There is more to HF (below 30 MHz) than some disaster frequencies and religious broadcasting. Radio Moscow, the BBC, and the "shortwave" broadcasting of many other foreign countries are located here. These stations can be very interesting listening. In much of the world standard AM and FM stations are far too far away for practical purposes so the shortwave bands are used. European car radios used to have HF bands in them as they are in more widespread use over there. Then there are the UTE's or shortwave utility stations. Here you find ships at sea, air traffic control over the oceans beyond VHF range, oil platforms, the Coast Guard, research and mineral exploritory expiditions, and similar where VHF/UHF doesn't work for long distance communications. A lot of the routine traffic has been reduced with the use of satellite phones and satellite data communication so you won't hear a distant camp going through 45 minutes of a supply order, but what is left is often more interesting. Just click onto the HF listening forums on this website to get a start. I'm not as current on SWL (shortwave listening) as most of the posters on those threads are so I can't really give you any specifics.
Don't underestimate the value of an antenna for a radio. Hams generally agree 50% is a good figure for your antenna's contribution to your station. It is a different world for antennas below 30 MHz. The internal bar antenna for HF is almost worthless. A long random wire or simple dipole under the eaves, in the attic, or on the ceiling can do quite well.
Make sure that any radio you get has "fine tuning" or a method to turn the dial or enter a frequency in mutiples of at least 100 Hz, or better in multiples of 10 Hz. To illustrate using some examples that you are probably familiar with, remember that 800 MHz frequencies are spaced every 12.5 kHz, or 12,500 Hz and for example 868.5125 would actually be 868,512,500 Hz so mutiples of ten would be 868,512,500 Hz to 868,512,510 Hz or 868.5125 MHz and 868.51251 MHz and mutiples of 100 would be 868,512,500 Hz (868.5125) to 868,512,600 or 868.5126 MHz. Of course below 30 MHz we are talking of one and two place numbers such 2.1250 MHz and 14.4350 MHz. Single sideband uses spacing of 2.2 kHz so you can see how important a fine tuning feature is.
If you have a chance to try out a radio with HF coverage tune in 2.5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz and listen for the National Bureau of Standards time broadcasts on stations WWV (Fort Collins, CO) and WWVH (Hilo, HI). These are not only extremely close to being on frequency but utilize Bureau of Standards atomic clocks. If you can't hear these signals then the radio is almost worthless as these are fairly strong signals.
I hope this sheds some light on the subject of HF for you.
