|
Answer» Nobody listens to Shortwave Radio anymore.
True?
Apparently. List of English broadcasts in the USA is very slim. Except for religious groups that think normal people hear them.
I could not find a list of non-government non-religion shortwave broadcaster in the USA. Which implies that nobody in the USA cares about shortwave broadcasting.
Exception. There are some "pirates" that get on shortwave once in awhile just because they are not supposed to do it. Like on April Fools day.
What do you thin? Never mind, you probably don't even care.
Well, it's to be expected that the number of people listening to traditional analogue radio will have dropped due to the fact that the internet allows them to receive the same content in higher quality without specialised equipment.
That said, shortwave radio listening is still alive and going strong. I am very interested in this sort of thing and actually regularly listen to shortwave radio as well as VHF and UHF bands. Modern TECHNOLOGY actually makes it better than ever through the use of Software Defined Radios (SDR). Rather than a traditional radio that uses analogue circuitry, an SDR samples the electromagnetic spectrum and sends the data to a computer for processing, this means that the hardware can be made cheaper as well as providing huge amounts of flexibility due to all the signal processing being done in software. Most of these radios cost hundreds however one type, known as the RTL-SDR (http://www.rtl-sdr.com/) can be found for under $20 - http://www.amazon.com/DVB-T-RTL2832U-RTL-SDR-Receiver-Compatible/dp/B00PDM76ZW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1444873632&sr=8-3&keywords=sdr. They are marketed as cheap TV tuners and are terrible for watching TV, however they are actually SDRs and when coupled with the appropriate software (I use SDR#) they can be used to listen to any frequency from around 25MHz all the way up to 1.8GHz. I then coupled mine with an upconverter (http://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Ham-Up-v1-3-Upconverter/dp/B009LQT3G6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444873729&sr=8-1&keywords=ham-it-up) which allows it to receive shortwave frequencies.
Another benefit with SDRs is because they are connected to a PC, it is easy to decode all sorts of digital transmissions, simply feed the signal thorough an appropriate piece of software. I've used this to decode morse, RTTY, SSTV, weather fax images and much more!
The other extremely cool things with SDRs is that because they can be connected to a computer, it is POSSIBLE to share them over the internet to allow other people to use them, an example of this is SDR at the University of Twente in the netherlands which allows you to listen to the entire HF (shortwave) radio spectrum from directly within your browser! This can be found here: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/
One thing I regularly try to receive are so called "Numbers Stations" which broadcast encrypted messages to secret agents. These are particularly fun because they are possible to receive but are rather distant (often from Russia) so it can be a challenge to get a good RECEPTION. Here is a set of some recordings I made of these from a while back on my SDR setup: https://soundcloud.com/cameron-gray-39/sets/sdr-recordings
This is the sort of view you get with the software, it shows all signals in its tuning range and lets you easily see what signals they are and then TUNE to them. You can even record a wideband signal which can include multiple stations and then later play back the recording and tune to the stations you want!
As for my setup, here are some photos of what I have: http://imgur.com/a/bz6r1
SDR (black USB dongle), Upconverter (Blue PCB) attached to my homemade active whip antenna (for shortwave reception):
Close up of the SDR dongle and upconverter board:
Inside of the homemade active whip antenna for shortwave reception:
Large homemade ~2m long off-centre fed dipole antenna for VHF/UHF reception:
Ccamerongray, Wow. You are really into shortwave and VHF.UHF listening. Very nice photos of your equipment.
While doing some research on BPL I can across some remarks to the effect that shortwave redo was not important the interference to it by BPL does not matter.
**Om or about t 2004 the FCC let up on its tight restrictions about incidental radiation for home devices. Prior to that any home computer equipment had to be very clean and not radiate noise over the radio spectrum. Specifically, the Radio Shack TRS080 had to be modified too meet rules at that time.
However, the new rules for BPL will kill home reception of shortwave in some places where shortwave signals are weak or home owners an not allowed to erect tall antennas. This has been well documented.
**
Quote On 14 October 2004, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to facilitate the deployment of "Access BPL", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_over_power_lines#US_FCC
Here where I live the noise level is very bad. But I do not know if it is from BPL. It is hard to listen to out-of-town AM broadcast stations.And I do not get much shortwave either. I think my neighborhood has some other problem. But I don't know.
Once again a mis-leading title in a Geek NEWS story...
There's a dozen Clubs alone in a 120 mile radius of where i live.I listen to SW on occasion. Use to be more frequent when I was able to be up late nights and catch the bounce off the ionosphere and get some far reached signals. Most of which I couldnt understand but based on the language you had a pretty good clue.
I use to have a Norelco Shortwave Tube Radio that worked better than the small modern compact SW/AM/FM/Weather radio. My wife thought it was junk and threw it away on me... I still have the modern SW combination radio but I really liked the old Norelco.
Most people when they hear the brand Norelco they think of electric shavers not Radios.
These days it might only be 1 or 2 times a year that I jump onto Short Wave listening. The computer and internet has sucked me into that for audio for the most part.
Also use to have a older HAM radio that I bought and got working from a yard sale, but listened in on and didnt transmit for fear that the FCC police would fine(d) me. Since I didnt have a license. Sold that which I bought for $25 for $300 with the antenna and all for a nice $275 profit.
|
