My name is Rich D’Angelo and I have been active in the shortwave listening
hobby since 1964 when at the tender age of 14 I discovered a Hallicrafters S-85 in my parent’s basement gathering dust. It turns out my older brother dabbled as a shortwave DX’er before going off to college.The shortwave bands offered an interesting diversion for me and two friends that became serious listeners for a few years. One became an amateur radio operator but completely dropped out of radio upon entering college. The other still tunes the shortwave bands once in a while but is basically inactive.
Currently, I am the Executive Director of the North American Shortwave Association (“NASWA”), headquartered in Levittown, PA, USA and I am the North American Secretary for the World DX Club, which is based in Northampton, England. I am using a Drake R-8B communications receiver, an Alpha Delta DX SWL Sloper antenna and a RF Mini-Windom antenna, and a JPS ANC-4. Also, I have a Lowe HF-150 and a Grundig YB-400PE. I have been very active in a number of DX clubs worldwide over the years. In the past I have served as the Chairman of the Board for the Association of North American Radio Clubs (“ANARC”). Also, I have served as Manager of the Company Store and Awards Program Chairman for NASWA and as a member of the Board of Directors and Editorial Committee of the Society to Preserve the Engrossing Enjoyment of DXing (“SPEEDX”). Although ANARC is still alive and functioning, SPEEDX passed away in the mid 1990’s.
My DX’ing interests are the tropical bands. Unfortunately, stations are leaving the tropical bands at a swift rate these days. Hopefully, things will stabilize in the near future. Latins have been a major interest for many years with emphasis on Bolivia and Peru although Brazil had been a popular target. Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are exotic targets from the East Coast of North America that generate some DX excitement. I am an avid QSLer with 220 countries verified using the NASWA list. I believe my first QSL was from the Voice of
America in August 1964. I have many of NASWA’s awards and just received a number of ARDXC awards.
I have been participating in group DXpeditions for several years. We have been doing about three a season since 1990 so the number of events are beginning to add up. For many years we used Gifford Pinchot State Park in central Pennsylvania as our DXpedition location. However, four years ago we switched to a location which was an easier drive for most of the participants. Our French Creek State Park location in southeastern Pennsylvania has been terrific. Any members that have not tried a DXpedition, owes it to themselves to attempt at least one. You would be surprised at the results. Getting away from the local noise pollution and devoting a substantial amount of time and energy just to DX’ing interests can result in a great listening experience.
I first joined the New Zealand Radio DX League after meeting Arthur Cushen at the Montreal ANARC Convention in 1985. It was my first ANARC Convention and although I never attended another one of those affairs, I have attended each of the 14 annual Winter SWL Festivals held in beautiful Kulpsville, Pennsylvania each March (when is someone from New Zealand going to travel to Kulpsville?). Many years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Barry Williams at a radio gathering while he was travelling in North America. Who knows, maybe
one day I’ll get to meet other NzRDXL members while travelling? I hope so.
