Hi, many SWL ask me when I start to listen to radio stations. I think when my mother was pregnant with baby Frankie, I listened to the radios. She loves to listen to long wave RTL and Europe 1, these radio stations are easy to listen from Paris. I remember after school (I think in 1962) I was in the kitchen with my mommy and listened to famous bands like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
Our nice Philips radio with valves and magic eyes to listen to AM on LW, MW and SW.
We also have a big black and white TX with only one channel ! From our window, we can see the top of the Eiffel Tower, so we have an indoor antenna. I like to watch TV show with singers.
Sometimes when i was older, I liked to listen to the radio stations on MW during the night, especially pop and rock music. There were no FM radios in the 60s and 70s in France with this kind of music. Free FM radio arrived only in 1981.
Before 1981 there were some pirate FM radio stations, and I was happy to listen to these stations. I had a big boombox and was near the roof of a 6-level house in Paris.
But in 1980 i buy my first CB radio and in 1981 my first SWL radio SANYO
But few months ago I got a YAESU
So I've been an SWL since 1981 !!!!!
My antenna was a wire on the roof. A SWL friend called me one evening and asked me to listen to a frequency; I think it was on 14 MHz. It was a radio station from Antarctica !
I don't receive a QSL card but a letter QSL from the commandant of this base !!!
Later I put a CB radio antenna on the roof and used it to listen to AM radio stations on SW. And make DX on 11 meter with a President Jackson.
My first QSL was from an amateur radio operator in Andorra ( the RX was a YAESU FT 707 S )
My first CB radio QSL was from a CB radio operator from the island of Sicily.
So I get the virus of DXing as a SWL and a pirate on 11 meter.
In 46 years I had a lot of TX and RX but now in 2026 I use a WEB SDR to listen to AM radio stations and SW amateur radios bands because of QRM and no good antenna on the roof.
look all my radio equipment since 1980
and a creator with friends of an FM radio station, a redactor of the SWL section of CQ Radioamateur France and a member of many clubs for SWL or HAM Radio. For a long time because of big QRM, I was on virtual HAM radio via Internet and VoIP. With a real receiver and antenna I have confirmed as an SWL with paper QSL cards 250 DXCC in the 90s and 330 IOTA award. I participated in many SWL contests. I also organized SWL contests in the 80s and 90s. In 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 i organize again contest for SWL. Many SWL have won gifts from sponsors. Now my goal is to listen to new DXCC entities on Ham SW bands. I also like to listen to AM radio on SW. I have 5 blogs and a Facebook group. Thank you and 73 de Frank SWL F14368 near Paris FRANCE
in 1996
QSL for HamSphere 4.0
2026
