Shortwave

[ObiHann]

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I've been thinking of picking up a shortwave radio latley and was curious if anyone around NS listened on them, and if so, to what?

 

[FoeHammer]

Well from time to time the programming from different countries can be interesting ,...but I mainly use mine for casual utility/military monitoring , you will need a full coverage radio with SSB for that though,....

 

[ObiHann]

Do you get much military chatter? Where from, it must just be training right? I've been told there are a lot of conspiricy theory chatter of shortwave, ever hear that?

 

[hfxChris]

Lot of religious broadcasts too...

 

[tusker305]

Lots of shortwave heard easily from Maritimes. Canadian and US Military Air, Oceanic Aircraft, US Coast Guard (All Atlantic Search & Rescue from Maine to Florida), US Air Force Global High Frequency Network, Canadian Forces Search & Rescue, and loads of Amateur Radio Operators World wide, easily listened to with a decent setup. as Foehammer stated SSB (Single Side Band) is a must. Don't go cheap, A good HF rig on e-bay can be found. 2-5 Hundred or even cheaper. Search for Drake, Icom, Kenwood Recievers. Even a JRC Reciever will work.
Search for online hf recievers to try it out, there are a few out there. And remember HF SSB is not like a scanner. The station that is booming in now, may not be tomorrow, or 10 minutes from now. And there is a fair bit of noise and static to deal with. Overall it is a hell of a lot of fun, and well worth the cash.
Good Luck

 

[ObiHann]

So here is the $100 question... In a perfect world, I would love to listen to shortwave, specifically SSB so I can get the cool military stuff, however, I'm also dreaming of a nice analog scanner to pickup traffic at my local airport. Lastly, trunking is uses for almost everything except police, so, is there a radio that does all this? Or am I looking for a trunked analog scanner, and a shortwave with ssb?

 

[tusker305]

You can get a BCT15 on ebay for $100 for VHF/UHF. Air, MilAir, and Analogue Trunked Stuff. Great radio, I have several and for your area would work very well.

 

[hfxChris]

He will require a digital scanner if he wants to pickup police in Halifax.

 

[nova1010]

You can get a BCT15 on ebay for $100

Just checked never seen any.

 

[ObiHann]

I get HRP through a stream so I can, at least for now, save money and not get digital. Wondering if the bct15 gets shortwave though... Or am I confused on what shortwave is?

 

[ka3jjz]

Many scanners cover the 25-30 mhz band, so technically this is HF, but only a very small part. You need something that will go down to 3 mhz or so. Our wiki has a lot of information on this subject...
(anything in blue is a link)

SWL Broadcast - The RadioReference Wiki

Even though this article has to do with broadcast stuff, the section on terminology and FAQs is where you should start; it applies equally to hearing mil stuff and other things, too...

HF Military Communications - The RadioReference Wiki

This article will give you a brief introduction into this world.

73 (best regards) Mike

 

[ObiHann]

I get it. If I want everything shortwave and international broadcasts has to offer, I need a dedicated shortwave radio, and of course with SSB to pickup Military, and other fun groups. If I pickup something like the BCT15, I will have access to all my local analog and trunked channels, and a few shortwave frequencies. I still won't have all if it though. I need two radios for two purposes essentially.

 

[ka3jjz]

Yes that's a true statement 73 Mike

 

[tusker305]

Look at it this way, the radio world for our uses is split into two sections 1: Above 30Mhz (Vhf/Uhf) Police, Fire, Aircraft,etc.) Range Approx. 50 Miles.) 2: Below 30Mhz (HF) This is the Shortwave Band.
It is for the most part all AM mode, and is devided into AM (Broadcast Stations: Radio Canada, BBC,
Voice of America, Radio China, etc) USB Upper Side Band ( Military Air, Marine, Airline Long Distance
Operational Control, Amateur Radio Operators, etc) Range World Wide.) LSB Lower Side Band ( Same
as USB.)
Below 30Mhz the most important part of your system is the antenna.
There are some top of the line recievers that will recieve both, but while you are searching the HF band the local Fire Companies may have a working fire and you missed it. Two radios is the way to go. Twenty radios are better, but get started with Two for now.
Remember one very important thing, The only reason to get up and go to work every day is so we can buy more radios.

Good Luck
73s

 

[ObiHann]

Just did some poking around and found a nice looking shortwave that also monitors aircraft frequencies (118-137 MHz). The Grundig G3. The first cost I found was $150CAD, which is a bit more than most shortwave radios, but the aircraft monitoring would be a nice feature. Anyone have any opinions or feedback?

 

[ka3jjz]

The reviews have definitely been a mixed bag - it seems you should be careful to buy the latest versions; looks like the early versions had some QC issues

Grundig G3 with SSB Product Reviews

RadioIntelligencer

and there was a review in MT just recently

Our wiki has LOTS of links for receiver reviews - some technical, many not - here...

Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki


73 Mike

 

[radioskip1]

Lots to choose from in halifax may 15th

Can you get to the Down East Flea Market on May 15th? It's sponsored by the Halifax & Dartmouth Amateur Radio Clubs and staged in the Forum Bingo Hall in Halifax. $4 entry. You'll find a used SSB shortwave receiver if you arrive when the doors open at 9 a.m. There should be some neat old 'boat anchors' for sale in Halifax. Maybe military or deep-sea commercial receivers. Often a guy will want to down-size his radio shack because he's moving into an apartment. Several 1980's solid-state transceivers, like Kenwood, tune from 50 kHZ through to 34 MHz as well as the amateur radio bands. Enjoy!

 

[scan-o-matic13]

Anyone here know if the ICOM IC-R2500-10 would do all of that stuff mentioned above, I was looking for something similar, an ALL in one reciever, and from my reading, it looks like it would do everything from HF to P-25 Digital..but I'm unclear about HF listening, as I have not gotten anything capable yet. Anyone have one that can speak from experience?

 

[ObiHann]

Can you get to the Down East Flea Market on May 15th? It's sponsored by the Halifax & Dartmouth Amateur Radio Clubs and staged in the Forum Bingo Hall in Halifax. $4 entry. You'll find a used SSB shortwave receiver if you arrive when the doors open at 9 a.m. There should be some neat old 'boat anchors' for sale in Halifax. Maybe military or deep-sea commercial receivers. Often a guy will want to down-size his radio shack because he's moving into an apartment. Several 1980's solid-state transceivers, like Kenwood, tune from 50 kHZ through to 34 MHz as well as the amateur radio bands. Enjoy!

That sounds like fun, I will have to try and make it!

 

[hfxChris]

Indeed you should, I've gone the last couple years now. Good stuff.