The DX Bulletin 1979-1986 by James D. Cain
At the bottom of this page are downloadable links to all 324 issues of The DX Bulletin (TDXB), written and published from 1979 to 1986 by James D. Cain, K1TN. Page one of Issue 325 is Jim’s farewell message.
Iris Colvin, W6QL and Lloyd Colvin, W6KG, knew the power of the Press. As they travelled the world they stayed in touch with DX newsletters around the world, mailing reports on their DX operations. Because their schedule was so tight they didn’t have time to develop photos and send them along, but Iris wrote clear and concise reports and got them in the mail promptly.
One of those DX newsletters was The DX Bulletin (TDXB), written and published by Jim Cain, K1TN, from his Connecticut home. He published 324 issues from 1979 to 1986, the peak years of the Colvins’ wanderings and the sunspot peak in 1980-81. Scans of those 324 issues are listed below. Unfortunately, they are not electronically searchable, but the researcher can find TDXB issues relevant to a particular topic by narrowing her scope to a month or even a week.
The DX Bulletin also had news and commentary on the ARRL, CQ magazine, DXCC award rules; FCC regulations, HF radio equipment and antennas, world events, and more. Jim practiced “real journalism” whenever he could: “Amateurs Provide Grenada Communications” (Issue 213); and attempted a little humor: “All-Purpose DX News Story” (Issue 174). In 1983 he wrote a few “Tom Swifties” and readers responded with so many of their own that Swifties became almost a weekly column. You can see some of these on page four of Issue 179.
Jim Cain was a working technical writer when he founded TDXB and a working daily newspaper editor when he sold TDXB in 1986. The object to Jim’s right in the photo was quaintly referred to as a “typewriter.”
In 2003 Jim published YASME: The Danny Weil and Colvin Radio Expeditions, a 324-page book commissioned by The YASME Foundation. The complete book is available for free download on this website.
