Writing Better Reception Reports

To Radio Free Asia

In an era where the paper QSL card is fast disappearing, it is great to see a radio station still connecting with shortwave listeners and DXers. I have always been impressed with the QSL policy of Radio Free Asia. This broadcaster continues to support the radio hobby with attractively designed QSL cards.

RFA's latest QSL is a particularly striking design in shades of blue and white (see below), reminding us that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. This tasteful and thoughtful design will look good in any listener's QSL collection!

But, the station is looking for DETAILED AND ACCURATE reception reports. Unfortunately, some listeners let everyone else down by submitting sub-standard reception reports. Indeed, a few dishonest people have sent fake (!) reports to stations - reports written when they clearly didn't hear the station at all. These counterfeit reports give DXers a lousy name, and many stations have stopped sending QSLs to all listeners because of unscrupulous behaviour by a few people.

There was a recent discussion on this problem in the World Radio TV Handbook Facebook forum. One station owner's complaint about the standard of reception reports resonated strongly with others who have had similar experiences. So, remember, keep the standard of your reception report high, and you will be helping yourself and all DXers worldwide.

Sometimes, it can pay to do a "refresher" on report writing. If in doubt about how to improve your report writing, check out the following:

• A Closer Look at SINPO
  
  
• How NOT to Get a QSL Card!
  
  
• The Use and Abuse of SINPO

And, of course, we can send radio stations our reports via email and attach a recording (either audio or video) as evidence of our reception of their broadcasts.

So, good luck with your reporting to our shortwave stations. Below is the press release from Radio Free Asia on their first QSL for the 2024 quarter.

73 and good DXing!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

RADIO FREE ASIA ANNOUNCES QSL CARD #84 - JANUARY 2024

To welcome the Year of the Dragon, Radio Free Asia (RFA) announces its latest QSL card. While we are celebrating together with all of you to welcome a happy, healthy and prosperous new year, we wanted to highlight a value we hold dear, Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." This is RFA’s 84th QSL design and will be used to confirm all valid RFA reception reports from January – April 2024.

Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean to North Korea, Lao, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, Tibetan (including Uke, Amdo, and Kham dialects), and Uyghur. RFA strives for accuracy, balance, and fairness in our editorial content. As a ‘surrogate’ broadcaster, RFA provides news and commentary specific to each of our target countries, acting as the free press these countries lack. RFA broadcasts only in local languages and dialects, and most of our broadcasts comprise news of specific local interest. More information about RFA, including our current broadcast frequency schedule, is always available at www.rfa.org.

RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions not only from DXers but also from our general listening audience. Reception reports are accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org and by mail to:

Reception Reports
Radio Free Asia
2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
United States of America

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© Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2024