Thursday, February 26, 2009

High-End Receivers for Shortwave Listeners

Serious shortwave listeners, especially those who consider themselves DXers or DX-listeners may use very expensive communications receivers and outdoor antennas. Typically, a modern solid state communications receiver will be of the superheterodyne type in double, triple or, more rarely, quad conversion. It will feature multiple RF and IF amplification stages and may have at least one IF stage that is crystal controlled. It will usually have an additional BFO product detector for SSB and CW reception capabilities. The frequency coverage of receivers of this type is typically in the range of 500 kHz to 30 MHz.

The front panel controls are typically more comprehensive than those on a local broadcast receiver. Usual features include: signal strength meter; RF gain control; AVC/AGC adjustments; antenna tuner; bandwidth filters; BFO tuning; audio limiters or attenuators. Frequency display dials may either be analog (typically marked to fine increments for accuracy) or digital.
Three portable shortwave receivers

The older generation of vacuum tube-based communications receivers are affectionately known as boatanchors for their large size and weight. Such receivers include the Collins R-390 and R-390A, the RCA AR-88, the Racal RA-17L and the Marconi Electra. However, even modern solid-state receivers can be very large and heavy, such as the Plessey PR2250, the Redifon R551 or the Rohde & Schwarz EK070.

Modern medium quality shortwave radio receivers tend to be relatively inexpensive and easily accessible. Many hobbyists use even less-expensive portable receivers with good results. In general, any given shortwave radio will benefit from an external antenna — even a simple wire antenna — as long as the antenna is away from electrical noise sources. The standard shortwave receiving antenna is the dipole antenna which can be readily purchased or made by hand from a roll of wire and a couple of insulators.

(From Wikipedia, published under Gnu Free Documentation License)

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.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sangean ATS-909

Sangean ATS-909 is another great portable shortwave radio, which can easily be carried around the world when travelling. But it can equally well be used at home if you don't have much space for any huge communication receiver.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Looking for Shortwave Receiver?

If you have not yet a shortwave radio, I suggest you to start with some cheap model. Many traditional manufacturers have been in the business for decades and usually their receivers can be trusted to have decent quality.

I would suggest you to choose from the following manufacturers:

* Sony
* Grundig
* Sangean

All three manufacturers produce shortwave receivers that should provide you good or outstanding performance.

If you are ready to put some more money into your hobby, you might want to see if Ebay has something to offer.

Monday, February 16, 2009

WRTH World Radio and TV Handbook

World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) is another useful book for all the shortwave enthusiasts around the world. Unlike Passport to World Band Radio, WRTH includes information about medium wave and FM broadcasters as well. Even TV stations are included in the handbook that has been an important work of reference book for decades. A new edition of the book is published every year.

In addition to the information about broadcasters, frequencies and broadcasting schedules, WRTH reviews both portable shortwave receivers and more expensive communication receivers that are meant for desktop use. Furthermore, even the advertising in the margins of the book provide lots of useful information for anyone who is interested in the world of radio stations around the world.

Buy the WRTH, if you want to know more about broadcasting around the globe!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Portable Shortwave Receivers

Today practically all of the cheap portable shortwave receivers are digital. When I started shortwave listening in the 1980's, only the more expensive table top receivers were digital. My fist shortwave receiver was a Soviet portable receiver of model Selena B212. The model is still legendary for its good performance for the price, but it was rather difficult to use without a separate digital frequency counter.

Most beginners should be happy with any portable receiver in the price range between $99-$199. Sangean, Sony and Grundig have produced shortwave receivers of decent quality in this price range. I myself use a Sony ICF7600 and I have been completely happy with its performance. I have very pleasant memories of sitting under a palm tree in the Dominican Republic while listening to icehockey match broadcasted from Scandinavia a few years ago...

The shortwave receivers in this price range usually perform quite well with the in-built whip antenna. If you are interested in listening to more exotic stations with weak signals, you might need an external antenna and/or a better receiver. But for most shortwave listeners it is enough to have a decent portable receiver.

Shortwave broadcast bands

Both Passport to World Band Radio and World Radio and TV Handbook publish schedules of international broadcasters that broadcast in English or in any other language of the world. There are, of course, also free Internet resources that help you to locate interesting shortwave transmissions on the wide spectrum of shortwaves.

It is important to note that only part of the shortwave spectrum is used for broadcasting. Other part of the radio frequencies are used by amateur radio operators and many kinds of utility stations. The following list gives an overview of the frequencies used by broadcasters around the world.

11 meters – 25.67–26.10 MHz – Very few stations are active in this band

13 meters – 21.45–21.85 MHz – This band can be used for long distance reception during the daylight hours

15 meters – 18.90–19.02 MHz – Rarely used.

16 meters – 17.48–17.90 MHz – Good for daytime reception, and seasonally in the night.

19 meters –15.00–15.825 MHz – Day reception good, night reception best during summer

22 meters – 13.57–13.87 MHz – Similar to 19 meters; best in summer.

25 meters – 11.50–12.16 MHz – Generally best during summer; and ideal during the period before and after sunset.

31 meters – 9250–9995 kHz – Good year-round night band for long distances; seasonal during the day, with best reception in winter.

41 meters – 7100–7600 kHz – Reception varies by region – reasonably good night reception, but few transmitters in this band are targeted to North America. Good reception for daytime in Europe.

49 meters – 5800–6300 kHz – Good year-round night band; local daytime reception

60 meters – 4400–5100 kHz – Mostly used locally in tropical regions (Asia, Latin America, Africa, Pacific Area), though usable at night also for long distance reception.

