Thank you! Very useful chart.
Shortwave expectations
- Thread starter ditto1958
- Start date
I’ve had my portable SW radio for a month now, and have used it every day. I have to say that my experience so far has easily exceeded my expectations. Tonight in just a few minutes I got strong clear signals from Spain, Turkey and Brazil, along with all the usual boomers from here in the US- WRMI, Radio Marti, etc. I am pretty impressed.
So, naturally I have also decided I “need” more than one radio. I’m really happy with my first SW radio, an XHData D-109WB. But you know how it is… I decided I really enjoy DXing on shortwave, and after watching and reading a lot of reviews I decided on a Qodosen DX-286. Should be here tomorrow, and I’m excited to see how it performs.
So, naturally I have also decided I “need” more than one radio. I’m really happy with my first SW radio, an XHData D-109WB. But you know how it is… I decided I really enjoy DXing on shortwave, and after watching and reading a lot of reviews I decided on a Qodosen DX-286. Should be here tomorrow, and I’m excited to see how it performs.
SW listening gets better as the season gets colder. Here on the NE coast winter and shorter daylight days bring in a lot more SW and utility stations. As per a previous commenter, early morns and nights are generally better. Knowing when stations are broadcasting helps too so try the short-wave.info site. Have fun listening.
DXerPaulAK
Member
15770 comes from Okechobee, FL not slovakia.
majoco
Stirrer
Make sure the final pick of your radio receives SSB (Single sideband). Then you can listen to aircraft, ships, weather stations and lots of other things. Try 13.264MHz USB at anytime. Shannon Airadio broadcasts 24/7 with weather forecasts for the North Atlantic and western Europe, I can hear her (yes her!) most days here.
bearcatrp
Member
SSD comes in handy on frequencies you find using SSB.
Token
Member
SSB, true USB and LSB modes / product detector vs a BFO, are useful even if you do not intend to monitor SSB communications such as aviation, maritime, military, or ham radio. Even if all you do is AM mode Shortwave broadcasts, USB / LSB mode capability can be useful.
An AM transmissions (assuming normal, full DSB plus carrier AM) can be demodulated by your receiver using AM, USB, or LSB receiver modes, and there can be advantages to using each mode. Yes, you can receive an AM transmission using USB or LSB, but you cannot (usably) receive LSB or USB using AM mode.
How can the use of SSB receiver modes help in AM reception?
If you you want to listen to a station on 15750 kHz, and there is a strong station on 15760 kHz, the 15760 station may be introducing inference to the 15750 station. This is because there can be a bit of overlap between the two stations, the upper sideband of the 15750 station and the lower sideband of the 15760 stations can overlap a bit. This is not supposed to happen, the stations are supposed to be narrow enough not to interfere with each other, but it does indeed happen anyway. Also, depending on your receiver AM mode filter width, you may hear a lot of the 15760 station energy when tuned to 15750 kHz. This would be even worse in the case of a station on 15750 kHz and another on 15755 kHz, that kind of interference / signal overlap can be quite bad.
But, by tuning your receiver to 15750 kHz in LSB mode your receiver is ignoring the upper sideband portion of the 15750 kHz station, and can cut out a lot of the potential interference from the 15755 or 15760 kHz station.
T!
You can do all that on a portable?
majoco
Stirrer
Yes, but........ not many smaller portables have fine enough tuning to 'zero beat' or narrow enough bandwidth. Ideally you need tuning steps of 10Hz or better and the bandwidth to just cover one sideband, say 300Hz to 3khz. Early SSB receivers had a variable bfo called a "clarifier" just to shift the reinsertion oscillator a few Hz but not the narrow bandwidth to remove an interfering signal. A good crystal filter will fix that but at what cost and the stability of crystal oscillators in an oven to remove drift. Umpteen years ago when I was at sea, the ships receivers were turned on at the start of the voyage and turned off at the end, if at all!
Token
Member
It depends on the portable. If the radio has a product detector (a higher price option) for USB or LSB operation, vs something like a BFO and envelope detector (lower cost, more simple, option) for SSB operation, and ideally it also has some method of fine tuning to zero beat the signal, then yes, a portable can often do what I described. I have had many that would, and some that would not. In general I did not keep the ones that would not. And many times, for Shortwave Broadcast listening, you may not need the fine tuning, since most SWBC stations fall on 5 kHz step increments.
As a general rule, the lower the cost, the less likely it is to be able to do what I described. Another general rule, if the radio has a single "SSB" selection, and not individual "USB" and "LSB" selections, it probably will not do what I describe. This one can be fine tuned a bit, if the radio has a single SSB selection (and no USB or LSB selections), it almost certainly cannot do what I described. If the radio has individual selections for USB and LSB, it probably, but not always, can do what I described.
With regards to SSB vs USB/LSB, you have to really look at the radio or the radio manual. Sometimes a radio will describe itself as "SSB" capable, and it actually has individual USB/LSB selections. Other times it may be described as "USB/LSB", while only having a single "SSB" selection.
I cannot make any recommendation to current production radios that do, or do not, allow this kind of operation. In general, I do not use portables much, and when I do it tends to be one of the ones I have owned for years and they are generally no longer in production.
T!
