JUST THE FAX!

"JUST THE FAX! A Shortwave Radio Listener's Guide to Weather Facsimile Reception," was published in March and is now available. Called by many names including radio facsimile, WEFAX, and radio fax this method of transmission is used by weather forecasting agencies around the world to broadcast their weather maps, weather charts, satellite photos and forecasts to many users around the globe simultaneously. With a amateur transceiver that provides general coverage of the HF bands (2-30 MHz), and a computer (PC or MAC) using the proper software you can receive these entertaining broadcasts. Written to be user friendly for the hobby listener, this large size 8.5" x 11" 39 book provides a step by step description of the author's experiences receiving these broadcasts. Beside the technical discussion and the examples of maps, charts and satellite photos, Appendix 1 lists stations frequency order.If you hear a station on a particular frequency it is easy to look up which station uses that frequency. Appendix 2 of the book lists stations in time sequence. So if it is 0355 GMT and you want to see what stations are possibly on the air it is easy to do so. Appendix 3 provides address and QSL information for some of the stations to assist those who wish to send reception reports. In late April, Steven's second book of the year, l the "Utility DXer’s QSL Address Handbook" also by Steven Handler was published. Ham radio and shortwave broadcasting stations are not the only ones that use the HF bands. Military, aviation, maritime, commercial, government and many other stations make their home on HF. These non-ham/non-shortwave broadcasting stations are referred to by the general term "utility stations". This 56 page book in large 8.5" x 11" format contains postal and Email addresses of many "Utility stations" operating on HF. It covers stations located on all seven continents. Beside the addresses, many listings contain QSL information indicating the type of QSL the station issues, the preferred method of contact, information on station officials, verification signers and even comments and suggestions. It also contains over 40 QSL images more than half of which are in full color covering stations from North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Antarctica, and even outer space. There are also QSLs from ships and even one from the Strategic Air Command’s “Looking Glass” aircraft. The authors research, and extensive correspondence with many stations listed in the book, helped provide QSLing details and information for the Utility DXer interested in QSLing stations. Each of these books is available for $14.95 plus shipping. For more information visit the ahtor's web site at http://www.shortwavereport.com or email him at shortwavereport@yahoo.com