Special QSL of the Week-KRHO

USA VOA Honolulu QSL (swlqsl.com-w1amf@aol.com)

World's Shortest Reception Report

On Monday January 21, 1946, I was in the home of Ern Suffolk who lived a half hour bicycle ride from my home in a small country town in South Australia.  Ern was a prominent international radio monitor who had assembled a large collection of QSL cards in those days, and in subsequent time, he was the DX editor for Radio Australia.

            On that auspicious summer day, I was tuning his elaborate shortwave receiver, and I heard the familiar sign off routine from the Voice of America, loud and clear.  In mentioning this item of shortwave reception, I asked Ern, in my teenage naivity, should I send a reception report.  He stated: Well, you can only try.  I asked where should I send the report, and he suggested I try both locations, VOA in Hawaii and VOA-OWI in San Francisco.

            I did indeed send to both locations a reception report on this brief ½ minute transmission from VOA Honolulu, in the hopes that at least one of these addresses would respond with a QSL card.  Imagine my surprise when, in due course, I received two QSL cards, each of which was postmarked, Honolulu and San Francisco, on the same date, March 5. 1946

            The Honolulu QSL card shows a brief typed QSL text, listing the date, January 21,1946, and the frequency 6120 kHz.  The card shows an artistic representation of the Pacific Ocean, and the station identification The VOA Voice of America KRHO Honolulu TH, Territory of Hawaii, in large red and blue ink.

            The California QSL card was their regular QSL card with the large red white and blue areas, or blocks.  However, the large white panel that usually shows a callsign in large letters is left blank, and a typewriter in blue ink shows the callsign KRHO and the frequency 6120 kHz.  Also typed onto this card is the time of reception, 1000-1000½ GMT.

            Unique is the fact that such a short reception report, just half a minute, was verified with two QSL cards from different locations, and the fact that both were postmarked at their vastly separated locations on the same date.  By the way, we do not recommend that you send such short reception reports.

 (AWR-Wavescan/NWS314)