Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Shortwave Listening and DXing

There are basically two kinds of shortwave hobbyists. First, there are the shortwave listeners who are interested in listening to interesting broadcasts, news and music from foreign countries. Second, there are DXers who want to receive as many stations as possible from as many different countries as possible. Compared to shortwave listeners, the DXers are often more techincally minded, and they like to build new antenna systems, test new radios and receive the weakest possible signals.

One part of the hobby is traditionally collecting so-called QSL cards from SW broadcasters. The DXers send a written (or email) report of their reception to the radio station and request a confirmation of the reception. For international broadcasters, the reception reports can give valuable information about the real quality of the received signal around the world. Of course, most stations use paid monitors as well.

In the 1980s there were dozens of radio shows that were broadcasted for shortwave enthusiasts. Unfortunately, these shows have nowadays been dropped by many international broadcasters. The shortwave enthusiasts are not anymore considered an important audience for the programming.

It is impossible to know how many shortwave listeners there are around the world, but most estimates place the number in the millions. The shortwaves are, after all, still an important part of broadcasting in the developing countries. For these people, shortwaves are not a part of a hobby. On the contrary, shortwave broadcasting is part of their everyday life.

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