WQ2XDM - New US Experimental Callsign For Radio Propagation Tests At 40 MHz & 70 MHz

John, EI7GL reports on interesting experimentation to be conducted by John, K9JMS in the 40 MHz (8m) and 70 MHz (4m) bands under a new individual experimental license issued by the FCC.

John, K9JMS recently received permission from the FCC to carry out propagation tests at 40 MHz (8m) and 70 MHz (4m) and he was granted the callsign WQ2XDM for a period of two years.

Note that this is NOT an amateur radio licence and no two way communications are allowed. Its purpose is strictly for "scientific and engineering-based propagation research".

The 40 MHz and 70 MHz bands are NOT amateur radio bands in the United States and this is a case of someone getting a permit to make narrow band digital transmissions and seeing if the signals are heard. 

John describes it as follows... "WQ2XDM Propagation Research - Florida-based experimental station studying low-VHF propagation on the 4 meter (70 MHz) and 8 meter (40 MHz) bands using weak-signal digital modes including WSPR and FT8."

The licence has the following conditions attached...

Best Propagation Tools

 Here's a new video by DX Engineering on Best Propagation Tools which are presently available to radio amateurs.  I use a few of them and look forward to exploring all of them.  Good stuff!

The Radio That Started it All For Me

This is a repost of my 11/6/2025 post regarding |the radio that started it all" for me.  While the original is long gone, I would dearly love to have another one in my ham shack.  Who knows, maybe the original will turn up!  One can only hope.  If you get a lead on one of these, please let me know!

When I was in my teens, my parents got me a Globe Electronics 65-320 short wave receiver for Christmas. For a kid into radio, this was like finding a Tesla Roadster under the tree. This was the radio that started it all for me. The rest is history.

These receivers are quite rare now...and they're not known for their selectivity or sensitivity. Nevertheless, this was special - my first radio. Just thinking about it still gets my blood pumping...just like Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun ("You'll shoot yer eye out, kid"). This radio was an example of the "All American Five"..using a complement of five tubes: 3BW4, 50C5, 12AVG, 12BA6 and a 12BE6.  

From the owner's manual:

"Your world wide Globe 'Ceiver is designed to bring you the finest in all-band radio reception. It's latest superheterodyne circuit will tune from 500 kilocycles to 30 Megacycles to bring you countless shortwave stations as well as standard broadcast programs. You will hear foreign and domestic broadcasts, ships at sea, police, amateurs and aircraft. A special CB band allows you to hear local two-way radio communications between homes, cars and trucks.Included in your receiver are such special features as a built-in , sensitive ferrite loop antenna for clear, broadcast band reception...a collapsible whip antenna for shortwave reception...an electrical Bandspread control for separating closely spaced amateur and shortwave stations...a BFO for CW reception...a headphone jack...a switch that permits you to silence the receiver without turning it off. All of these combined features will give you many hours of "World-Wide" listening pleasure."