So....there's nothing but far right wing nutters and religious stuff on shortwave unless it's in another language as far as I can tell...am I wrong? So I think i've decided MW dx is more for me, that and listening to hams until i reinstate my license. BTW...my most recent MW DX capture here in milwaukee is WLAC 1510 from nashville tonight. Yay me right?
I think I got bored with shortwave and like medium wave better now
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MW DX'er here too, and long-time SWL. I listen to distant MW stations daily on a Panasonic RF2200 and have picked up stations as far away as Radio Reloj (Radio Clock) from Havana. But I still check for interesting stations on shortwave, mostly utilities now, and not broadcasters as there a lot less than years ago.
What I hear on shortwave these days is nothing like what attracted me to SW in my teens. Sure, it's nice to hear stations that are half way around the globe, but most of the fascinating local music from those countries has disappeared or replaced by mainstream stuff that I hear in our shopping centre's PA system.
The only broadcasts in English I can hear these days are from R. New Zealand Intl. and R. Havana Cuba. RNZI is OK, but mostly news and interviews, which don't hold my interest. When they do play music, it's not the kind I like. As for Cuba, I'm rarely at the radio when Arnie Coro does his DXers Unlimited show. It's the only reason I tune them in. When I do hear Arnie, the audio is poor, so it's hard to make out what he's saying.
As for utilities, I mostly monitor a couple of digital modes, but a few minutes of watching them being decoded on my computer screen is enough; it gets boring beyond that. I'm not a DX hound, but if I want DX I can decode FT8 transmissions on the ham bands. But then, there's a limit to how many CQs and call signs I can watch with any interest.
My scanner brings in local VHF/UHF activity that so far hasn't gone digital. Sometimes I fall back on that, but the pandemic has somehow reduced the traffic on those bands.
Luckily, radio isn't my only hobby.
I cut my teeth on MW DXing many years ago.. I had an old Philco tube type table radio when I was a teen.. One night when tuning between our local stations I heard others that I'd never heard before. When I realized I was hearing direct broadcasts from places like Chicago, Omaha, Little Rock and Denver, I was hooked.
After that, I included shortwave with the purchase of an old second hand receiver. Then I eventually got my amateur license.
Medium wave isn't what it used to be.. Over the years, a lot of music programing has migrated over to the FM band with its higher fidelity leaving a lot of Talk and Sports in its place.. Quite a bit of it is syndicated, so you frequently hear the same stuff as you tune across the band. But despite that, I still tune the broadcast band during the odd cold winter night looking for a new one.
And also.... On Medium Wave, I often listen for the non directional aircraft beacons below the AM broadcast band. I have a bunch of them logged too.
After that, I included shortwave with the purchase of an old second hand receiver. Then I eventually got my amateur license.
Medium wave isn't what it used to be.. Over the years, a lot of music programing has migrated over to the FM band with its higher fidelity leaving a lot of Talk and Sports in its place.. Quite a bit of it is syndicated, so you frequently hear the same stuff as you tune across the band. But despite that, I still tune the broadcast band during the odd cold winter night looking for a new one.
And also.... On Medium Wave, I often listen for the non directional aircraft beacons below the AM broadcast band. I have a bunch of them logged too.
jhooten
Member
The last big wind took down the MW antenna. The temporary base loaded vertical doesn't do as well. Planning for the replacement is underway.
midwestsw
Member
Interesting discussion, I could include bits of comments from each of these posts
for my response. I do enjoy mw DX as well, I rely on it for sports, mainly football
games that I do not get with my outside o.t.a. TV antenna. I've a couple of spots
in the house where I have radio's, between these two radios, they pull in a phenomenal
amount of stations, the fabled RF-1150 is as good as it gets, IMHO for an analog radio.
Curious, anyone rely on a good 'ol analog, what do You listen with ?
for my response. I do enjoy mw DX as well, I rely on it for sports, mainly football
games that I do not get with my outside o.t.a. TV antenna. I've a couple of spots
in the house where I have radio's, between these two radios, they pull in a phenomenal
amount of stations, the fabled RF-1150 is as good as it gets, IMHO for an analog radio.
Curious, anyone rely on a good 'ol analog, what do You listen with ?
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I would rely on analogue if I could afford the money and space to keep it, I rely on analogue for my music synthesizers and it sounds phenomenal. Radios are digital though, and i also have a rather decent rtl-sdr for the super digital nerds, which pulls in a surprising amount of mediumwave, and the cool part is that I can record the whole band when i record baseband and go back through and catch everything later on. That said I tend to stick with my Eton field 550 grundig edition for that stuff. I bought it for SW but i use it almost exclusively for medium wave, I love that it has a separate antenna connector for medium wave.
MW DX is typically limited to the dark side of the gray lines, so local daytime options are limited.
To pass the time, if you have a radio capable of scanning, check the common aero and GHFS freqs on HF. Lots of nothing very interesting, but some good stuff at times.
To pass the time, if you have a radio capable of scanning, check the common aero and GHFS freqs on HF. Lots of nothing very interesting, but some good stuff at times.
eh, my rtlsdr can do it
I should have said "If you want to..."
i dunno, a lot of my antenna building has moved into the uhf bands. The different types become manageable at that frequency and they're still forgiving enough, and there's plenty of analogue stuff that I have a target for it, and if not i still have the rtlsdr and a hefty computer to decode it all.
point me to it.
danesgs
Member
As most of the major SW stations have gone internet, it renewed my interest in MW-DX. I bought a Ray Jefferson RDF off of Ebay in excellent condition for a good price. The battery pack was missing so I built my own. Can hear all kinds of MW stations at night by just adjusting the antenna on top. Also the battery pack keeps a lot of hum down and I can carry it around to other locations or outside. Great MW radio!!
Greg-KJ4DGE
Greg-KJ4DGE
danesgs
Member
Run a search on Ray Jefferson...
I have been DXing medium wave since I was a kid in the early 70's. Mostly now though I listen to the clear channel stations but occasionally log a low power station from the USA. Here are a couple of my analogue radios I like to use for receiving AM.
I have also been using this little micro powered medium wave transmitter to broadcast my own music throughout my apt.
It can also be found in kit form to build it yourself. With a 15' antenna it works pretty good.
I have also been using this little micro powered medium wave transmitter to broadcast my own music throughout my apt.
It can also be found in kit form to build it yourself. With a 15' antenna it works pretty good.
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