THE WORLD'S BEST DX-ER?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 663, 21 March 1952, Page 9

THE WORLD'S BEST DX-ER?

¢¢ TTF you were asked to name, say, five of the world’s bestknown DXers, we think you would include at least one New Zealander and then, probably, put him at the top of the list... For, wherever DXing is followed as a hobby or where there is even a little interest taken in what comes out of a radio, the name of Arthur T. Cushen must be a household word .. ." This tribute to the standing of Mr. Cushen in the amateur radio world was paid by Cleve Costello in his monthly Radio New Zealand feature, This Radio Age, recently. An interview recorded by Mr, Cushen at 4YZ was then presented to Australian and Islands listeners, eventually to be rebroadcast on a worldwide basis by Radio Australia. Asked if his listening interest extended to both standard broadcast and shortwave bands, Mr. Cushen disclosed that since 1937 he had collected about 2300 verifications of reception, 875 of them confirming broadcast-band reception, the bulk of these comifg from North America and including 100 Californian stations. "Tf the ‘best’ stations are those on the lowest power," he said, "then my best have been the Voice of the 8th Army at Bari with 50 watts output power, VUX in India (50 watts) and WVTC, a 50-watt American Forces station in New Guinea. Actually the lowest-powered broadcast station I have logged was 5AL in Alice Springs, which was operating with 30 watts at the time. My report was the first received from outside the town and they were quite pleased to have it." _A lot in any hobby depends on enthusiasm, and Mr. Cushen gained his interest in radio listening on a- 5-tube receiver. In 1939 he acquired an English 8-valve receiver, and over the last two years*has also been using an 11valve set. His aerial is of the Beveridge type, and runs across a city block, admittedly, but this is necessary to pick up the weak signals in which he is now interested, having logged most of the strong stations. Reception in Invercargill, he says, is usually very good"especially when the trams go off"-but

reception at Riverton and Long Beach can be really exceptional. Apart from having 1400 shortwave verifications from 139 countries, another of Mr. Cushen’s achievements is the winning of .an_ international listening contest sponsored by Danish and English organisations, for the second year in succession, a few months ago. His best shortwave verifications? CKFX, Vancouver, with 10 watts output, and Bucharest, Rumania, with 75 watts. "T like listening to the South American stations," Mr. Cushen admitted. "They are on low power, on the low frequencies and their programmes are very interesting." To the question, "How do DXers assist the broadcasters?" Mr. Cushen cited Sweden’s new Far East transmission, which, being heard in New Zealand at 1.0 a.m., cannot gain a great audience. Suggestions as to the timing of such programmes and interference experienced were always appreciated by the. stations, he said. At least once a week, as observer for the BBC, he sends a cable to London giving details of reception. of the General Overseas Service and Pacific Service in New Zealand and, on special occasions, is called on for a cable covering events such ag . Royal speeches, DXing has given Mr. Cushen other interests, too. Finding out where stations are located has brought about a better

knowledge of geography and, of course, philately goes hand in hand as stamps come in from all parts of the world. He also sub-edits the N.Z. DX Times, prepares log charts for various radio manufacturers, helps edit’ his club’s annual callbook, and keeps up a news service to many other magazines in Australia, Britain and America, not to mention the international DX broadcasts from Australia, Sweden and other places. Thus many list- _ eners have indirectly benefited. Perhaps the most appreciated work done by Mr. Cushen and his colleagues, however,

is the prisoner-of-war monitoring service which they have maintained since the start of the Korean war. Some 2000 names, or half of the known missing, have been listed after men have been missing for 12 to 14 months. Many parents, mainly American, have shown their gratitude in no uncertain way. Dyring the 1939-45 war, over 6000 prisoners’ messages were passed on. The present work will be carried on until hostilities cease.