Shortwave broadcast QSLs

Talking about QSL cards makes me think of my very first QSL cards received back in the 1960s. In those days I used the ISWL QSL bureau which handled broadcast band QSLs (I think it still does) and well remember the thrill when I got my very first cards. The first ever QSL was from Radio Nederland and it was an exciting moment. Somewhere I still have that red card with a windmill on!

In the subsequent years I did a fair bit of QSLing when using just my shortwave crystal set and got a few cards back from these reports. I heard stations all over the globe using that simple crystal set with best DX being Radio Havana Cuba, All India Radio and even Radio Australia, all direct and not via any relays. Not bad for just a tuned circuit, a diode a resistor and a crystal earpiece. I must have another go at a shortwave crystal set just for fun, especially as HF conditions are so good now, but these days shortwave broadcasting is not what it was. Using a decent toroid and a bridge detector it should be possible to arrive at a sensitive design with quite good selectivity.