Short Wave Radio

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For christmas i got my first shortwave radio. I have had a blast listening to everythign from Radio China to spanish music from latin america.

Anyone else into this? Any tips on the subject? Where can I fing Hawaiian music on shortwave?

I have always wanted a short wave radio myself do You need to be licensed to own the short wave radio.

only if it transmits. Like a HAM. Ive only got a reciver. www.hhgregg.com has a cheap by compairson reciever. its like 7.00. I ordered one for my nephew today. the one I am using now is a eaton 200 fr from LL bean. it was like 40.00. it has a flashlight ans crank too. many of these radios run thousands of dollars! Im gonna take the cheap one for a run (I got one ordered too) and see if its as good as its sister radio (j win something or another). they have a great review section on www.eham.net (or is it .com). I want a HAM, but you have to study for the test take the test and drop mega bucks for a tranceiver.....

Whaaaaa?

Hams are known for being cheap, and I'm no exception. A "HF" (shortwave, or low band) transceiver can be found used for around $250, and a used "VHF" (two meter) transceiver can be found for about $50.

They have two-day classes for the test, and Morse Code requirements are being lowered all the time. In fact, VHF privileges currently require no code test.

...Old Comedywriter (ham for 30+ years)

If it that easy I might have get and short wave radio and get licensed too.

I havent been able to find anything that is used. I want a hand held becuase of space issues. I think a 5 watt will be acceptable b/c I am fairly close to two repeters.

I'm a ham radio operator, call sign AF3S. I love morse code, was up to about 40-45 words per minute at my peak. I'm not active at this time.

how much was your first rig? I want a portible, due to space restrictions, what whatt should I look at? Im about 5-10 miles from the closest repeters.

My first rig was a morse-code-only rig, a TenTec Century 21, $275, about 1975.

You're talking repeaters, so I assume you're talking 2 meters (144-148 Mhz). I wouldn't use a hand-held walkie talkie unless you also get an amplifier and decent outdoor antenna. Mostly I used a car unit indoors, with a 12-volt DC power supply, and an outdoor antenna. Since cash is in real tight supply here, I'd buy this stuff on Ebay.

thanks for the tips!

bumped
wanted to see if there are any SWListeners lurking around.. i have several SW radios, a analog handheld "LIFELONG" i purchased at walgreens before i left the states for about 20 bucks, cheap, sound quality not very good, but for 20 bucks it was worth it, gets the all the major bands SW 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , a handheld grundig, analog miniworld100, GREAT sound, again all the major bands, SW 1-6, a small handheld eton e100, digital full coverage, and a sangean ats-808 super mods from radio lab full coverage..

Go to the bookstore and look in the science section there is a yearly book called Passport to World Band Radio with all kinds of info from program schedules to equipment reviews. Also there are a couple magazines like Popular Communication and Monitoring Times.

Thanks, I buy PTWBR every other year, and ive picked up those mags from time to time. Good you mention them though in case someone checks out the thread and doesnt know about them. Are you a listener too? What kind of equipment you got?

I used to have a Radio Shack DX-440 SW radio, but lost interest in it a long time ago. I liked listening to pirates (illegal broadcasters)... They would broadcast in low-power on frequencies such as: 6925 kHz, 6950 kHz, 6955 kHz at night in either AM or SSB (single side-band) mode. Some of the shows I can remember hearing included:

• WHYP
• Oxycontin Radio
• KIPM
• United Patriot Militia Bingo
• Sycko Radio
• Alfa Lima Intl

Check it out if you like hearing music you've never heard before and funny skits. The best time to hear pirates would be anytime between 5:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M. (Central Standard Time). You'll be sure to hear more on Fridays & Saturdays...and don't be offended -- they sometimes swear! For listener's loggings, check out The A*C*E* Loggings.

BTW, you'll probably be needing a horizontal external antennae (dipole) of at least 10 feet long, either outside or hung in an attic (depending on what your listening location is)...

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!

Last edited by TennisFanatic on 17 Jan 2007, 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

I've got a few shortwave radios.

I've been listening to the BBC at 5975 MHz and the Voice of Russia fairly often.

I've got an older Grundig Satellit 800 and a few RadioShack models (DX-394 and a DX-375)
I also have a portable Traveller II (made by Grundig) in my car whenever I feel the need to DX.

Give a shot at www.dxing.com, there are a lot of useful tips on the site.

Cheers!

I used to listen a lot more than I do now. For awhile it was one of my all consuming interests. I still enjoy it a lot though. I have a Sony 2010 as my primary radio but have numerous others new and old, including many tube type radios which I collect.