What does DX mean? - Elmers Forum at eHam.net

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What does DX mean?	Reply
by KI4DPT on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
I encountered a raging debate today on a local repeater, ie: just what does DX mean. Some maintained it means distance. Some maintained it means another country. Some maintained it means skywave propagation. Some maintained it means over 500 miles. As I grew up, I understood DX was shorthand for distance. I see on the DXCC site that DX means some other country. I guess that means that a Buffalo to Toronto contact is DX to them! But DXCC is somewhat USA centric, IMO. I also thought that what qualifies for DX might change based on the band you were operating. For instance, Florida to Ohio on 80 meters at night is pretty Ho-Hum but Florida to Ohio on 70cm is a rare and amazing thing. Does the meaning of DX vary from continent to continent? If it means country to country, does a contact from Switzerland to Germany count as DX? Spain to France? Texas to Oklahome? ;-) I'm confused.

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by KA0GKT on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
IIRC, Technically, for DXCC credit, Buffalo to Toronto would be DX for either station. DX literally means Distance Station. The reason that "X" means station quite frankly is lost on me, just as TX is transmit and RX is receive...that is unless you happen to be a medical doctor or a doctor of pharmacy. Then again DX used to mean the gas station which sold "Super Boron" gasoline so you could "drive a car that's alive..." 73 DE KAØGKT/7 --Steve

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by KA0GKT on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
Oh yeah, under the same rule, Nogales, Arizona, U.S.A. to Nogales, Sonora E.U. de M would also count for DXCC credit. 73 DE KAØGKT/7 --Steve

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by KB3MDB on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
I also always thought DX meant quite literally Distant Station. As to what qualifies as a “Distant Station” I believe it is a relative term. Regardless of what band you are running or what mode etc you are running. I believe it has more to do with the station operators’ ability to use the equipment on hand to its fullest potential. And make a contact that is, relative to all variables, a distant station. 1/16 Watt QRP talking to someone across town = DX 40 M beam on a 200 foot tower talking to someone around the world = DX

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by N6AJR on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
litterally short hand for distance. but also in ham radio it is a ham in a foreign country

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by K8ZO on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
First, I would hazard a guess that the OTs used X to indicate some letter but used X to save sending them on cw. Therefore TX where X stands for ransmit and RX where X stands for eceiv etc. Likewise Xmitter and Xcvr, have a similar derivation. Further I would hazard that in early days DX meant any long distance. When radio became more sophisticated and long distance became from one country to another DX was just a natural evolution. By the time the ARRL got involved in defining countries (and their predecessors) "working DX" was just a natural slang to indicate working countries. Speculation on my part, but seem plausible. K8ZO

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by KX8N on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
"The reason that "X" means station quite frankly is lost on me, just as TX is transmit and RX is receive...that is unless you happen to be a medical doctor or a doctor of pharmacy. " Actually, with a pharmacy, it's not RX. R is the first letter in the latin (or greek) word for medicine, and the "x" symbolizes a period.

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by KC8VWM on January 23, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
I think "CX" means something like "condition of xmissions" and it may be somehow related to the term "DX" "D" meaning distance and "X" meaning xmission, a shortform of the term transmission. Although this wouldn't be very consistant with the term "WX" which is somehow the shortform we`use for the term weather. 73 gud dx de kc8vwm

RE: What does DX mean?	Reply
by VK3AP on January 24, 2006	Mail this to a friend!
D= Distance X= Unknown So DX equals distance unknown. That's what I was taught many many years ago from my elmers. Plus you see it it many ham books and ham acronym manuals. I guess it's the same as most formulas where x seems to be the unknown, ie 1+x=8 so x=7 etc. It's the literal form of an unknown quantity. Cheers. Theo VK3AP

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