Anyone actully "Listen" to SW Broadcasts?

[Shortwavewave]

Dont take this the wrong way but it seems as if most DX stations rather than actully listen to them, please correct me if im wrong, I listen to SW stations every chance I get. I enjoy listening to over seas broadcasts, but there was somthing I was missing OR that I still am missing I cant hear it everyday weither it be work or family. So lets talk about what programs we enjoy.

So then I thought why not podcasts or if the broadcast live on the internet? Anyone have some good websites to SW radio broadcasters that you like? SO far Ive found CRI and Radio Tawian. Hope this isnt too off topic, but it would be nice If I could actully listen the them in the car or at work.

[blinddog50]

Get caught up with satelitte radio.
They carry several of them furrin' radio shows.
Go to their website to see their selection.
You can hook 'em up at work or in your schooner.

[markinillinois]

I listen to shortwave broadcast stations and patriot radio stations to keep me informed instead of our controlled news media that sugar coats and lies about everything. I don't believe anything our so-called news media tells us plus the two biggest radio blow hards, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Mark Holmes
Marion, IL

[k9rzz]

I don't have any regular programs that I listen to, but quite often I've got shortwave going on in the car when I'm driving around (IC-706). What I hear depends on the time of day, but I enjoy Radio Havana Cuba, Radio Canada, and others in the USA. It all depends on the time and how conditions are.

[WisconsinRailfan]

WBCQ - 7415 and WBCQ -Area51 5110 is what I listen to on a regular basis. Otherwise, I just spin the dial and see what I can find. Sometimes I will fall asleep to CHU or WWV :-)

[dougjgray]

I listen to them, although there is less to listen each year, maybe none left in 5 or 10 years. But also I dont think there is anything wrong with DXing either. So yeah I guess if your not into DXing then get rid of your radio's and us the internet most countries probably have there show available on the internet do a search on google

[90rock]

It's pretty interesting, still. Occasionally I will get the news from Radio Japan and China Radio International (in their respective languages), which is very interesting. Even more so is the programs I hear from Radio Cairo (all in Arabic). Sadly, the only foreign language I am relatively proficient in is Spanish, so I can understand pretty much everything on stations from Latin America.

As for broadcasts in English, it's mainly conspiracy theorists and the McVeigh- types.

Nevertheless, I still believe that shortwave will still be around for a while despite technological advances, to serve the needs of the internet-less developing world, so I suppose it would still be very interesting to listen to in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by markinillinois

I listen to shortwave broadcast stations and patriot radio stations to keep me informed instead of our controlled news media

Just curious what sort of news they talk about... Did they say McCain really won the election but the news media doesn't want us to know? Or are the Big 3 automakers really flush with cash, but CBS is anti-car?

[k9rzz]

There has to be shortwave radios for the nation's spies. Just up from the new CHU freq. (7850khz) I was listening to a Spanish numbers station that was broadcasting in AM. Very loud.

[jcherepy]

I listen quite regularly to the BBC, RCI, Africa Number 1, Radio National Da Amazonas and occasionally Radio Tirana and Bulgaria. In my Honda Pilot I listen with a Kenwood TS-480 and at home an ICOM IC756 Pro3. I'm listening to RCI (Radio Canada International) on 11.805 MHz 1800Z as I type this.

Bill WB4WTN

[zz0468]

Originally Posted by rdale

Just curious what sort of news they talk about... Did they say McCain really won the election but the news media doesn't want us to know? Or are the Big 3 automakers really flush with cash, but CBS is anti-car?

Of course not. But there's always at least two sides to every story, and foreign news broadcasts are an excellent way to see how others view a particular story. It can be enlightening to see what the rest of the world deems newsworthy and never makes the news here.

[trace1]

I listen, occasionally, on my WWII US Army Signal Corps Radio Receiver BC-312-N...

[Shortwavewave]

I dont think theres anything at all wrong with Dxing, just sometime its gets a little board if the bands arent lit up.

[jonny290]

It's a good way to enjoy your station at night if you don't want to jump into the 75 meter mud pit and can't put up a 40m phased array to null Europe.