I think this is part of the beauty of the hobby. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. We are fortunate in 2024 to have choices, and I for one M thankful that we have lightweight portable radios available are very, very sensitive, and are relatively easy to use, if I were younger, I would be more likely to want to delve into a little more tinkering with more complex receivers. I can see that there are some distinct advantages to them for people who know how to use them.
After using portable shortwave radios for a few weeks now, my biggest take away is that it is amazing the signals a novice like me can hear without very much knowledge or technical expertise. I guess I’m a DXer, although I didn’t know before what the name was for it. It’s enjoyable to, and also appreciate all the advice and knowledge I’ve received here at RadioReference.
After using portable shortwave radios for a few weeks now, my biggest take away is that it is amazing the signals a novice like me can hear without very much knowledge or technical expertise. I guess I’m a DXer, although I didn’t know before what the name was for it. It’s enjoyable to, and also appreciate all the advice and knowledge I’ve received here at RadioReference.
Using LSB and/or USB on an AM modulated signal can also reduce noise somewhat. You just switch on the BFO/SSB and zero beat the signal. I've been able to 'read' the audio of some super weak SW stations when conditions are mediocre or otherwise noisy using the BFO method -- switching it back to AM mode would just increase the noise.
Doesn't always work that way, but it's still an option.
Another plus to having a BFO is you can detect carriers a little easier. I frequently check the 31 Meter Band, end to end, even on poor nights, and sometimes I'll switch on the BFO on a channel I know should have a station present, even if I don't hear audio, and I'll hear the carrier and mark it down as a carrier being present. For example Missionaria out of Brazil doesn't always come in readably, but the BFO/SSB will show that a carrier is there.
For some SWL's that's a fun thing to track. For others? Probably not.
Doesn't always work that way, but it's still an option.
Another plus to having a BFO is you can detect carriers a little easier. I frequently check the 31 Meter Band, end to end, even on poor nights, and sometimes I'll switch on the BFO on a channel I know should have a station present, even if I don't hear audio, and I'll hear the carrier and mark it down as a carrier being present. For example Missionaria out of Brazil doesn't always come in readably, but the BFO/SSB will show that a carrier is there.
For some SWL's that's a fun thing to track. For others? Probably not.
currentsitguy
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2024
- Messages
- 1
This is my 1st post here, so if someone can direct me to an "Introduce yourself" place, I'd be happy to.
If you have "Sync" ability on your radio you can sometimes separate close signals. SW and AM. As an example, I live near Pittsburgh, where KDKA 1020 AM dominates that part of the band. If I use a radio with Sync, I can sometimes get CFRB Toronto or WINS NYC 1010 with LSB Sync, or WBZ, Boston 1030 with USB sync to eliminate the adjacent KDKA signal.
This is just my opinion but SSB is useful for far more than picking up hams.
If you have "Sync" ability on your radio you can sometimes separate close signals. SW and AM. As an example, I live near Pittsburgh, where KDKA 1020 AM dominates that part of the band. If I use a radio with Sync, I can sometimes get CFRB Toronto or WINS NYC 1010 with LSB Sync, or WBZ, Boston 1030 with USB sync to eliminate the adjacent KDKA signal.
This is just my opinion but SSB is useful for far more than picking up hams.
TAC4
Member
You are right. Back in the day 70s and 80s when ever country
in the world was broadcasting in English 24/7 and there was no
empty space left on the shortwave band. There was lots of
bleed over from stronger stations all the time.
So we used SSB mode to act like a notch filter and it worked
like a charm. I still remember doing that with my SONY ICF-2010
back in the day. Today we don't have to worry about that because
there are not as many station spaced every 10 Kc on the band.
You can also use SSB mode to DX for very weak SW brodcast
stations. A very weak station's carrier will create a bfo tone
or squeal to alert you there is a weak station there. This station
might be passed over if your were just tuning in regular AM mode.
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DXerPaulAK
Member
I have the TEF6686 which doesnt do SSB.. and since i dont hunt down utilities, marine weather on HF, plane comms ,etc... it wasnt important for me to have.
Aw, come on Paul, if you haven't used a BFO to play the game "count the carriers with no audio" on the 31 or 41 Meter bands at night, you haven't lived.
A few more observations after almost two months of DXing with two portable radios. Again, as I initially posted, I had no idea what to expect. But really, overall I’ve been fairly pleasantly surprised. There is a lot of programming out there and a lot of far off signals to be caught.
The one thing there doesn’t seem to be a lot of is content that I’m actually interested in. I have yet to find regularly shows that I want to come back to. Still, who knows- maybe I’ll stumble upon something.
Meanwhile, searching for and logging catches is keeping me busy. I like it.
The one thing there doesn’t seem to be a lot of is content that I’m actually interested in. I have yet to find regularly shows that I want to come back to. Still, who knows- maybe I’ll stumble upon something.
Meanwhile, searching for and logging catches is keeping me busy. I like it.
DXerPaulAK
Member
I used to care about content.... then i realized if i cared about content, i miss out on a later. I dont much care for some of what I log and i cant understand 60-70-80 percent of what i log, but thats ok... its about the hunt for the signal and figuring out the gist of what theyre talking about.
Plus, because of all of that.. ive learned a few meager portuguese words so i can correspond with a live host on Radio nacional amazonias.
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