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Name and address
 So
obvious in a printed report and yet it is
amazing how many people forget to include
it. In many cases your reception report may
be processed by more than one department
within the radio station. (i.e. the
Engineering and Programme departments), so
we advise you to include your name and
address on each sheet that you use.
Either print your name and address in block
capitals or type it. Many replies have
failed to reach their destination because it
was impossible to read the name and address
of the sender. Signatures are often very
difficult to decipher.
The
station address
Always address
your letter to the correct person. Avoid the
use of titles like 'The Director General',
'Head of Prog rammes', etc, if you want a QSL
or wish to make programme suggestions. It is
very unlikely that the station director or
the general management will be the people
responsible for answering the letters. If a
particular programme presenter made a point
on the air that you wish to take further,
then send the letter to her/him by name, c/o
English Section, Radio XYZ, etc. This should
ensure that the right person opens the
letter. Alternatively writing to the
programme by name: 'Research File', English
Language Service, Radio Netherlands, P.O.
Box 222, 1200 JG Hilversum, Holland',
increases the chances that the producer of
that programme will see that letter.
Date
It is best to
write this out fully (i.e. January 11th
2002) since European shorthand notation,
such as 11.01.02, has different meanings
depending on where you live. Naturally, it
is usually obvious which meaning is implied,
but writing the date out in full ensures
there will be no mistake.
Time
This should be
stated in "Co-ordinated Universal Time"
(usally shorted to the French version of the
abbreviation, i.e. UTC), which is the
standard used by the majority of
international broadcasters. The term
"Greenwich Mean Time" (or GMT) is still
being announced by a few stations, e.g. BBC
World Service in London. But no conversion
is necessary as both terms are
interchangeable. Unless you're a scientist
interested in accuracy to milliseconds, just
assume that 1000 GMT = 1000 UTC.
If you are
in doubt as to the time difference between
your own local time and UTC, simply listen
on the hour or half-hour to most
international broadcasters (i.e. Radio
Netherlands, Deutsche Welle, VOA) who will
announce the time in UTC. Simply work out
the difference in hours between your time
and UTC. Use this information to make a
conversion table to keep by your radio for
handy reference or check out the table in
publications like "On Target".
Alternatively, set a clock by your receiver
to work on UTC. Note that UTC is always
the same and is unaffected by local changes,
summer or winter time . All stations use
the 24 hour clock system, so when you
compile a report, avoid the use of AM and PM
which can lead to confusion, e.g. 18.30 =
6.30 pm.
Frequency
This describes
the point on the dial that the signal came
in, usually indicated in kilohertz (or kHz).
The frequency that you quote should be
accurate to within about 5 kHz, i.e. saying
'I heard you on about 6 MHz' is not
sufficient. If, however, your set cannot
give accurate frequency read out from the
shortwave dial, say so in your report. The
term kilocycles (kcs) is an older
expression, but means the same as kHz. If
you know that a station is using more than
one frequency at the time you're listening,
check as many of these as possible, and note
how well each of them is received.
A report
on one single frequency on one day has
little value these days, though the station
will probably still send you a QSL card.
The experienced listener
does one, or both, of the following:
- Notes the reception
quality of a number of frequencies
carrying the same programme over a
period of three to six days.
- When a particular
channel is blocked by interference, a
check is made to see whether another
frequency nearby is more suitable as an
alternative (but see later notes).
Metre
band
Not really
necessary if you have noted the frequency
correctly. If you only have 'metres' marked
on your set, then quote this in your report,
though few listeners quote them these days.
If you need to convert metres to kilohertz,
then use the following formula:
300,000 =
Frequency
in kHz
_________________
Wavelength
in metres
Receiver
This is a useful
piece of information to the frequency
department, so don't forget to include it in
your report. If you are suffering bad
reception, one of the first things that will
be checked is the type of receiver that
you're using. Remember that the brand name
and model may not be known in the country
where the report is received, so decide
whether your receiver is a "domestic" type
(i.e. has mediumwave, or VHF/FM on it as
well as shortwave?) or is it a
"communications" type (i.e. made primarily
for listening to shortwave broadcasts
between 3 and 30 MHz?). If you can quote the
description given in the manufacturers
brochure, this is usually sufficient, (e.g.
8-band SW dual-conversion portable).
Antenna
 Also
a useful piece of information and frequently
forgotten. Transistor portable radios
usually perform adequately on a built-in
antenna of the 'telescopic rod' variety. If
you are using a piece of wire or a random
length hung out of the window, the best
description is a 'random longwire aerial'.
Specially built antennas such as 'magnetic
long-wire balun', 'inverted L' or 'dipole'
should be mentioned by name if possible.
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