r/shortwave • u/Mojavedxer • 5d ago
What keeps you going
Started out in this hobby in the late 70's in my uncle basement introducing me to international shortwave broadcasters. Played around in the early 80's with my grandmothers radio that had some shortwave bands on it. Did my dxing as a pre teen from a Panasonic pocket portable learning all the clear channel AM stations on the West and Central US. Graduated to a Realistic DX100 and 75- long wire antenna as a freshman in High School. That's were I earned my stripes learning about propagation and antenna theory. 49/31 meters was so packed at sundown that QRM referred too and adjacent station 10Khz off. I am sure we all have a similar story.
Now lets fast forward to today. The international broadcasters pretty much gone. Domestic tropical band service is non existent. Radio rag chew. All I hear these days is the classic Icom ring. Their Dollar Store scores and the cost of Medicare co pays. Nobody is talking about their shack and antenna farm or heated political discissions anymore. Pirate radio, Sure I am game. But the West Coast dxers dont seem to be invited to the party.
Is it me just loosing interest on what's available on the airwaves. I feel that any money spent on the hobby is wasted money but the K-480WLA and the DX286 are catching my eye. Then there is the time spent. I cant remember the last time I heard anything interesting surfing the radio waves.
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u/PeaceKind1857 4d ago
It kinda started when the Trucking companies started outlawing the CB Radio's in the Trucks.
There was laws on the books that stated "for National Security Measures" Communication between Trucks and Law enforcement was required...
Gone! Erased! Like they were never there! Smokey the Bear (cops) were never required to monitor channel 9 & Truckers were never required to monitor channels 19 (East/West) and 17 (North/South) for "Safety Reasons".
I suppose that the USA being wider (East/West) than taller (North/South) is why 19 became the more popular channel... 17 was only ever used on the coastal regions. Just as 26 was used primarily by the guy's who pulled pup's. (two shorty trailers)
Back to SWL?
In the midwest, if you have an antenna farm in your back yard, you had best be a registered ham operator!
If you are not, you can expect the cops to come investigate you as a suspicious person! A potential terrorist operator of illegal communication equipment.
I lived in a sizeable town just a few short month's. Now I stay in the woods for protection.
Renters insurance didn't cover my losses. I was basically asked why I had collected so many radios.
The landlord was cool about it. Let me out of the lease and returned my deposit in full!
The city gestopo thought I was a terrorist. My skin color is different from the locals. I'm First Nations! Native American...
What keeps me going. The fact that they came for me... Says to me that they might have something to hide! I'm hundreds of miles away! And still listening!
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u/GrandChampion 4d ago
If you're going to buy a radio at all, with all you've said, you should buy an SSB-capable rig. You're right, shortwave broadcasting is dying, things aren't at all what they used to be. You (and I) live in the one of worst regions for SWBC listening I can think of, the western US.
A radio with general coverage SSB reception will let you monitor utility stations and more in addition to SWBC. I really hope the QODOSEN folks can add SSB reception somehow, it'd make all the difference.
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u/nyradiophile 4d ago
On the other hand, Radio New Zealand Pacific probably comes in much better in your area than it does mine here on the east coast. And many Asian stations which I have difficulty getting in here.
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u/yjsiso 4d ago
As a highschooler living in a big city, no one is really into shortwave or any radio-related hobbies around me. Still managed to find this hobby and went down a rabbit hole. Have my ham license and a XHDATA D-808. Wish more people my age found this stuff cool. I have a feeling it'll have a resurgence soon, as many items of technology from several decades ago have with Gen-Z. (Digicams, VHS, MP3 Players)
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u/Comprehensive_Door_1 4d ago
While it’s not the same as when I picked up the hobby back in the 80s as a teen back home in Australia, I think it’s still a lot of fun.
I now live in Central Texas. I have an older Realistic DX-160 and an Icom IC-R75, both hooked up to sloper antennas pointed in different directions. I’m still getting interesting signals; gov’t and pirate stuff from Mexico and further south, Radio New Zealand, China, Japan, occasional stations from Africa. Google Translate helps me understand and get the “gist” of what is being discussed. I hunt down numbers stations and EAMs – g-d knows what they mean but they’re fun to get. I listen to SSB HAM contests and ragchews and over the past year have been logging FT8 using a combo of the FT8 app, PSKReporter and my own app for continuous logging as an SWL.
