Anyone still listen to Broadcast Short Wave?

[Richard675]

Just wondering if anyone regularly listens to SW these days? There's not so much about now but still a few regulars from around europe. My old favourate was Radio Netherlands Media Network, as I suspect it was also for a lot of others on here.

KBC has old Wolfman Jack shows weekday evenings. I used to hear him on AFN 873 kHz back in the early 70's.

RTE1 is worth a listen on LW by the way. It's interesting hopping from R4 to RTE1, both on LW in the mornings and comparing their respective news angles.

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by Richard Witney

Just wondering if anyone regularly listens to SW these days?

I hope so. We stlll broadcast it!

Rather disturbingly, I've never encountered the same enthusiasm for SW listening in the UK as I have seen abroad, but I put this down to the UK being reasonably stable politically, and its populace in no need of constant reminders about life from elsewhere.

The BBC SW market has finished in Europe and is now aimed at Africa and other developing (and oppressed) nations. Once a suitable, cost-effective and robust, cheap-to-run SW DRM digital receiver is manufactured, we shall see a renaissance in SW as a broadcast medium; the transmission infrastructure is there, after all, to provide it!

[chipp1968]

No but I would like to find the time . I was always facinated picking up arabic music and chinese music when i was a teen with my first shortwave Radio which was a 30s philco back in 82 , but It has some facination still

[Steve_P]

Yes, sometimes. It's amazing what's out there. Especially other countries news items...

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Kevin Hoyland]

Hello yes I listen to Short wave. My Grundig 2038 is outstanding at picking sataions world wide day or night. It's a small world when you are turning the dial on short wave.

Regards Kev.

[OErjan_S]

yes i do, even wih a shortwave crystal radio.

[Richard675]

Any particular sw station you enjoy or regularly listen to? I like Radio Sweden, particularly as it can be easily heard on MW as well.

[BGmidsUK]

That brings back some memories. I used to regularly listen to YLE Helsinki on Medium Wave in the 1980s, it hadn't occurred to me it was on Short Wave as well. Mind you, I didn't have a working short wave radio until the late 1980s (an old transistor radio-cassette with no fine tuning control - but then the bug bit and I bought myself a multi band portable) - I haven't explored Short Wave for a few months or so but this thread has acted as a little reminder of what I'm missing! So thanks for that


Brian

[Oldtimer74]

I would be very interested to have some details of the short wave crystal receiver.
Pat G3IKR

[Steve_P]

Now I look and find what's about.

Do the VOA still do 'Jazz Hour' by the way. Loved that as a kid.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[M0AFJ, Tim]

Well I try to but BT's Homeplug PLA devices have all but wiped it out

[Keith_B]

I still do occasionally. I use a Sangean ATS909 (which Roberts badged as R861). I would find a station using the Sangean, then sometimes tune in one of my vintage radios to listen the program. My Grundig 3028/GB always has good sensitivity. I've listened to old Wolfman Jack. I use to like listening to Radio Prague, VOA, VOR and Radio China International. I even did some decoding using a DOS program called Radio Raft & a demodulator connecting to a COM port & picked up some weather reports.

[Zelandeth]

Yes actually, especially as of a couple of weeks ago.

I don't tend to listen for hours at a time, but it's interesting at the weekend to sit down for a couple of hours in the evening with the old Selena Vega 215 (and try to avoid getting poked in the eye by the antenna) and just see what I can find out there. I never realised how much there was until I investigated the SW band with this set, which seems immesurably more sensitive than anything else I own with an SW setting.

I can't help but think about how amasing it must have seen in the years before satellite TV and the internet - where we don't really think about talking to someone on the far side of the planet that being able to pick up international broadcasts like this must have been - that's a discussion rather beyond the scope of this one though!

So yes - I do still listen to SW.

[mark pirate]

I am not a regular SW listener, but having a decent long wire aerial, i like to run some of my valve sets on SW just to see how well they work & just to see whats out there
Recently i was using my old sobel (the one in my avatar) and was amazed how well it performs on SW, very interesting listening to radio melbourne

Mark

[OErjan_S]

The shortwave crystal set is simple, a "standard 350pF air variable capacitor in paralell with a coil.
that coil is 22 turns of 0.8mm bare copper on a 50mm diam over a lenght of 35mm (this means space between turns making enameled wire unnessesary) I did this on a PEHD shampoo bottle.

3/4 way up on coil I have a tap and that goes to a AAZ119 Ge diode, and from there to a matching transformer and that is to a pair of "soundpowered" headphones.

Now to the antenna coil, size is same but for being 3 turns less and only 30mm long, top is to antenna and bottom is to ground, between antenna and coil I have a third air variable.
using the three capacitors and two coils I can both tune the the antenna system to peak a signal and by varying the coupling between the coils (they are on separate bases and can be moved closer or furhter appart) I can gett broader tuning by having them close (100mm or so) or sharp tuning by having them further appart (up to 300mm) it is lots of variables o fiddle with but loads of fun.
here you have another design, mine is more or less similar just that it has a "floaing" detecor unit, no ground lead for that just inductive coupling, i reduce 50Hz hum...
http://schmarder.com/radios/crystal/09.htm

[macmad3]

I use to but the last couple of years the band are very quite du ti the lack of sun spots , sun spots have been low for 5 years or more. don't know when it will improve . I'm in New Zealand so I rely on radio reflecting off the ionishear . currently I can only receive Australia an the Islands in the Pacific

[OErjan_S]

actually I will listen LOTS in a few weeks, this as I will try to make both a crystal radio a single triode (#30) regen and a 3 tube TRF radio ready for the 2009 homebrew summer contest (July 24, 2009 - August 10).
as I live near Arctic circle I am more or less forced to go SW with full daylight all 24hours, and as already said not much SW bounce just now either, fun all the same.

going seriously of topic, here is a link to the contest rules. http://theradioboard.com/radiocontest/index.htm
make a simple radio and go for it, nice way to spend a night, everything from a simple 1 tube regen to a transistor superhet can enter as long as it is made by you.
(try it loads of fun)

[johnlees]

Yes, I flip through the Short Wave perhaps once a week. As mentioned earlier above I like the Chinese and other foreign music styles and I can tune my ears to and brush up on the foreign languages I have learnt. I used to listen to the news in Latin but haven't found it lately.

[A. Koshkin]

Almost all European immigrants listen to SW in Australia; Even I take the time to listen to my collection of SW enabled radio receivers. Short Wave signal is perhaps the cheapest and easiest way of listening to broadcasts from distant lands. Even some people are 'enthusiasts' and listen to programmes which they do not understand for the sake of listening to their Short Wave radios (sometimes, even I pass time in such ways). I am also an antenna enthusiast and take up on antenna building projects, testing many different home made designs: I succeeded in making a 'Panasonic 8' receiver (measuring approx. 20 X 10 cm) work with the same strength as a five kilo 'Vega Selena 215' radio on short wave (SW signal is a great source of discovery - listening to it, or trying to receive it).
Many millions of Short Wave radio fanatics must exist since there are plenty of broadcasts. In USSR, SW signal was the most used waves - maybe because of the great distances between the radio station and listeners. Unfortunately, SW listeners are a dying generation as radios are being replaced with digital gadgets and computers.

[Hybrid tellies]

I have a few shortwave sets, quite decent modernish ones. If I have time and reception conditions are favourable I sometimes listen to the voice of Russia, R Australia, R Slovakia and at the moment the English service from Iran is quite interesting.