Do you own a shortwave radio?

Question

How good does yours work? Can you pick up plenty of stations clearly?

Mine does what is expected of it but the top of the antenna comes off too easily and it's not that easy to find stations on certain bands, at least where I live. The radio had cost $10.00.

Answer 1

Yes, I have a shortwave radio and I use mine on a regular, almost daily basis. I purchased a Collins R-390, of WWII era vintage. I am an amateur radio operator, have been since 1973, WA6PEQ. I saw an opportunity at a ham radio swap meet to pick up this boat anchor (it weighs in at 130# and is 14" high by 28" wide by 24" deep. The chassis, tuning gear train and power transformer are the bulk of the weight.) for $100, a tidy sum in 1976 when I bought it. I have had an interest from way back when I was a child as my parents routinely listened to the BBC in the living room. I listened to Radio Moscow during the Cold War. I contructed a good "Earth Ground" and strung a wire in my backyard for an antenna, oriented N/S so it picks up E/W the best and parked the radio in my living room. I have an excellent quality, rugged radio which performs well. You get what you pay for, and it helps if you can align the receiver for the best performance, as I can with my R-390. The problem with solid state SW receivers is they are not able to be aligned and you have to live with the performance tuning done by the manufacturer, and here also, you get what you pay for. The higher quality radio, the better it will perform out of the box. Analog tuning is the best. Digital tuning with a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit is fine and gets you to the designated station freuency, but atmospheric conditions can affect a signal and fine tuning may be necessary for best reception which a PLL circuit can not do. Digital tuning to an exact frequency is fine, but not always the best for reception for a distant station with a weaker signal with atmospheric interference. Sometimes offtuning a bit can improve readability of the audio greatly. I know, it sounds intuitively wrong to offtune, but I swear, it works for me with my R-390.IWhat I like about shortwave is being able to hears from elsewhere straight from the source, and other people outside the US have a wholly different take on the things which happen here at home in the good ol' US of A. I enjoy hearing other points of view on our news. I especially like hearing Big Ben chime the hour live on the BBC. And then I tune over to WWV, the National Bureau of Standards on 10 MHz to set my watch. So, does this answer the question? I think you are not really looking for an "answer" as such, but advice, and maybe someone to promote listening to shortwave. Count me in. I urge people to buy a shortwave and listen to what the other people out there have to say. Widen your perspective maybe. Find out what other people are saying and thinking about us (the USA) for a change. News from around the world is not the pablum you hear on your local radio and TV stations. There is a whole other world out there, and shortwave is a relatively cheap way to look into what else goes on outside of where we live. Lastly, for any radio to work well, it has to have a good antenna system. An antenna system consists of two parts, the earth ground and the antenna. Any amateur radio operator can provide you with details on both. The better your antenna system, the better chance your radio has to perform. The best antenna systems are hand built since you can't get a good one out of a box. My antenna system is the best I could construct in the place where I live, and with my high quality vacuum tube analog shortware, means I have mostly crystal clear reception for major stations, and acceptable quality on the weaker stations. One other thing, a standard AM radio. After the sun goes down, after an hour or so, dig out that old AM radio and start tuning the dial and listen for things. I live near Seattle, but I can hear stations in Mexico late at night and from all across the country. The ionospere (about 80 miles up there) reflects lower frwquencies, AM radio and shortwave, as does the ground, which is why you can hear things from so far away only at night. Sunlight affects the ionosphere and allows the signals to pass through rather than be reflected back down. Shortwave only works at night for long distance, likewise with AM radio for long distance. I hope my words have been of some help to you out there, people who like me, listen to shortwave.

Answer 2

At the moment, the solar activity is pretty low, so that the quality and number of contacts that you might hear from distant locations may be lower than usual.

The solar cycles are 11 years in duration for the most part with 22 year cycles for particularly strong solar activity.

The more solar activity, the better the chance to hear transmissions from great distances because solar activity plays a big part in making the ionosphere cause radio signals of certain frequencies bouce off of them.

Souns like you got a good deal for $10. You might be able to find a replacement antenna at the manufacturer's web site or from a store like Radio Shack if you're in the USA.

Have fun, and think about going for your Amateur radio license so that you can join in on the fun and transmit as well as receive radio signals.

Answer 3

Yes I have a Grundig S350 which I purchased in 2006. I have 15 to 20 feet of 18 gauge speaker wire attached to it's external antennae connection. I bought my radio at Brookstone for $99. I am always listening to my shortwave radio. I totally love it.

Answer 4

SWL'ing (CQ ing) are great hobbies on shortwave. The stations are numerous. The information is always interesting. There are stations that broadcast to all the world. There slant on news is always enriching. Music, hobbies, weather etc can all be found on shortwave.

At $10.00 I doubt that you'll have many experiences. When you can afford it..... try a better piece of equipment. $10 is certainly a cheap way to get a feel for what's out there.

Answer 5

commercial stations on the shortwave bands such with the aid of fact the 16m via 49m bands all use AM, amplitude modulation. beginner Radio transmissions interior the WARC beginner bands 160m via 10m use SSB and CW. There are different out-of-band centers (jointly with trans-oceanic airplane communications) which use the two AM or SSB. How the receiver scans is a function of the the receiver internals and with out understanding which receiver you have it is complicated to propose you, aside from being trite and telling you to study the learning which you probable have. in any case it is extra exciting to steer song as an motor vehicle song can surely miss vulnerable yet interesting alerts.

Answer 6

I have 5. They all work well - with a good antenna.

Answer 7

can't except much for 10 dollars!