The British DX Club (abbreviated to BDXC or BDXC-UK) is an association of radio hobbyists and enthusiasts, based in the United Kingdom. It caters for DXers and others with an interest in listening to the short wave, medium wave (AM), long wave and FM radio bands, and studying current and historical topics relating to radio broadcasting.
It was founded in 1974 as the Twickenham DX Club (after the London suburb where it was based), adopting the current name in 1979 to reflect what had become a national membership. As of late 2018, it had almost 500 members in the UK and abroad.
BDXC's main activity is the publication of the monthly magazine Communication, which is registered with the British Library (ISSN 0958-2142). The magazine is edited by volunteers and its contents are based on contributions from club members. A typical edition of Communication includes news of broadcasting developments in the UK and around the world; station "loggings" on various wavebands; radio station transmitting schedules and programmes; and letters and articles of general interest on broadcasting topics.
Broadcasts in English is a twice-yearly guide to all known international broadcasts in English on short wave and medium wave, as well as selected domestic English-language broadcasts on short wave.
Radio Stations in the United Kingdom & Ireland (now in its 27th edition) has been published regularly since 1978.
BDXC has a Groups.io account to allow club members to share news and tips on DX "catches".
The club's website (which may be accessed without a subscription) has a variety of resources to support DXers, including comprehensive guides to broadcasting in many parts of the world and many articles on different aspects of the hobby.
BDXC Audio Circle (formerly known as BDXC Tape Circle) is an audio magazine, available to members as a free download.
The club supports meetings for members and other enthusiasts to share their interest in radio. It maintains friendly relations with other clubs for radio hobbyists and is a member of the European DX Council (EDXC). In 2016, the EDXC's annual conference was hosted by the BDXC in Manchester.
BDXC and its members are important contributors to each edition of the World Radio Television Handbook (WRTH), an annual publication listing broadcasting times and frequencies of most of the world's national and international broadcasters. Information on other UK DX clubs is also included in WRTH.
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Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz ; above the medium frequency band (MF), to the bottom of the VHF band.
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime, reception is usually limited to more local stations, though this is dependent on the signal conditions and quality of radio receiver used. Improved signal propagation at night allows the reception of much longer distance signals. This can cause increased interference because on most channels multiple transmitters operate simultaneously worldwide. In addition, amplitude modulation (AM) is often more prone to interference by various electronic devices, especially power supplies and computers. Strong transmitters cover larger areas than on the FM broadcast band but require more energy and longer antennas. Digital modes are possible but have not reached momentum yet.
AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave transmissions, but also on the longwave and shortwave radio bands.
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum, in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, most implementations of electronic communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. The term broadcasting evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about. It was later adopted for describing the widespread distribution of information by printed materials or by telegraph. Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898.
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was considered to consist of longwave (LW), medium-wave (MW), and short-wave (SW) radio bands. Most modern radio systems and devices use wavelengths which would then have been considered 'ultra-short'.
TV DX and FM DX is the active search for distant radio or television stations received during unusual atmospheric conditions. The term DX is an old telegraphic term meaning "long distance."
In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvature of the Earth, skywave propagation can be used to communicate beyond the horizon, at intercontinental distances. It is mostly used in the shortwave frequency bands.
The National Radio Club (NRC) is a non-profit hobbyist organization focused on the pursuit of DXing on the AM broadcast band. This group was founded in 1933 as a result of merging several regional radio clubs.
Shortwave listening, or SWLing, is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz (30 000 kHz). Listeners range from casual users seeking international news and entertainment programming, to hobbyists immersed in the technical aspects of long-distance radio reception and sending and collecting official confirmations that document their reception of remote broadcasts (DXing). In some developing countries, shortwave listening enables remote communities to obtain regional programming traditionally provided by local medium wave AM broadcasters. In 2002, the number of households that were capable of shortwave listening was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.
Glenn Hauser is an internationally known American DXer and radio host from Enid, Oklahoma. He produces and presents a weekly 30-minute program, World Of Radio, heard on a number of non-commercial AM and FM stations throughout the U.S. and worldwide on shortwave.
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DXing, taken from DX, the telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant", is the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two-way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens band radio or other two-way radio communications. Many DXers also attempt to obtain written verifications of reception or contact, sometimes referred to as "QSLs" or "veries".
Bruce F. Elving was a publisher, FM-radio enthusiast, DXer, and college professor from Duluth, Minnesota. He held a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, a master's degree from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University.
MW DX, short for mediumwave DXing, is the hobby of receiving distant mediumwave radio stations. MW DX is similar to TV and FM DX in that broadcast band (BCB) stations are the reception targets. However, the nature of the lower frequencies used by mediumwave radio stations is very much different from that of the VHF and UHF bands used by FM and TV broadcast stations, and therefore involves different receiving equipment, signal propagation, and reception techniques.
WRNO is a commercial shortwave radio station which began international broadcasting on February 18, 1982 and continued regular broadcasting through the early 1990s from Metairie, Louisiana, with a continuation of periodic broadcasts starting in 2009. These call letters are still in use by the New Orleans station WRNO-FM; both were founded and originally owned by Joseph Costello III.
Vintage amateur radio is a subset of amateur radio hobby where enthusiasts collect, restore, preserve, build, and operate amateur radio equipment from bygone years, such as those using vacuum tube technology. Popular modes of operation include speaking over amplitude modulation (AM), and communicating using Morse code through continuous wave (CW) radiotelegraphy. Some enthusiasts have interest in owning, restoring and operating vintage military and commercial radio equipment such as those from 1940s to 1960s. Some undertake to construct their own gear, known in ham slang as homebrewing, using vintage parts and designs. A number of amateur radio clubs and organizations sponsor contests, events, and swap meets that cater to this specialized aspect of the hobby.
F2 propagation (F2-skip) is the reflection of FM broadcasting signals off the F2 layer of the ionosphere. The phenomenon is rare compared to other forms of propagation but can reflect signals thousands of miles beyond their intended broadcast area, substantially farther than E-skip. F2-skip affects the upper ends of the high frequency (HF) spectrum and the low ends of the very high frequency (VHF) spectrum; only a small portion of F2's effective range overlaps frequencies used by consumer broadcast reception, also contributing to the phenomenon being rarely encountered.
Voice of Free Libya is the name used by three radio stations aligned to the anti-Gaddafi forces that began broadcasting in February 2011, operating from the cities of Benghazi, Bayda and Misrata. They played an important role in the Libyan Civil War and have continued to broadcast after the fall of Gaddafi.
Skyport Radio was a land-based Short Wave pirate station which broadcast to Europe from 1971 to 1982, it was the only UK based pirate station to have a left-wing slant to its programmes.