We were a group of five secondary school teenagers from the same Educational Institute, but we belonged to different classrooms, some decades ago. We met frequently to play Basketball, Tennis, Table Tennis or any other sport or hobby that we fancy. On one occasion, taking advantage of a Radio Cassette Recorder that my parents gave me, we decided to record the making of a funny radio program. We previously chose who would be the announcer, who the guests, the themes and even the commercials. We laughed a lot that afternoon, inventing, and again recording the new ideas.

That youthful concern led us to form a DX-ing Club, as radio listeners of international stations that broadcast their programs in several languages around the world. It is incredible how this transmission can be done traveling thousands of kilometers through the atmosphere, direct from Japan to Egypt, or from Bulgaria to the USA. Technically, the audio signal from these radio stations is mounted on an electromagnetic wave. The cycle of this wave is repeated at a fixed distance, which can be from 10 meters to 100 meters. This distance is defined as wavelength (λ). The waves in this range constitute the so-called short wave band (SW). Just the waves in this band, bounce very well in the ionosphere, which is one of the highest regions of the atmosphere.

The reflection or refraction of these waves at high altitudes, with suitable incidence angles, allows them to achieve large propagation distances, reaching broad intercontinental areas. The inverse proportional value of the wavelength is the frequency (f), which is measured in Hertz (Hz). That's what we observe in the dial of a Radio when we tune in a station.

At home there was a Turntable Radio with vacuum tube transistors, which Papa no longer used, and in which the entire shortwave band could be tuned. In the garden of the house, I installed a dipole antenna of approximately 6 meters, which greatly improved the reception of a large number of radio stations around the world. Depending on the country of origin and its programming, I listened to some stations early in the morning , but most at night, because they are received with greater intensity and clarity. The members of the Club used to issue reception reports, under the SINPO format regulated for Dx-ing, and we sent them to the respective Broadcasters.

In gratitude, they sent us packages with Brochures, Pennants, Magazines, Books, Badges, Stickers and the long-awaited QSL card. This card is a certificate that is delivered to confirm the reception report, usually in the form of a postcard with the data of the Radio Broadcaster, and the acronym QSL as a distinctive. I loved those awards and I was proud to receive them. That hobby made me feel connected with the whole planet, it also allowed me to perceive in some way, the idiosyncrasy of each country, through the radio programs, as well as the content, designs, images and gifts of correspondence. During a Club meeting, we agreed to hold a contest. The winner would be the one who received the most QSLs during a period of two months. After intense hours tuning the radio, generating SINPO reports, and waiting for the QSLs cards, I finally managed to get the second place.