75 meters – 3900–4050 kHz – Mostly used in Eastern Hemisphere including Europe

90 meters – 3200–3400 kHz – Mostly used locally in tropical regions (Asia, South America, Africa)

120 meters – 2300–2495 kHz – Mostly used locally in tropical regions (Asia and South America)

Finding Shortway Stations

Now that you know what is meant by UTC and GMT, you are ready to find some shortwave broadcasts!

If you already have a copy of Passport to World Band Radio or World Radio TV Handbook you have everything you need in your hands. If you don yet have either of these books, I warmly recommend you to order one of them. Having the books is not absolutely necessary, but they certainly will make the life of a shortwave listenere easier.

The next concepts you should understand are how the radio frequencies are given. The frequency used in announcements and program schedules is given either in kilohertz (kHz) or megahertz (MHz). This means that 6120 kHz is the same frequency as 6.120 MHz. All you need to know is that these frequencies are identical and you will be able to find the station using your brand new world receiver.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Getting Started in Shortwave Listening

Shortwave listening (SWL) is a hobby that is easy to start and does not demand much money to be invested. Very usable shortwave receivers can be bought for $200 and you can find even better deals in the different internet shops and auctions. As soon as you have a new receiver you can turn it on and start seeking for shortwave broadcasts.

In the following series of articles, I'll tell you the most important tips to get started in the new hobby. Otherwise you might not find a single shortwave broadcaster and think that your brand new receiver is not functioning correctly.

The first thing you should become accustomed to is the internationally used world time. World time is often called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). In some publications you might still see the abbreviation GMT, Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich is located in London, UK, which should give you the first idea of what is meant by GMT or UTC!

In the international shortwave broadcasts all the times are usually given in UTC. It is announced in a 24-hour format and you are unlike to hear 12-hour format in any of the radio shows or announcements. If you want to be sure about the time you should listen to some of the standard time stations that broadcast on the frequencies of 2500, 5000, 10000, 15000 and 20000 kHz. At least one of these stations is probably audible in your area any time of the day. Of course, you can also check the time on internet!

Once you know what is meant by UTC, you are ready to read timetables of international broadcasters.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Books for shortwave listeners

It is certainly possible to start a new hobby with just information from different Internet sites. There are of course dozens of good sites that can help you to find interesting shortwave broadcasts you can listen to with your new shortwave receiver. I would, however, recommend you to buy at least a book or two.

Books are better than web sites when you want to have a clear overview of a topic. You can google around for days or weeks and still not know for sure if you have got the idea right. Or if you have found the best sources of information. But there are some pretty reliable books that can help you to begin your new hobby.

My two favourite series of books are World Radio TV Handbook (WRTH) and Passport to World Band Radio.

In fact, Passport to World Band Radio nowaday hosts even a web site that has some good introductory information you certainly should first read. Read first the free pdf files on their site before looking elsewhere for further information. I would strongly recommend you also to subscribe the book itself as it contains almost 400 pages of important information for every shortwave enthusiast.

The latest edition of the book is the 25th anniversary edition of the popular series. It includes reviews of receivers and antennas, information about the time-tables and frequencies used by shortwave stations of the world and a lot more! If you want to buy just one book about the world of shortwaves this must be the first choice!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Cheap shortwave receivers for beginning hobbyists

If you would like to try shortwave listening as a hobby, chances are that you don't want to spend thousands of dollars (or euros) just to see if SWL is a hobby you are interested in. Fortunately, you don't have to spend a lot of money in order to experience the exciting world of the short waves. On the contrary, you can get a decent new world band receiver for $100-$200.

In fact, this is what I would suggest to you as a potential new shortwave listener. Just check some of the well known web stores that sell electronics in your home country. Or you might find some very cheap shortwave radios even in a supermarket. The cheap radios usually have a built-in whip antenna that can give a decent reception of the international broadcasters. And if you find out that the hobby was after all not that interesting, you can usually use the same receiver even for receiving the local FM stations. So you would anyway get a usable radio receiver!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Shortwaves now and in the 1980s

Shortwave listening has changed a lot in the last two decades. Several international broadcasters of the 1980s are now silent on the shortwaves. Some of the changes have been caused by technological change - shortwave listening just is not anymore as popular as it was in the 1980s.

In many countries international broadcasting was and still is financed by the government. Some countries have financed international broadcasting as a means of keeping own citizens abroad in touch with what is happening at home. In case of industrialized countries this has become more ore less redundant in light of the easily available internet connections. Who would listen to shortwave transmissions when one can read online newspapers from the home for free? Or who would listen to barely audible news transmissions if one can listen to an internet audio stream broadcast by one of the local radio companies?

According to many broadcasters, the answer is nobody. Or at least the audience has become smaller and smaller and it has been difficult to explain the governments that there really is a need for international broadcasting on the shortwaves even in the 21st century.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Shortwave Listening as a Hobby

Twenty to twentyfive years ago shortwave listening was probably the geekiest hobby one could imagine. As teenagers we used to hack some BASIC code with our Commodor 64 home computers and play endless hours of computer games with the underpowered computer.

But at that time there was no Internet. Or at least there was no Internet for ordinary home users, no email, no world wide web and no internet streaming radios. But we had our shortwave receivers.

Shortwave radios were the passport to world, its languages, music, cultures and up-to-date news from all over the world. Nowadays in the era of Google, shortwave listening might seem an anachronistic hobby - how cares about noisy reception of radio transmissions from neighboring countries when the Internet is full of streaming radios?

We did. And I still care about shortwave receivers and international broadcasting on the radio frequencies. It is somehow just more human, the fading audio and athmospher noises make the listening something special - even if the transmission can be heard every day.

I'm coming back to shortwave listening after more than a decade of inactivity. The world has changed a lot, and not all of the changes are welcome for a traditionalist like me.