Is Shortwave Radio listening worth it today
 

hi

When I was a teenager I've listened to shortwave radio as a hobby and I felt like a spy listening to communications around the world that a typical average day radio couldn't pick up.

It's been more than 35 years since I used a shortwave radio. I was planning on revisiting my hobby, but I read shortwave radio stations are more difficult to pick up today than it was 30+ years ago. Mostly to high volume of noise from RF devices like computers, monitors, microwave ovens and other devices and it's worse in large cities.

They can theoretically still picked up weak signals due to propagation if you have a less noisy area away from RF interference and a good antenna.

Do you have a shortwave radio today and what is your experience with it? Is it worth getting one or not?

Yes to all, but I am somewhat biased since I have an Amateur Radio license. We are on the backside of the sunspot cycle so listening to DX stations will be getting more difficult. There are still many shortwave stations out there although not as many as there were 30 years ago. Broadband over power lines can make listening very difficult if it used in your area but in most cases radio interference problems can be solved with misbehaving electronics.

I'm not a ham, mostly because when I had the urge to be, you still had to learn Morse code to qualify for a license. If you are interested, you might want to listen to a few episodes of Linux in the Ham Shack.

Ham radio is a good hobby but it is not for me. I live in the city and in an apartment. Usually ham operators need an outdoor antenna for optimum reception and long range listening and communication.

I don't mind just ease dropping on Ham operators via the SSB band on shortwave radios.

I might invest in a shortwave radio for less than $100 with SSB, digital PLL/DSP and see how well shortwave listening is today. If it fails, I just request a refund and my hobby in shortwave listening has come to a sad end.

I'd be interested to read how you get on if you do. My shortwave receiver has never been the same since I drove away with it on top of my car, but I've been thinking lately about replacing it, maybe with something a bit more capable.

When I was a teen, I never had a tabletop shortwave receiver. That is what I always wanted. They looked cool and intimidating at the same time. All those buttons, switches, knobs, LEDs, LCD panel, antenna meter looked like a cockpit of a small plane.


Instead, I had one of those small portable shortwave radio from radio shack. Which was OK, but nothing to brag about.

Until I decide on a model to get, I am using a couple of android apps that play some popular stations you hear on a shortwave radio like BBC, NPR, VOA and a few others. It's kinda cheesy, but it works for now.

Right now, I am pondering to get either the Tecsum PL680 or Eton Grundig Satellit 750. They both had good reviews.

Lots of knobs & stuff like my old Hammarlund?

That's really cool. Still intimating as of today. I notice the vacuum tubes. Is this from the 60's or 70's?

Does it still work?

Sorry for the questions, I'm acting like an eager kid in a candy store.


I was researching the Eton Grundig Satellit 750, and it looks even more intimating

https://www.google.com/search?safe=o...70.O15uIU-CbHk

It appears to be more cheaper than other table top models out there.

This receiver is from sometime in the 1950's. I got this one from my Uncle but used a similar receiver when I was a ham in the early 1960's.

This receiver worked last time I turned it on about a decade ago, but when I moved I never got around to putting up an antenna, and what with all the computers around all I get is rfi noise without an outside antenna.

Hammarlund was a big name in it's day.

I am also worried the amount of RF noise today as I mentioned my first post. I just miss shortwave listening and I just got to give it one more try. Thanks for sharing your pictures and your experience with shortwave.

Amateur radio is both a fun hobby and a practical one. For instance, when my wife and I take a cruise or are at any sort of gathering place, "we can talk directly to one another," with two pocket-sized "2-meter" radios that are both set to an agreed-upon "simplex" frequency. Unlike the "personal" radios that you buy at a department store, it is most likely that we will have this chosen frequency all to ourselves. We don't rely on any third party, any repeater, any cell-phone system, etc.

I've been thinking of going to amateur radio. I was looking at some youtube videos on ham radios the types of classes. Someone recommended http://www.arrl.org/online-courses to learn the trade.

Also, one person said that morse code is not required for today's tests.. I can't say I agree or not because I am not a ham operator to debate that.

I have a two stupid questions. Is ham similar to shortwave radio? Can I pick up radio stations with a ham radio or receiver?

Do I need a ham license to buy a portable ham radio, the ones that look like walkie talkies?

I'll probably get the answers somehow by researching it, but if you or anyone knows, I would appreciate it.

Ham Radio HF bands are a subset of shortwave radio. Many Amateur radios include general coverage receivers so you can listen throughout the entire HF band. I would check to see if there is a store in your area that sells Ham gear. They should be able to lead you to local clubs which will "show you the ropes"

To legally transmit on any Amateur Radio Frequency you need a license. Whether the store asks you to prove you have a license is another story. The walkie talkies (hand held radios) are typically 2M (144 MHz) or 70cm (440MHz) radios that are about 5 watts and depending on environment have about a 10-15 mile straight line range. Repeaters allow mobile and low power radios to communicate throughout a large area buy having their antenna's very high. Can be on towers several hundred feet.

There are some portable HF radios that operate on low power and almost look like handheld radios but still require a decent antenna to transmit.

