Here you will read my story big problem of the recent years with first as AI edited with the next part being the original polished with a grammar checker
----------- the pompous IA version . I like it.
A DXer's Lament: Trapped in a City of Noise
For over 40 years, the airwaves have been my playground. As a DXer, I've chased distant signals, logging countless stations and sharing my discoveries with radio clubs worldwide. But now, my passion is trapped in a city of noise, a concrete jungle that stifles the whispers of the world.
My journey began in the mountains, where the air was clear and the only interference came from my trusty router, its high-pitched hum a constant companion. Then, we moved to a village nestled near the majestic Olympus, where the noise subsided and the world opened up.
With an external antenna reaching for the sky, I reveled in the symphony of the airwaves. From the Italian Marconi to the Ethiopian whispers on 7110, each signal was a treasure, a testament to the magic of radio. QSL cards, tangible proof of my connection to faraway lands, filled my collection.
But fate, it seems, had other plans. We returned to the city, where the walls closed in and the airwaves became a cacophony. My equipment, once a source of joy, now sits in a box, a silent reminder of lost opportunities.
The TV's incessant chatter drowns out the faint whispers of distant stations. The small space offers no room for my antennas, no haven for my ears to escape the urban din.
Yet, the DXer in me refuses to be silenced. I cling to the memories of clear skies and exotic voices, the thrill of the hunt, the joy of connection. I dream of open spaces and quiet nights, where the airwaves once again sing their siren song.
Perhaps, one day, I will break free from this concrete cage and return to the world of DXing. Until then, I will keep the flame alive, nurturing the hope that the whispers of the world will once again reach my ears.
-------------ORIGINAL TEXT "trapped in the noise and a false fate"
Here is the original: full story to s sent to a DXer but finally stopped from forwarding it to him
I've been a DXer
since the 70s and was much more active after the 90s, with my logs
shared via email with many radio DX clubs since 1995.
For
than 50 years a DXer, and finally in the latest years I'm absolutely
isolated from real DXing, i.e., meaning from using my radios or SDRs
due to 'fatal' conditions of being restricted into …a small space of a
PC a very fast router, and a TV jamming in the most dense part of the
city, Thessaloniki.
What happened? The story is quite long, but let me make it as short as possible.
Until
4 years ago, I lived with my family in a mountain nearby the city.
Reception was excellent due to the low level of noise, except for the
router. Hope you know what damage it can do to the shortwaves. In short,
it can add very strong noise in 3.8–5.2 and 8.5–12 MHz for 50 Mbps.
Regrettably, I rarely turn it off because my wife and daughter require constant connectivity.
4
years ago we moved to a village nearby the mountains of Olympus. The
reception conditions remained unchanged due to the router and the
significantly lower local noise compared to an external antenna at a
distance of 25 metres. This router produced high noises in between
3.8–5.1 and 8.7–12.1 MHz, with the same thing happening as in the
previous home. I again switched it for better reception. Fortunately,
there were many cases of walking in a nearby place inside the village
with the tecsun radio and doing a near noise-free reception.
I
also had the opportunity to travel to the city for several days to care
for my parents. I temporarily installed a Youloop and did some DXing
between SDRs—typical shortwave radios—and remote kSDRs, as I call them.
The main reason to listen via R-kSDRs is that it is much better to
listen to stations that otherwise could not be heard locally as
shortwave Australia , Wai FM, radio saturno BR, and many more to note
here. The list is very gib.
The
noise-free reception in the village offered near to excellent receptions
in both LMHF and helped listening to the Italian Marconi, as also some
stations from Jibuti on 1431 on MW , the Indian music Lyca from the
UK in MW, and sometimes the Ethiopian on 7110 or Amhara on 6090, with
the most difficult station being Wai FM on 11665 near the end of its
transmission heard only on the beach. I had the opportunity to conduct
some QSLs at that time, both in the city and in the village.
Finally,
after three years, we returned to the city last September. I gave my
daughter the room, but I kept the middle room for myself. She is now in
her fourth year in high school.
This room
is quite small and does not allow any PC or radio installation.
Instead, I reserved my Tecsun radio for the primary news, storing the
rest of the equipment in a box for later use. The only solution was to
place the laptop, along with its standard external keyboard, headphones,
and mouse, on the opposite side of the window in the salon where my mum
resides. Sometimes the sound from the TV reaches 80-90 dB, making it
quite difficult to listen to the SW or even YouTube.
The next family’s step is to move into a smaller house in a nearby building with 40 sqm and possibly ly NO ability to listen to FM!
Not
working now at 63+. I have plenty of time for DXing, and sometimes I
also do some QSLing and feel like a radio worker, whatever that can
mean to you . From the 50+ stations logged for QSL, only 20 have
replied with QSLs. I ALWAYS NOTE THE KSDR I USE. Note also that I
prefer to provide them the information derived from the kSDR: audio
recording, waterfall, spectrum and time signal analysis. Many stations
know me as a signal analyst! I did the same the times I used RSP
with SDR Console since 2019.
