The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast January 28, 1989

     There are many competitive interests in amateur radio.  Some radio amateurs enjoy  communicating by radio with other radio amateurs in as many different countries as possible.  They then receive a written confirmation of the contact which includes how well the signal was received.  These confirmations are called QSL cards.  All active stations have their own style of QSL card, usually the size of a post card.  QSL means "Please Confirm."
     This all originated in the beginning days of amateur radio when most radio amateurs wanted to receive confirmation from others to show, in fact, that they both were able to communicate.  In those early years, the radio signals did not go very far and radio amateurs were always trying to increase their communications range.  Over the years, this developed into contests of various types.  These contests are not only enjoyable but they also improve the technical ability and skillful operating technique that are great assets in providing communications in time of emergencies.
     One of the most popular is the DX contest; DX means distance.  In these contests, radio amateurs try to communicate with as many different countries around the world as possible.  Currently there are 319 countries on our planet.  Since some of these countries are very small and possibly no radio amateurs live there, small groups of radio amateurs organize what is called a DX-pedition and travel by boat, plane and vehicle with all of their radio equipment to these isolated islands and countries.  They set up their station and operate for a week or two so that thousands of other radio amateurs around the world can communicate with these isolated places and add another country to their contest list.
     Radio amateurs use many modes of radio communication such as Morse code, voice, teletype and computer-digital to name a few.  Radio amateurs operate over many portions of the radio spectrum developing new techniques of radio communication such as using the moon as a mirror to reflect radio signals back to other parts of our world and using amateur radio satellites to extend the range of communications.  These contests and QSL cards are also used as a measure of achievement.
     Contests for special recognition are prevalent in all areas of amateur radio.  For instance, there are those who endeavor to communicate with each of the 3076 counties that are in our United States.  They are called county hunters.  Seventeen years ago, Michael Begalia, K2CTJ, of Fair Haven, New Jersey wanted to see if his station was capable of communication with a radio amateur in each one of our 3076 counties in the United States.  Recently, after 17 years of operating, he accomplished his goal and received a beautiful prestigious award for this noteworthy achievement.  These friendly types of competitions result in improving the state of the art of all types of radio communications and they will always be a part of amateur radio.

January 28, 1989

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

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