374 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
374 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
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Guide to Shortwave Radio:
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This posting contains answers to the following questions:
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o What is shortwave radio?
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o Where can I find broadcasts by Radio Foobar?
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o Where can I find a list of broadcasts in the English language?
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o What kind of receiver should I get?
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o Where can I get a shortwave radio?
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o Could you explain the frequencies used? What's the 40 meter band? etc.
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o What is SINPO/SIO?
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o Why can't I receive all of the broadcasts listed in Monitoring
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Times/WRTH/Passport/etc.?
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o What are some books or other resources that can help me get started?
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o Where can I find further information?
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o What is shortwave radio?
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>From a purely technical point of view, shortwave radio refers to those
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frequencies between 3 and 30 MHz. Their main characteristic is their ability
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to "propagate" for long distances, making possible such worldwide
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communications as international broadcasting and coordination of long-distance
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shipping.
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>From a social point of view, shortwave radio is a method of facilitating
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worldwide dissemination of information and opinion, and a way to find out what
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the rest of the world thinks is important. Many countries broadcast to the
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world in English, making it easy to find out what a given country's position is
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on those things it finds important. Shortwave radio can also provide a way to
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eavesdrop on the everyday workings of international politics and commerce.
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o Where can I find broadcasts by Radio Foobar?
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The World Radio TV Handbook is the standard reference for this sort of
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information. The WRTH provides SWLs (shortwave listeners) and DXers
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(listeners specializing in distant [DX] and weak stations) worldwide with
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virtually everything they need on frequencies, schedules and addresses. It
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comes out annually, right about the first of the year, with an optional
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update magazine throughout the year. It covers virtually every shortwave
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station in the world, and many of the medium wave (AM), FM, and television
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stations as well. The body of the book is a listing of stations by country,
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with a cross-reference in the back by frequency. It's available from any
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radio store dealing in shortwave. You can also contact the WRTH through
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their publishers, Billboard.
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World Radio TV Handbook
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ISBN 0-8230-5921-9
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The past five years have seen competition of a sort for the WRTH, in the form
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of Passport to World Band Radio. Passport's main section is a graph/table of
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what's on the air, by frequency. There are few addresses, but the beginning of
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the book is filled with articles of interest to the beginner. There is also a
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comprehensive review section of shortwave receivers currently available, one of
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the few places all this information can be found in one place. The book is
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more useful for identifying a station you've already tuned in than for
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searching out a particular transmission; the WRTH is useful at both, however,
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rendering the purchase of this book not essential. It can still be worthwhile,
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though, especially for beginners who won't be put off by the "gee whiz, look
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what we can listen to" tone of some of the articles. The book is unabashedly
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an advocate of making the hobby of "World Band Radio" accessible to people who
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wouldn't have participated before the advent of good, cheap portables.
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For utility band (non-broadcast transmissions) listeners, there are a couple
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of books that perform much the same function as the above two books, although
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due to the nature of such point-to-point communication, not with the same
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sense of definitiveness.
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Confidential Frequency List
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Published by Gilfer Shortwave
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The Shortwave Directory
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Published by Grove Enterprises
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o Where can I find a list of broadcasts in the English language?
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The World Radio TV Handbook has a list of English Language Broadcasts,
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starting on page 536 of the 1991 edition. Unfortunately, since the WRTH
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only comes out once a year (they do have a quarterly magazine to update
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the book; information is available in the WRTH), the data tend to go out
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of date fairly quickly. There are a number of sources for current lists:
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-Monitoring Times magazine carries a listing every month, one of the best
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arguments I know of for subscribing (it's what keeps me on their rolls....)
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-The North American Shortwave Association (NASWA) periodically publishes a
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complete listing in their bulletin, The Journal, sent to all members monthly;
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each month there are updates to the list.
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-Tom Sundstrom, sysop of the Pinelands BBS in New Jersey (609-859-1910 modem)
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offers a subscription service with constantly updated electronic versions of
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his listing (which are also the source for the NASWA listings). It comes in
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dBASE III format, compressed using the .ARC format; dBASE III is the format
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used by Tom's Shortwave Database program for MS-DOS computers.
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o What kind of receiver should I get?
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That depends largely on what kind of listening you expect to do. There are two
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or three basic kinds of radios. The first is the travel portable. These
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usually cost between $30 and $250. Their main characteristic is their
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extremely small size, making them most suitable for the person who spends a lot
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of time on airplanes. They do an adequate job of receiving the major
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broadcasters, such as the BBC, the Voice of America, Radio Nederland, etc.
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They are generally not capable of receiving hams, or utility transmissions, and
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they do not do a good job on weak stations. Many of them also lack frequency
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coverage beyond the major international broadcasting bands. As such, they
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cannot receive the channels outside the defined bands that often provide
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clearer reception (due to lessened interference) of such stations as the BBC,
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Kol Israel, and the Voice of Iran.