Morse code is not required anymore for any license.

FYI there are several LQ members that have Ham licenses.

Similar, yes. The Ham bands and the shortwave bands overlap each other (for the most part), so a general coverage receiver will allow you to pick up both. Some cheaper receivers don't have an SSB mode, so stay away from them if you want to listen to ham bands. Shortwave is AM, Ham is mostly SSB below 30MHz.

No, but you are not allowed to transmit without a license. Only listen.

Here is a good place to start:

http://www.arrl.org/

Thanks michaelk and OregonJim for your knowledge on amateur radio. Now, I know a little more.

I'm happy that morse code is not required for today's test. I don't hate morse code, it's just to hard to remember those dots and dashes for each letter. But it is good to learn for emergencies like if you are stranded and you need to signal a SOS and you have no electronic gears, but a mirror and the sun to signal a SOS to a plane, ship or someone who knows morse code. :)

There are lots of ways to install an antenna in a limited space so do not let that be a factor. It will not perform like a something on a 100 foot tower but challenges are what make the hobby fun.

Yeah, I have to take that into consideration too. I live in a city and in an apartment. I have to research and figure which antenna and any extra gear will be required to get descent coverage in a city.

I have a portable radio that takes in shortwave. (Grundig). Most of what's available is Christian dreck, beamed to Africa, but every once in a while I can get Radio Peking or other foreign capitals in English. Worth listening to, as in AM/FM? No, but I'm no ham operator either.

I was sitting in my living room in Chattanooga, Tennessee, talking with a group of folks all over the United States using a network of "linked" repeaters. The signal from my handheld radio was picked up by a local repeater which immediately rebroadcasted it to hundreds of others.

Yeah, it's fun. For the same reason that hanging-out on a Linux forum is fun. :)

Also, to clarify: "shortwave" radio is a particular frequency band, one of a great many that are available to US amateur radio operators. Of course, the entire electromagnetic spectrum is carved up into specific frequency ranges, and you are legally obliged to operate only in the frequencies available to you, at power-levels not to exceed the stated limits for that frequency. Furthermore, you are obligated not to cause interference.

For example, a CB Radio operator can't exceed 4 or 5 watts, and is not supposed to engage in "DX" (long-distance communication). Nevertheless, on 10 Meters, 4 watts can "skip" all the way to Chicago and has known, late at night, to be international. An amateur with a proper license class can put over 1,000 watts ... but is not allowed to do so on the CB frequencies. ;)

RPI you should take a look here: http://www.arrl.org/

I do think it's sad that morse code is no longer a requirement for a license. Code is quite fun once you learn it and have a ham license to use code to talk with someone else somewhere else in the world.

Ham shortwave bands are 80M, 40M, 20M, 15M, 10M which basically are located within the shortwave spectrum from just above your AM radio to just below TV and FM. The advantage of shortwave bands is you get long-range communication depending on the "skip". My measly old 60W heathkit got me connected from the Rocky Mountains to hams in Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Nighttime is the time for long-distance stuff.

By the way, with the technician ham license (entry level, was called novice in my ham days) you can't use any voice transmission in the ham shortwave bands except in the 10M band. Ham shortwave bands are 80M, 40M, 20M, 15M, 10M which basically are located within the shortwave spectrum from just above your AM radio to just below TV and FM.

An old timer... Forgot about 160,60,30,17 and 12 meter bands?

Technically, 160m is mediumwave... ;)

And below that, we also have 600m and 2200m (but few of us have the space for a proper antenna!)

True HF is 3-30 MHz...

600 and 2200M is limited use...

Exactly. And 160m is below that. Isn't that what I said? ;)

Yep. Mostly experimenters with homebrew rigs. But that's half the fun. ;)

I was agreeing with you...

Oh, ok then. We are in agreement. ;) (I read your reply as "True HF is...", not "True, HF is..." - comma makes a difference ;) )

If the OP is interested in Ham Radio, I would suggest starting with a police-type scanner, and listening to the Hams on the 2m band (144-148MHz). That's where most of the newbies start out, and you can learn lots just by listening to them. There are a lot of us 'old timers' there too, acting as "elmers" (teachers/advisors). Most cities are high in 2m activity, so your location and ability to set up an antenna are not issues.

Yes. I haven't had a license since the 1960's (if I remember the date right. These days I have a good memory, but kinda short :) )

Agreed, and there are some extremely cheap 2m transceivers on the market now, thanks to one or two Chinese companies. I think (but you'd better check) that most places would allow you to own one and just use it as a scanner until you get a ham licence.

Even in my remote location (which has occasionally been nicknamed Siberia by others in the UK), the local ham society had an active 2m net last time I checked, which was about 5 years ago. Morse was still very poplar too.

I'm not really a ham myself, but I've dabbled a bit in recent years and still keep my licence up to date.

This intrigues me, I have a couple of cheap Software Defined Radio USB dongles which can, usually, pick up local FM stations and some AM traffic from the local airport but not well.
What kind of antenna is one looking at to try to receive amateur shortwave broadcasts?
A big problem I have with the AM and FM broadcasts is antenna type and being located in a valley on a hill. Won't shortwave just be "bouncing around"?

