Shortwave radio still packs an audible thrill

reuters ^ | 1/14/09 | Robert MacMillan

[mylife]

So why bother with shortwave?

It's easy and cheap -- and fun. You can hear and learn things that you would never find even if you work your search engine like a mule. From Swaziland to Paris to Havana, shortwave broadcasters can surprise an adventurous listener more than any MP3 playlist.

"You tune carefully, twist the radio from side to side, and there's still a bit of a 'Hey, I made this happen!' sort of thing," said Harold Cones, retired chairman of the biology and chemistry department at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

It's also magic. Shortwave radio enthusiasts acknowledge the thrill -- the romance, in a way -- of going out at night and snaring news, music, odd bleeps, religious zealots and other broadcasts from the wild sea of frequencies in the sky.

[mylife]

I think its almost 90 deg temperature diff between where I am and where this guy in maine is

[halfright]

here is my humble station....I spend a lot of time here now...

http://www.w3cf.com

73

[2111USMC]

We’ve been hit with a huge heat wave here in eastern Iowa.

It’s 24 right now! (Yesterday morning we were at -29.)

[mylife]

57 here now, Gorgeous.

I should be out running around but tomorrow will be even nicer.

[mylife]

Nice...

Thanks for checking in.

[brydic1]

I was a short wave enthusiast many years ago. I remember listening to the funeral music played almost continuously on BBC when Geo VI passed in ‘52 and then to the coronation ceremony for Eliz II at an ungodly hour in US Central Time Zone on my uncle's big Zenith Radio. I loved listening to Radio Moscow. Got a new prospective on the thoughts and desires of our domestic left. I purchased a Zenith Portable Shortwave radio of my own in ‘56 and listened to international broadcasts for many years.

[mylife]

Yer home is nice.

[mylife]

I listened to Vatican radio this past Christmas.

It was a nice anchor in the dirge of broadcasts

[mylife]

Oh.. and I aint Catholic!

But I do see God in three persons.

Father, Son and Holy Ghost

[NCjim]

That was a pleasant surprise when I moved to Raleigh in 1966 to attend NCSU. There was one near downtown and I was like a kid in a candy store. Up until then I had only seen the catalog and did not know they had actual stores!

[mylife]

We had one in town when I grew up.
Effa Radio shack ;)

[seatrout]

https://www.reciva.com/ is good too. Most of the stations there are aimed at the local listening market, so if you want to know how the rush hour traffic is in Sydney or Capetown, that’s the place to go.

[Clinging Bitterly]

In general, the bigger the antenna you can buy or build, the better. For an apartment, there are "active" indoor antennas that work fairly well out of the box, but one can almost always build something bigger that's invisible or nearly so that will work better.

Just get a piece of bare or enameled copper wire and tack it up around the perimeter of the room at the ceiling. If you like what you hear, expand on that. But like others say, indoors you will have a lot of noise that, depending on the features of your receiver, will be hard to tune out.

A final note: Ground the receiver as best you can. A lot of very old receivers have a "hot" chassis and must be grounded for safety, but in any event, a proper ground will improve reception and reduce noise.

[Clinging Bitterly]

When I was a kid I had a Hallicrafters S38D.

It was a great little receiver, the simple classic five tube AC/DC design. The biggest drawback to it was it was AM only, and by the late '60s nearly all Hams and some broadcasters were using SSB. So a family friend took an old pocket size transistor radio and made it into a beat frequency oscillator and I could then receive CW and SSB.

Today when I SWL (which probably isn't nearly enough) I use a Yaeusu FT747GX transceiver with the FM kit and also modified for GEN. There are a lot more full featured receivers and transceivers available than this but I like it's size and simplicity. I keep a box of accessories (cables, antenna wires, etc) handy and it's all an easy grab for a bugout.

[Clinging Bitterly]

I like that. What is the little flip up looking thing on the back? Is that a loop antenna or just a door to a compartment of some sort?

[Clinging Bitterly]

There have been, for the better part of a hundred years, international rules and treaties governing radio communication in general (of course they aren't always followed and that isn't something that's likely to ever change).

But if you were getting swamped by a few blowtorch stations it sounds like a bad receiver - and certainly there are some real crappy ones out there.

Years ago I had a Radio Shack DX160 and though it was a pretty "looking" old school style receiver, the one I had at least was lousy with images on strong signals and howling microphonics. Yuck.

[The_Media_never_lie]

SW may be our source of real info.

In 1991, shortwave radio was the only way to get info on Whitewater and the McDougals, Troupergate, Hillary's billing practice etc. The media did not ever, ever mention any of that. It was the only way to find out the truth at that time.

[Professional Engineer]

I love listening to shortwave too. My old radio went kaput a few years ago, so I need to get another one.

I've never actually had a SW receiver. I have ham gear. I can listen to the international stuff in and just above the 40 meter band.

Back in the late 80's it was awful fun to listen to Radio Moscow for laughs. Occasionally, there would be some kind of computer or software ad. You knew America had won when the adds would state, "and, it's IBM compatible."

[brushcop]

The media did not ever, ever mention any of that...

Like you, that's exactly how I found out about a lot of those things, I had a little portable SW/AM/FM with my wire antenna to the screen and sometimes strung to the tree outside my home office window. Served me well because I sure didn't watch any TV news at all, just like now.

[bitterohiogunclinger]

Take care of that sweet 940. They are finicky but a lovely radio. I have one I cherish dearly along with a 930, two 830’s, a 520 and maybe some more.