Wi-Fi radio vs shortwave radio

[Rq17954z]

Outside of the the fact if the Internet goes down you will have nothing to listen to for general listening why bother with shortwave? Have recently begun listening to Wi-Fi radio I can listen to news and music from anywhere on the planet without any static at all. There is even some scanner streaming of air band and some fire departments ! Only just scratched the surface so far but I find it hands down much more interesting. Found a app from Germany for less than $2:00 on Google play that works very good called( Receiver) have it installed on a old phone working very good and is not affected by storms on the sun. Disappointed with what is available on shortwave broadcasts I highly recommend you give it a try!

 

[spongella]

Boy, that's a great question. Well, in my case as an SWL for 60+ years and who's had two WiFi radios over the past several years, WiFi was never able to cover the international scene as well and as easily using a shortwave radio. I also missed the static, the fading, the jamming and Mother nature's effect on propagation. WiFi was just too......... dependable.

 

[Rq17954z]

You might be surprised by the international coverage nowadays on Wi-Fi radio today it much better the only limit is my inability to understand all the languages spoken!

 

[nd5y]

Paying for an app like that is a waste of money.
There are lots of web sites that list radio and TV stations that stream their programming online.
It has nothing to do with WiFi unless that it what you use for internet access.
There are also online 24/7 "broadcasters" that aren't part of a radio or TV station or network.

 

[jwt873]

You don;'t even need a WiFi radio. I've got an app on my phone called TuneIn Radio. I can listen to broadcast stations from over the world. I can even hear the local stations. The basic version is free.

Also, most international short wave stations and AM broadcast stations stream over the internet. Just go to their web sites for the links.

But you are using infrastructure. If the net goes down,you can still listen the old way. Plus there are modes other than general broadcast such as military and utility stations don't get relayed over WiFi.

And.. Short Wave listening is an ancient hobby. There's a pride in setting up a station to catch the rare ones. Asking why Short Wave rather than WiFi is kind of like asking why go fishing when you can just buy a fish at the local grocery store?

 

[n0xvz]

...why bother with shortwave?

Because some people like radio. "Wi-Fi radio" is just a computer (with limited functionality) hooked to the internet. My phone can do the same thing if I want.

 

[Rq17954z]

Maybe I should have said why limit your selection.

 

[n0xvz]

Maybe I should have said why limit your selection.

It's presumptive of you to assume that people limit their selection. Each tool is to be applied as the user desires. Many of us use multiple options for different reasons.

 

[prcguy]

There is the hobby of SWL where you play with antennas and radios then listen to whatever is out there. Sometimes tuning in for a distant station or specific program but many times just hunting for new and interesting things. Or just to see how weak of a signal you can pick up and decipher. That's a hobby.

If you only have a specific program you want to listen to and don't care about how you get it like clicking on the Internet, that's not a hobby. Might as well turn on Netflix at that point.

 

[merlin]

I started SWLing long before there were PCs and internet, that hobby hasn't changed much even though I have a couple radio apps
on my phone.
Just did install yet more decoders for VLF to 900 MHz

 

[KF6DGN]

As mentioned above, the FREE TuneIn app has a lot of International Broadcasters.

Radio Garden, available on Android & free, is kind of neat because you use the world globe to select radio stations.

Just more resources; happy monitoring!