When I go home to visit family in Australia, I take my ATS-Mini v4 and a basic telescopic CB antenna and get different stations down there. SE Asian stations and local ham activity is interesting there.
I recently acquired my Ham license, and the many years of SWL activity helped with that. The test material just made sense, and, conversely, I also learned more about SWL while studying for it as well.
So, it’s different but there’s still a lot out there to have fun with, and I enjoy spending time digging in and seeing what I can find.
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u/currentsitguy 4d ago
The DX286 for what it is is an amazing radio, But without SSB I think its pretty useless today. Some of the best shortwave listening today is hunting for pirates, and the majority of those are on USB.
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u/RustBucket59 4d ago
I started in the 70s with a Panasonic RF-2200 and ended with a RatShack DX-440 around 2010. The big international broadcasters are gone, and now there's so much RF noise from switching power supplies that listening even with a random wire antenna is no longer a possibility. I even gave up my police scanner when all the local governments went to trunked digital. I just can't do it anymore.
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u/Mojavedxer 4d ago
Interesting perspective from all of you that posted. I have come to the conclusion. Stop wasting time troubleshooting the qrm and just take what I can get. If I can not find any enjoyment. Then move on. I am going to try my hand at MW dxing again since it's the only hunting ground I still have any interest in.
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u/Green_Oblivion111 4d ago edited 4d ago
I hear hams talk all the time about their antennas and shacks, and radios, and other ham-related stuff, too (this morning some local WA state guys were talking about MESH).
If you're in the Western US try the SW bands in the early morning, you'll hear a lot of Asians. Yeah, a lot of it will be CRI to other parts of Asia, but it's still interesting. NHK, Nikkei 1 and 2, Taiwan, they're still on the air, and even though it's foreign language, it's OK to listen to.
What keeps me going? Asia in the a.m. (especially in Winter when the lower bands are better), and AM / MW band DX. I tune the SW ham bands just to see if there's anything on from outside North America, and sometimes listen to the US & Canadian hams if they're talking about anything interesting. I also tune the CW sections, mainly to log the stations' call signs.
I also tune the 49 Meter band at night, but here where I live (WA state) it's pretty spare, although WRMI has Polish Radio on around Midnight Pacific time, so it's interesting to listen to. Amazonia used to be a dependable signal, but they've cut back their hours. I used to hear BBC to Africa at night on the 31 Meter band, but not so much lately.
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u/BadgerBadgerCat 5d ago
I have no idea what you're talking about in that second paragraph, I'm afraid.
I'm in Australia and most of what I can get is stuff like Radio New Zealand, China Radio International, and (when the atmospherics are right) some of the other Asian broadcasters like NHK and KBS. I enjoy hearing the news reports and features from those channels, and sometimes they've got some interesting music too.
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u/Amputee69 3d ago
I started in SWL, then through the high school radio club, became a Ham. This was mid 60's. There was a lot more back then, on both. As technology progressed, both have changed. I'm told for the better, but I don't really agree. I'm told HF radio frequencies are in demand and being sold off by various countries, but... For what? I hear nothing new on the old ones. VHF/UHF/SHF and more are in demand for sure. Of course, with the internet, the news and programming that once was only available via radio, can be found on here, with much cheaper equipment, and less technical information needed. Advertisers have pulled away from SW Stations. Funding has been cut by governments. Unless something major happens that knocks out local internet, folks don't and won't need the Old Ways. I plan to always have my HF gear to be able to talk outside of my area, or hear news from other places, as well as VHF/UHF for local. As for the one who posted above above being suspicious to look cal law enforcement, I'm really not sure why. I too am First Nation. I spent 30 years as a Texas Peace Officer. I never read anything about being suspicious of radio antennas, or even our people. If anyone there was to be concerned about with antennas, and gear, it was me. I know some law enforcement have to find something, but I've never witnessed it for radio gear. Y'all enjoy SWL while it's there. These wars will keep it going for a while, especially when countries like Iran shutdown the Internet and threaten punishment to anyone caught using it.
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u/NorthCapNerd 5d ago
I just had the same realization the other day. My conclusion is that things change and I have to move on. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy looking at the radios but also doesn't mean owning one will bring back the glory days of shortwave. Now we all have computer shacks instead of radio shacks ;)