Should I buy a shortwave radio?

[eagle2046]

I recommend you get a shortwave radio as it still has a lot to offer, not like the old days without the internet where there was hundreds of 50Kw shortwave transmitters through the world when I was a kid ( about 45 tears ago ). Once the internet progressed many transmitters shut down because go to the internet to get information....progress I guess. There are still many things to listen to today. Cheers !

 

[wenzeslaus]

that's the biggest reason, but I heard that SW radio was at its peak mid-late 80's serving the purpose of Cold War propaganda. after the USSR fell it took the air out of that. except Radio Cuba. they aren't ever going to quit whining about being oppressed by capitalist pigs.

yes, shortwave listening is a great hobby but it's a little one-sided. if they speak English, they're telling you about Jesus. if they speak Spanish, they're covering a baseball game. unless it's Radio Marti, I don't know what they are talking about but it sounds exciting 24 hours a day. you get the occasional Iraqian or African stations which are a challenge to pick up. or you can listen to the Slavic stations around 10-12 MHz in the morning and LARP like you're in 1960's Czechoslovakia.

there used to be a lot more worth listening to. Radio Netherlands, Radio Japan, BBC, etc. nowadays you spend hours mindlessly scanning for a station whose language you speak and has something interesting to say. might happen once a week. makes it all the better when you spend a few $100 on multiple radios and weeks of your time learning how to work the thing and setting up antennas.

I heard the latest fad is connecting an SDR to your computer and conecting that to the internet so someone else can listen to it.

 

[Boombox]

yes, shortwave listening is a great hobby but it's a little one-sided. if they speak English, they're telling you about Jesus. if they speak Spanish, they're covering a baseball game. unless it's Radio Marti, I don't know what they are talking about but it sounds exciting 24 hours a day. you get the occasional Iraqian or African stations which are a challenge to pick up. or you can listen to the Slavic stations around 10-12 MHz in the morning and LARP like you're in 1960's Czechoslovakia.

there used to be a lot more worth listening to. Radio Netherlands, Radio Japan, BBC, etc. nowadays you spend hours mindlessly scanning for a station whose language you speak and has something interesting to say. might happen once a week. makes it all the better when you spend a few $100 on multiple radios and weeks of your time learning how to work the thing and setting up antennas.

I don't mind the foreign language stuff. A lot of it is fun enough to listen to. China broadcasts a lot of good quality, easy pop to various regions of the world (the EU, South Asia, Africa, etc.) and it doesn't matter what language they broadcast in, the music's pretty good. Nikkei 1 & 2 out of Japan are all in Japanese but I've heard anything from 1920's and 30's swing to Babymetal on those stations -- although the music usually is played on weekends. Romania plays great pop and AC/pop in their Romanian broadcasts to Western Europe, which can often be heard in North America.

Sometimes you don't need to know the language, but can ID it well enough -- you can even detect the accents. The Koreans pronounce Russian differently than the Russians do. Same thing with Korean Spanish, it's good Spanish, but they sometimes cut the consonant sounds a bit and it just makes it interesting listening -- I know just enough Spanish to at least get the jist of what the subject is. And Cuban Spanish (like on Marti and what's left of Radio Havana) is different from the Castilian Spanish you'll hear on Radio Exterior De España.

A lot of SWLs might find that sort of thing boring, but I don't.

Agreed that SWLing has definitely changed since the end of the Cold War. It's more of an 'active' pursuit than it used to be. You have to listen more carefully than one would have done in 1989.

 

[GadgetGeek]

There's other stuff to listen to like hams, military, utilities, pirate radio, aircraft...

 

[bearcatrp]

There are times I pick up USA news from overseas that’s not released or buried here at home.