange stations which DX-erS reported
having heard during the last season
were RUS. San Salvador: Ira, Buenos
Aires. Argentina; 4QG. Melbourne. Aus
tralia: CPX, La PaZ, Bolivia: TIC, San
Jose. Costa Rica: HIX, Santo Domingo:
Konigsberg, Germany: VUB, Bombay,
India; IRO. Rome, Italy; JOAK, Toxic,
Japan; XEFA, KEN. KEN, KEEP, XETA.
XETF, XETY and KEW in Mexico;
2YA, yelling. New Zealand: Katowice,
Poland; EAJ7. Madrid, Spain and FLO,
London, England This, of course, is
not a complete list by any means. But
it does show the sort of work DX-ers
are doing. Some of these stations were
never verified, but in most cases the
radio fans reporting them were able to
show letters direct from the stations
themselves saying that they were broad
casting what the listeners described at
the time given.
There are untold possibilities on
short waves for the explorer who sits at
his dials," Mr.. Gilchrest continued.
Although the reception Of short waves
forms a game of its own, it constitutes
DX-ing. nevertheless. Amateurs are
reporting stations in Italy, England,
Australia. the South American coun-
tries and other such spots. In addi-
ton the short-wave workers also run
into much exploration work. such as
num- ILlC EApcuIblOIL
in Brazil; WSEA. Sir Hubert wilkins
polar submarine, the Nautilus: WIDE,
Comdr. Donald B. McMillan's Baffin-
going ship the Bowdoin. and FPCP, the
National Biographies Transasiatic Ex-
petition, to say nothing Of the amateur
phone conversations.
Increase I'm Membership.
"It is obvious just how interesting
such stations are to those imbued with
the wanderlust. Any one would get q
kick out of hearing such things on the
air. All DIX clubs report greatly in
creased membership and interest. The
Daily News Club has doubled its men,
bership during the past season, partly
due to the interest aroused by the
transoceanic work of the chains.
THE clubs offer the DIX fan O great
deal. We keep accurate and up-to-date
records concerning new stations on the
air, changes in wave length, changes
In call letters and at the same time
seek to arrange DIX special programs
from stations that are arousing interest
1t takes no stretch Of imagination to
predict that the next Winter will see
DX-ing at the greatest height Of inter-
est 1t has ever attained"