DrDiablo
Member
What is the future of shortwave listening especially some broadcasters have stopped broadcasting on the shortwave?Will it be like vinyls,etc and become obsolete?
Future of shortewave listening
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w2xq
Mentor
Shortwave broadcasting will evolve but never go away. It is the only medium that cannot be controlled by a gatekeeper. You may want to review this often-discussed subject in this recent thread and join in: http://forums.radioreference.com/hf...7-shortwaves-competition-why-we-still-do.html. HTH.
I don't think it'll totally go away or become obsolete. True, there are less and less broadcasters these days but personally I think it has something to do with funding. With the world economy in the dumps, it's harder for broadcasters to make ends meet.
k9rzz
Member
Vinyl certainly hasn't gone away like the dinosaurs, and not everybody has a smart phone.
I wouldn't worry much about loosing shortwave broadcasting in our lifetimes.
HF as a radio medium certainly won't go anywhere.
I wouldn't worry much about loosing shortwave broadcasting in our lifetimes.
HF as a radio medium certainly won't go anywhere.
Bellingham_Scanner
Member
I would have to agree, SWL ain't goin' nowhere...
Sure commercial stations may go the way of Communist propaganda stations but that will open up the airwaves for the rebels, which is more exciting anyway.
Sure commercial stations may go the way of Communist propaganda stations but that will open up the airwaves for the rebels, which is more exciting anyway.
The real question you have to ask here is if the shortwave spectrum didn't have some form of broadcasting, what else would we do with it?
Shortwave as a long haul communications medium has largely been left behind as satellite radio became more popular. However, I think that shortwave broadcasting might improve in several ways:
First, I know the romance of AM is certainly there; but, honestly, it's got to go. Even Double Sideband Suppressed carrier would be better. But that said, I think a modern digital modulation method that is resilient in the face of selective fading would be best. That's what DRM was supposed to do, but then they ran in to issues trying to build affordable radios for this mode. It still hasn't taken root the way everyone had hoped.
With software defined radios for SW dropping in price the way they are, though, I have to wonder how long it will be before SW broadcasting with complex signal demodulation gets popular again. Another point is that data broadcasts are getting more and more useful. Radio stations might be able to broadcast schedules that your receiver could automatically pick through to find the signals.
I think the shortwave spectrum has potential. It probably won't be for music programming; but I do envision a broadcast service that might be useful for weather, rural information (such as visiting medical teams, farming and climate forecasts, road conditions, and the like), news, and so on...
Shortwave as a long haul communications medium has largely been left behind as satellite radio became more popular. However, I think that shortwave broadcasting might improve in several ways:
First, I know the romance of AM is certainly there; but, honestly, it's got to go. Even Double Sideband Suppressed carrier would be better. But that said, I think a modern digital modulation method that is resilient in the face of selective fading would be best. That's what DRM was supposed to do, but then they ran in to issues trying to build affordable radios for this mode. It still hasn't taken root the way everyone had hoped.
With software defined radios for SW dropping in price the way they are, though, I have to wonder how long it will be before SW broadcasting with complex signal demodulation gets popular again. Another point is that data broadcasts are getting more and more useful. Radio stations might be able to broadcast schedules that your receiver could automatically pick through to find the signals.
I think the shortwave spectrum has potential. It probably won't be for music programming; but I do envision a broadcast service that might be useful for weather, rural information (such as visiting medical teams, farming and climate forecasts, road conditions, and the like), news, and so on...
w2xq
Mentor
Not to beat a horse from the other thread, but SW AM broadcasting will survive as the only information source that cannot be turned off by a gatekeeper of a satellite, a domestic AM or FM broadcaster, or Internet service. Think third world countries, poorer populations, villages in remote corners of the world, and conflicts. To be sure, HF broadcasting is on a decline but it will continue. Cheap AM-mode portable radios can be made for pennies. Just take a look at the listing of stations in the tropical bands and the target areas of the remaining HF broadcasts by BBC and VOA (among others). I remember when the crank South African-built Barlow-Wadley came to market; the UN bought boatloads to distribute in Africa and Asia. I looked at a second generation B-W which had both a spring and solar cells. The receiver was simply a single small circuit board. We're spoiled here in NA, western Europe, Japan et al. Just my opinion, but HTH.
majoco
Stirrer
Have a look around and see what is being broadcast on SW - then have another look and see who the broadcasters are and who they are broadcasting to.
Years ago Radio Moscow broadcast their propaganda and anti-west messages, now you will find Deutche Welle has a big transmitter at Kigali in the middle of Africa. Why? - same reason, although I don't think that DW is broadcasting propaganda - just a different viewpoint. People have objected to the BBC no longer supplying world news - but they are still there - just not broadcasting so much in English. They are broadcasting in Arabic and other languages to countries where they want an alternative message to get through, other than the 'state-controlled' pap.
Years ago Radio Moscow broadcast their propaganda and anti-west messages, now you will find Deutche Welle has a big transmitter at Kigali in the middle of Africa. Why? - same reason, although I don't think that DW is broadcasting propaganda - just a different viewpoint. People have objected to the BBC no longer supplying world news - but they are still there - just not broadcasting so much in English. They are broadcasting in Arabic and other languages to countries where they want an alternative message to get through, other than the 'state-controlled' pap.
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