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Author Topic: Newbie  (Read 1349 times)

2W0EJP

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Newbie
« on: August 19, 2018, 11:54:15 PM »

Hi Guys,
Paul here from the UK, new to the group.
Started listening to SW when I was a kid on my grand old radio - Radio Moscow World Service was my first ever station.
I have a Tecsun 2000, Yupiteru MVT 7100, and have just been lucky enough to get a JRC NRD 91.
What’s good to listen to these days on SW ?
Paul
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RENTON481

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2018, 06:26:03 PM »

Static, mostly.
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W7XTV

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2018, 07:53:42 PM »

China, Cuba, the BBC, Romania, Japan, both Koreas, the VOA, New Zealand.  Not much else anymore, at least in English, other than "dollar-a-holler" American religious stations, some of which air secular/commercial programming. 

Most of the old European, African, and Australian mega-stations, as well as the South American "tropical" broadcasters, are long gone.  The end of the Cold War was the beginning of the end for shortwave broadcasting, as was the movement in Latin America from SW to FM, beginning in the 1980s.

2019 might be the end of WWV and WWVH as well.  >:(
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He speaks fluent PSK31, in FT8...  One QSO with him earns you 5BDXCC...  His Wouff Hong has two Wouffs... Hiram Percy Maxim called HIM "The Old Man..."  He is... The Most Interesting Ham In The World!

VK2NZA

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2018, 01:05:25 AM »

Shortwave listening has changed, digital networking and satellite have replaced many of the English speaking and European broadcasters,

There is now a plethora of SW signals from Asia and China, they boom in to my shack here in Eastern Australia, sadly I never learned Mandarin or Cantonese.

China Drive from Bejiing is a powerful signal in the South Pacific and is in English,

Radio New Zealand thankfully still broadcasts interesting programming primarily to the Pacific however can be heard in North America with a reasonable receiver and antenna.

Due to my location I also receive many low powered Indonesian radio stations from the over 16000 island archipelago, with 267 million people there are a variety of languages spoken and  advertising is quite humorous and although I don't understand the languages.

Depending on your location there is still much to listen to but the heyday of SW has passed according to many, however don't lose heart there are till some very interesting catches out there and the musical variations to be heard are diverse and quite different to our Western styles.
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RENTON481

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2018, 08:11:34 AM »

Actually, there are still some stations to hear but a lot of it depends on conditions. My previous answer was a combination of sarcasm and disillusionment in how SW has dipped and dived after the Cold War, internet, FM reach in the third world, and mediocre propagation has all conspired to reduce the SW bands from their former glory to increasingly empty swaths of spectrum.

On good evenings I can hear the Voice of Greece on 9420. Awesome music. On good mornings I hear Asia quite well, especially in the 49 and 41 meter bands. LIke VK2ZA, I've also heard China Drive, an FM style talk and news program that booms out of China.

The best thing to do is spin through the SW bands and see what's there. If you hear little, try again the next evening... and the next... Propagation changes from night to night. Some nights bands may seem empty, others there will be a lot more activity. It's just nowhere like it was even in 2000 or 2002.

Propagation hasn't been terrific over the past couple of years, and the number of stations decreasing isn't helping much.

At the same time, the former third world still has some SW activity, and if I were in the UK, I would be trying to hear the Middle East and Asia, which are still the target areas of a lot of broadcasts.

I'd also tune the ham HF bands. Sometimes I look at the online ham signal maps and see a lot of activity is present in Europe.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2018, 08:14:06 AM by RENTON481 »
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VR2AX

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2018, 10:45:05 PM »

You can download the WRTH A18 schedules and updates free here:

http://www.wrth.com/_shop/?cat=36

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KAPT4560

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RE: Newbie
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2018, 04:50:10 AM »

 I can lament the decline of the "Golden Age" of SW broadcasting like previous posters, but there is always something to tune into and listen to. The internet, logistics and cost has taken away many major broadcasters of the past like the BBC.
 English-speaking Radio China Int'l, TRT, VoV and Radio Bucharest are active broadcasters, as are some U.S stations.
There has always been the religious and political broadcasts, but there is cultural, news and music out there if you tune for it. It's kind of like fishing, just turn the knob and stop on something to see if it catches your interest or not.
 I listen to the bedside National on the E-W longwire in the evening a couple of hours before going to sleep. 41 meters is usually active in the evening. If I find nothing interesting, I listen to AM-DX after dusk.
 Propagation can vary night-by-night, so you may find something unexpected on a different band. You never can tell what you may hear next. That is part of the excitement for me in this hobby.
 As a kid, my friend and I would tune his dad's S-53A from the low end of band A to the high end of band E. Some bands were busy, some bands were silent. It was the start of my fascination with shortwave.

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