How to blow a child's mind with a radio
Ever wanted to astound and amaze your kids? Well, here is a way to do it using something you probably already have - a radio.
What you need:
An AM/FM radio (your car radio would work fine)
Nighttime, or early morning before sunrise
Your kid should be used to listening to the local radio stations. They should be used to hearing the local station ID - you know, "you're listening to WZYX... Knoxville's POWER Rock station!" (I just made that up)
Anyway...
If you tune to the AM bands at night, you'll hear long-distance stations. (What we call "DX" in amateur radio. Well, not REAL DX, but farther away than the 50 or 60 miles you hear on the FM bands.)
Just tune in to a station and don't tell your kid anything. Just pretend like you're listening normally. Then, wait for the station ID. When that faraway city is mentioned - in the station ID or in a commercial - act surprised.
"Did that radio just say PHILADELPHIA? As in PENNSYLVANIA? Do you know how far away that is? There must be something wrong with the radio!"
Really play it up until your kid starts to notice it, too. Then, tune around the bands to see if you can hear any other far away stations. Make a game out of it.
If you do manage to hear some far away stations - there's nothing wrong with your radio. You're just experiencing the magic of radio wave propagation. At night, with the electromagnetic conditions in the ionosphere, certain radio waves can travel far, especially lower frequency radio waves, such as those in the AM bands.
To keep the "game" going, get a US map and start putting push pins in all the cities you've heard.
In years past, listeners used to send QSL reports (QSL is a radio code that means "verification" or "I confirm") to radio stations that they'd heard and the radio stations would send back QSL cards in acknowledgment.
In the early days of radio, stations were eager to know how well they were being heard. To encourage listeners to write in and report their reception, stations offered to send listeners souvenir cards and letters Soon listeners began to collect these QSLs from stations as avidly as many people collect sports cards today.
You can try to do this today, but many commercial AM stations don't send out QSL cards any more. And those that do may take a long time to send you a card back. If you don't mind waiting, it could be a lot of fun.
Here's a link to DXing.com - a website with lots of fantastic information about QSL cards - past and present.
And, who knows? Maybe this can get your child (and you) interested in more things, like amateur radio? If you have a son or daughter involved in scouting at all - especially Boy Scouts - you may notice that he or she can earn a radio or communications badge. For Boy Scouts, the radio badge is a rare one... but not difficult at all to earn, if you're active (or know someone who is active) in amateur radio.
Also, there is an annual event that coincides with Scout Jamboree... it's Jamboree on the Air. LOTS of fun and a neat way to communicate with scouts all over the world.
73 (that's radio code for "Best Regards") and good DX!
What you need:
An AM/FM radio (your car radio would work fine)
Nighttime, or early morning before sunrise
Your kid should be used to listening to the local radio stations. They should be used to hearing the local station ID - you know, "you're listening to WZYX... Knoxville's POWER Rock station!" (I just made that up)
Anyway...If you tune to the AM bands at night, you'll hear long-distance stations. (What we call "DX" in amateur radio. Well, not REAL DX, but farther away than the 50 or 60 miles you hear on the FM bands.)
Just tune in to a station and don't tell your kid anything. Just pretend like you're listening normally. Then, wait for the station ID. When that faraway city is mentioned - in the station ID or in a commercial - act surprised.
"Did that radio just say PHILADELPHIA? As in PENNSYLVANIA? Do you know how far away that is? There must be something wrong with the radio!"
Really play it up until your kid starts to notice it, too. Then, tune around the bands to see if you can hear any other far away stations. Make a game out of it.
If you do manage to hear some far away stations - there's nothing wrong with your radio. You're just experiencing the magic of radio wave propagation. At night, with the electromagnetic conditions in the ionosphere, certain radio waves can travel far, especially lower frequency radio waves, such as those in the AM bands.
To keep the "game" going, get a US map and start putting push pins in all the cities you've heard.
In years past, listeners used to send QSL reports (QSL is a radio code that means "verification" or "I confirm") to radio stations that they'd heard and the radio stations would send back QSL cards in acknowledgment.In the early days of radio, stations were eager to know how well they were being heard. To encourage listeners to write in and report their reception, stations offered to send listeners souvenir cards and letters Soon listeners began to collect these QSLs from stations as avidly as many people collect sports cards today.
You can try to do this today, but many commercial AM stations don't send out QSL cards any more. And those that do may take a long time to send you a card back. If you don't mind waiting, it could be a lot of fun.
Here's a link to DXing.com - a website with lots of fantastic information about QSL cards - past and present.
And, who knows? Maybe this can get your child (and you) interested in more things, like amateur radio? If you have a son or daughter involved in scouting at all - especially Boy Scouts - you may notice that he or she can earn a radio or communications badge. For Boy Scouts, the radio badge is a rare one... but not difficult at all to earn, if you're active (or know someone who is active) in amateur radio.
Also, there is an annual event that coincides with Scout Jamboree... it's Jamboree on the Air. LOTS of fun and a neat way to communicate with scouts all over the world.
73 (that's radio code for "Best Regards") and good DX!
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