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Taken from the November 1953 DX Times.

Taken from the June 1952 DX Times:

Front: Paul Aronsen, Arthur Williams, Bryan Clark, Arthur Cushen, Eric McIntosh, Mark Nicholls. Back: Bob Dunstone, Lindsay Robinson, Larry McKinney, Steven Greenyer, Harry Searle

Convention Report – A personal impression by Bryan Clark

Southland Branch’s renowned listening post at Tiwai was the venue for the League’s 77th National Convention, held over the i982 Easter Holiday Weekend. The site is a 3 bedroom former farmhouse, located on the coast near lnvercargill . With the nearest electrical supply some 6 miles away, DX reception is almost
devoid of man-made interference, and to drag in the exotic DX antennas of up to 4000 feet in length are spread out from the house like the spokes of a bicycle wheel, beaming towards the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Europe. Participants all contributed to the provision of home-comforts – collecting firewood to keep the fires and stoves brning, preparing meals, erecting additional antennae, and so on.

I was informed that I would self destruct in 10 seconds if I decided against writing this article. The choice to be made was obvious. So, once again I sit with pen poised awaiting inspiration to fall as the gentle rain of heaven upon the place beneath. The subject: The NZRDXL Convention 1980, Motu Moana Camp, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland.

An assembly of some 40 Sons and Daughters, nice to see the girls there of the Earth, were present to experience e truly magnificent convention. Visitors came from as far away as Vancouver, Mt Gambia, ( Sth Australia) and Ecuador, to sample the hospitality and DI. Theo Donnelly our “VB” news director in his technicolour tee-shirts and self- descrbing hats, James Niven our Australian connection, and Roger Stubbe who grows enormous aerials in his backyard were all pleasant and welcome company.

The following tributes appear in the September 2014 edition of the DX Times, which is dedicated to the life of Mark Nicholls.

From fellow Life Member, Paul Ormandy, comes this: I first met Mark at the 1976 Tatum Park convention, we hit it off straight away and with Paul Edwards, spent every night at the dials getting very little sleep. We had joined the NZRDXL within months of each other, we were the same age and more importantly, we both preferred MW to SW! Mark was a regular attendee of League events in both islands and in 1983, spent the first or his many annual weekly DX pilgrimages with me at Waianakarua. It became the DX-highlight of the year for each of us and we both got on very well together.Mark’s first serious DX-receiver was a Sony ICF-6800W and later a Drake R8B.

English: USAF EC-130J Commando Solo built by Lockheed Martin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 1980’s were an exciting decade for the radio war of the airwaves, with conflicts on the literal battlefield and in the political arena. Clandestine radio broadcasts added real spice to the DX hobby and created an awareness of political issues far outside their target areas.

Right through this decade, the stalwarts Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe continued. Their broadcasts were too numerous to detail here.

In October the Mosgiel DX contingent of Ian Wells, Phil Garden and Jon Wood gathered for their 4th  annual DXpedition to Waianakarua. They were joined by Paul Aronsen who also made the pilgrimage last year.

Paul Aronsen, Phil Garden, Jon Wood & Ian Wells (Credit: Phil Garden)

DX preliminaries kicked off on Monday the 18th with Paul and Linda Ormandy spending a couple of days (and very cold nights!) at Waianakarua. We woke to a very heavy frost on Tuesday and headed home for Wednesday night. Paul Aronsen arrived for lunch on Thursday and confessed to having only a Digitech AR1747 radio, fortunately Stu Forsyth’s AR7030+ had been sitting here awaiting his impending return from overseas. So it was pressed into service and performed very well.

From the archives of Merv Branks, here is a glimpse into the NZ DX Club back in 1946. Kindly scanned by Bill Marsh (Jnr) in 2013.

Vol 54 – No. 15 – July 13 1946

THIS column is being supplied by the Southland branch of the New Zealand DX Club for the benefit of readers interested in tuning in overseas stations. N.Z.-time is used throughout unless stated otherwise.

DX is an abbreviation used in radio telegraphy, and signifies distance, and listeners whose hobby it is to listen to distant stations are known as DXers.

Alan Roycroft, long-time friend to DXers worldwide, passed away on February 13th 2001. Here is a tribute from the Pacific Business News Website.

Alan Roycroft has been associated with radio in New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Hawaii for over 60 years. He is now an Honorary Member of both the NZ Radio DX League and the Vintage Radio Society of NZ. In this feature, originally published in the ‘Radio Age’, we learn of Alan’s earliest days in radio.

Alan Roycroft reminisces on his arrival in NZ in the mid-30s…