FM DXing

I accidentally discovered this niche area of the hobby at an early age. It
was all based on curiosity. When conditions allowed, I would be able to
hear foreign station on the radio bands and I simply wanted to know what
countries the stations were coming from. One thing led to another and I
began to discover ways to identify the language, the station identification
and even the actual transmitter locations. It was all very exciting then.

I began to keep a log of the stations I received. It became a kind of
'collecting' hobby, but one which turned into an absorbing pastime and
practically a way of life. I joined various radio clubs which pointed me in
the right direction. I was not alone. I had joined a community of like-
minded people from around the world, just like myself!

Without doubt, some of the credit must go to my father, who was a keen
amateur radio listener himself. I would tune the radio for hours when I was
very young - in my early teens as I remember, trying to identify all these
strange, new signals. The more distant, weaker and noisier, the better!

FM DXing provides many challenges which makes it all the more interesting for me. You cannot simply switch on the radio and expect to hear certain
stations and countries. You have to wait for the right atmospheric conditions and take advantage of them for the short duration they are present.

Although I find this a highly addictive and competitive hobby, I can still take a breath and sit back, taking a look at the hobby from a distance. I
accept that it can all get a bit geeky too, yet there is something strangely satisfying about it. Why? I do not know. Probably it's because we are all
part of the same great community and I am able to compare my listening notes to so many other enthusiasts at the touch of a button and 'join in' these
days. There are so many excellent facilities on the internst to help us too, not to mention specialist software and DX alert systems. We can swap notes
in an instant and help each other in so many ways. I find the technology behind this fascinating too, yet I do not understand a lot of it and I tend to
shy away from things when they get too technical.