Hills are not a problem for shortwave, as it uses skywave propagation - the signals bounce around in the ionosphere before getting to you - not like local AM/FM, which uses groundwave.

A good place to start for an antenna (listen only, no transmit) would be a length of wire about 30 feet long, placed outside. Higher is better. However, unless you have a downconverter, most SDR dongles won't tune down into the shortwave bands below 30MHz.

Thanks. 30ft is a long way in this cramped country but I may be able to do that -- if I did though in which direction would I lay it? I see downconverters are available and, while they're often more costly than the SDR dongles, they're not prohibitively expensive.
Apologies if this is going off topic but I hope the details may be useful to others.

30ft is just a suggestion. You don't need to be exact for receiving. The longer it is, the more 'capture area' to improve the signal. Just keep it away from power lines and noise sources.

Yes, there are a several downconverters available, most seem to be in the $50 - $100 range (U.S.).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXBQQbOcq8



So anyone actually listened to any of those so-called 'number stations?'

If I ever come across a shortwave receiver or ham, thats the first thing I'd do, is try to find any 'number stations'

I have The Conet Project recordings as part of my music collection so hear them when I use pseudorandom mode.

Fascinating. :)

For those who probably don't know, here is what some might sound like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0F984w4vLQ

The Conet Archive

Just bizarre. Maybe not a good idea to listen to these stations before bed, they sound like crazy nightmare fuel. :eek:

The Lincolnshire Poacher is a famous one, though I admit I prefer the non-English stations in general.

I've not heard any which I thought would be disturbing to anybody who doesn't know what they are. However, MAD was part of our lives and I find it intriguing.

Its just creepy
 

Well since the Cold War is over (not considering the current state of relations recently between the West and Russia); in this context number stations are just outright bizarre and just have that creep factor.

Also there are still number stations broadcasting still so... yea. :p

They're still the easiest and most deniable way of communicating with somebody "in the field" and whilst we're not currently in a cold war I'm sure people are in place ready for any changes in situation.

I had used both cheap and relatively expensive shortwave radios and both have static in the signals. No fancy circuitry in the expensive models don't seem to work if shortwave signals are hard to pick up. If shortwave could work like groundwave i.e a regular AM radio, shortwave would be easy to pick up and more fun to listen to.

I just bought a crystal radio on Amazon because of you people! I hope you're happy! :D

I've a feeling I'm in a radio blackspot since even the nearby airport tower isn't clear as it ought to be. That makes me wonder whether a proper SDR would be worth it?

@ 273

Here is a good site for shortwave schedules. It's like a TV guide for shortwave radio.
http://www.short-wave.info/

Read the instructions on the top menu for interpreting the columns.

Also, the time stamps are in 24hr format UTC. You need to know convert your time zone to UTC or vice versa.

Thanks for that. Still trying to get my antenna working.
Edit: I forgot, I'm lucky to be at GMT as I type, BST is some idiot's idea.

I hope your luck is better than mine :)

I found this cool site online where you can use other people's shortwave receiver and tune it as if it were yours.

http://websdr.org/

Just select the meter band and the region from the drop down list and a list of shortwave receivers servers will be shown. On the right of each server is a listing of what bands are accessible from the server for you to tune.

So I came here and revised this thread because--Skywave Linux is getting pretty good.

As a ham op since 1996, of course I love listening to spectrum from around the world and also participating in lots of various forms of such. NOW WE CAN USE other stations' antennae from all around the world to simply listen in. And in that respect, shortwave listening has never been better. You might chase propagation around the globe any time you want. If you LEARN about radio wave propagation (get a license whether you can transmit or not-is surest way to learn) you can know much more about where/when to listen to the bands/modes of your interest.

Skywave Linux is an OS with a bunch of SDR-- Software Defined Radio apps. Many of them are for interfacing with your own radio gear, but also the web-interfaces as well.

Here's more on Skywave: https://skywavelinux.tumblr.com/

I came here looking around because I love the LIVE version but am having installation issues. I'm monitoring the world from a station in VA right now. Was Japan last night. Could be Iceland next, or Australia...etc.


73

I won a contest broadcast on the Taipei, Taiwan shortwave station from my home in the Midwest US listening on my Radioshack DX-394 and a 60' dipole antenna.

They were giving away a CD called Gongs and Drums to Welcome New Year by the Taipei Municipal Chinese Classical Orchestra and you had to write in 50 words or less how it made you feel listening to it. They read my name and submission over the air and sent it to me wrapped in a local newspaper made of rice paper. I still have them both. I liked listening to their Chinese classes.

I've heard number stations, too.

I still have the unmodded radio, and there are a lot of mods for it, but I can't run an outside antenna here and the reception inside is horrible with the stock telescoping antenna.

At the time, I was more into scanners and what could be heard on them. :)

The most famous Number Station.

UVB-76

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lHkONy37nA

North Korean number stations have also started broadcasting again. Wish I would have brought some sort of radio when I lived there, however being so close to the border, evereything was jammed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv-n0sjUlH8