I listen to RHC, CRI, whatever I can get in English as long as it's not a preacher. Usually I can find some neat programs to zone out to in the background.

[ridgescan]

To me it is entirely about the achievement of the receiver and antenna to be able to contact stations at a grand distance. To me that is still the thrill after all these years. Internet streaming-where's the challenge? Yeah the program content or the perspective from which a country reports news-there's some of that for me too in that it adds the spice to the dish, but who here isn't impressed by the raw global reaching work your HF receiver does in the cozy comfort of your home? There's even a sort of eeriness to it sometimes that keeps you coming back. SW will never go away. The world still will want to reach people in places where internet still cannot go but a radio can

[lanbergld]

Originally Posted by Shortwavewave

Dont take this the wrong way but it seems as if most DX stations rather than actually listen to them, please correct me if im wrong

No, you're not really wrong. I've been into shortwave radio since the late-1970s and indeed my thrill is the Dxing. Its like going fishing. Like to see what I'm going to catch. Alot of the fun is constructing the right antenna for a certain radio, band, RF situation, weather condition etc. Its very satisfying when I rig-up a certain length of certain type of wire & all of a sudden I'm listening to Shanwick air traffic control in the U.K.

I don't intently listen to SW broadcast stations as a source of information. Radio Taiwan on 5950 kHz is sometimes enjoyable though, as they often do parody on political/cultural topics. Its the only station I know that actually uses humour.

I do enjoy listening to the Hams on 80, 85 & 160 meters though. Sure, much of time Hams talk tech but sometimes I hear some really interesting conversations on current events and so forth.

Larry Lanberg
Richmond VA

Radios Past & Present:

Icom IC-R75
Kenwood R-1000
Kenwood R-2000
Radio Shack DX-400
Yaesu FRG-100
Yaesu VR-5000
Montgomery Ward Airline GEN-1496B
Palstar R30C
Kaito KA2100
Realistic DX-402
Kaito KA1103
AOR AR-2002
Yaesu VR-120D
Yaesu FRG-9600
Radio Shack 12-150
Sangean PR-D5
And a whole bunch of scanners

[screenersam]

almost all my sw listening is dxing, but occasionally I'll stop and listen for awhile. the 'Patriot' radio stuff is interesting--one guy was saying that Texas never legally re-entered the US! gist of it was, when Texas was annexed by the US (or, depending on your point of view, when the US was annexed by Texas) there was a clause allowing T to leave the union by legislative vote, which happened in 1861. the guy said the legislature never formally re-entered the union.
would make an interesting movie...

[Michael-SATX]

Mark, I take it that you might mean ... The Alex Jones talk show on these stations: 3.215, 5.070(eves) and 12.160(noon-ish) ... nice thread ... been trying to get the Shortwave bug to bite me for years )
I will have to plug in several freqs in this thread and see what I discover in the upcomming days ahead !

[lanbergld]

I stop and listen to Alex Jones on 5070 sometimes, usually when aeronautical traffic is low. I always thought he had a real gravelly voice -- that's the way it sounds on the broadcast. One night while listening to it, I shifted the mode over to sideband (zero beat). In ECSSB mode I noticed that the rough gurgling was totally separate from his actual voice. It must be some type of voice synthesizer that he uses for effect.

[kb2vxa]

Larry, it's nice to know you're a discriminating listener with enough intelligence to know what a source of information is and the rest just mindless entertainment, mostly mindless.

Sam, let this be a warning to you. Listen to mindlessness and you become mindless, every time you hear someone babbling about Texas having not a clue ABOUT Texas your IQ drops several points.

Same goes for you Lan and Michael don't tease the DX bug, like that thing Kahn put in Checkov's ear it'll burrow into your brain and control you. Hopefully it won't suck out your brain and make you listen to those idiots that have taken over US shortwave but you'll find yourself glued to the communications console listening for that message from Starfleet and cussing the Romulans for that subspace interference.

For accurate information I listen to WWV, first time, last time, every time, time after time and always the right time. You can trust a station when the announcer places his right hand on a cesium ion laser and takes an oath to tell the time, the whole time and nothing but the time so help me Kronos.