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There are two very low cost (under $50) SW receivers that are the subject of
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frequent inquiries in rec.radio.shortwave: the DAK MR-101s, and a Chinese-
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built unit that is sold under (at least) the names Pomtrex, MCE, TEK, Windsor,
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and Citizen. The DAK, despite its digital tuning, has received generally
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negative reviews. The Pomtrex, which is an analog unit, has had much greater
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acceptance by users. Since the unit is sold under many names, it is best
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identified by its appearance: it is about the size of a large paperback, with
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a whip antenna, dc in and earphone jacks, and a carrying strap. 4 AA
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batteries go in the back. The left front is speaker grille and controls/
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displays are on the right. Controls are on/off, SW/LW/AM/FM select, SW 1-6
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band select, volume, and hi/lo treble. An analog tuning knob sticks out the
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upper right side. Displays are a tuning LED and a multiband slide rule
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frequency display. Sensitivity is excellent; the ability to separate
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stations, especially when one of them is powerful, is poor. Strong AM
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stations will "bleed" over into the SW bands. Despite this, the radio is
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quite suitable for tuning through the bands to see what is there before
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investing in a "real" receiver. The unit has been available from a variety
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of low-cost outlets; the most consistent source of supply is Radio for the
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People at (904) 397-4145.
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The second category of radios overlaps with the first, and consists of
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slightly larger portables. Common among this category are radios like the
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Sangean ATS-803A, a fine starter radio with many capabilities for the
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inexpensive price of $200. These radios often have digital readout, making
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it easier to know which frequency you are tuned to, and such features as dual
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conversion (which decreases the possibility of your radio receiving spurious
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signals from other frequencies), audio filters (which allow you to decrease
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interference from stations on adjacent frequencies) and beat frequency
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oscillators (which allow you to decode morse code and single sideband (SSB)
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transmissions on the ham and utility bands). The top range of this kind of
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radio includes technically sophisticated radios like the Sony ICF-2010, Sony
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ICF-SW77, and Grundig Satellit 500, which contain innovative circuitry to
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lock on to a given signal and allow you to choose the portion of the signal
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you want to listen to, depending on which part gets the least interference.
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If you follow the newsgroup for any amount of time, you're bound to notice
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some discussion of the relative merit of these features versus their cost
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(about double that of the Sangean radio.) Many of these radios can be and
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have been used to receive distant and weak stations from a number of
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countries; they're also suitable for listening to programs from the major
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broadcasters.
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The third category of receivers is the tabletop receiver. These receivers cost
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from $600 upward, with a concentration of radios around $1000. These radios
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naturally contain many more features than the portables, and are used by
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serious hobbyists who specialize in rare and weak stations. Current radios in
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this group include the ICOM R-71A, the Kenwood R-5000, the Japan Radio
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Corporation NRD-525, the JRC NRD-535D, and the Drake R-8. These radios can be
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very complex to operate, and are generally not recommended for the beginner.
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Radios from the first two categories can give a beginner a very good idea of
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what's on the air and where their interests lie, at which point one of these
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radios may be an appropriate acquisition. Strangely enough, not all of these
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radios contain the kind of innovative circuitry that are part of less
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expensive portables like the Sony 2010 mentioned above. Newer radios, such
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as the NRD-535D and the R-8 are starting to include such capabilities.
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There are many sources for detailed information on specific radios, most of it
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provided by two groups. Larry Magne, who publishes the Passport to World Band
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Radio, includes a review of virtually all shortwave radios currently available
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in that publication. For more extensive reviews of selected receivers, he
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offers detailed "white papers", which run between ten and twenty pages or so.
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Magne also contributes a monthly review column to Monitoring Times.
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The other main source for equipment reviews is a group centered around Radio
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Nederland and the WRTH in Holland. The WRTH, as mentioned above, has a review
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section covering mainly new receivers, but also contains a table with ratings
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of most currently available radios. Radio Nederland also offers a free booklet
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with receiver reviews.
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There are also two books published by Gilfer Shortwave in New Jersey that cover
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the subject of receivers, called *Radio Receivers, Chance or Choice*, and *More
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Radio Receivers, Chance or Choice*.
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o Where can I get a shortwave radio?
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Many stereo stores and discount chains carry the Sony and Panasonic lines of
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receivers; the people there, however, generally don't know much about
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shortwave, and you're not likely to find many accessories there. Mail order
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stereo sources like J&R Music or 47th Street Photo in New York generally give
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the cheapest prices, but have the same problem. More knowledgeable, and
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falling roughly between the two in price, are the mail order houses that
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specialize in ham and/or shortwave radio. Many of them offer catalogs that
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contain useful tips for the beginner. Addresses for some of the better-known
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and respected businesses can be found at the end of this article.
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o Could you explain the frequencies used? What's the 49 meter band? etc.
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As you tune around, you'll notice certain kinds of signals tend to be
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concentrated together. Different services are allocated different frequency
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ranges. International broadcasters, for instance, are assigned to ten
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frequency bands up and down the dial. These are:
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3900-4000 kHz (75 meter band) 13600-13800 kHz (22 meter band)
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5950-6200 kHz (49 meter band) 15100-15600 kHz (19 meter band)
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7100-7300 kHz (41 meter band) 17550-17900 kHz (16 meter band)
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9500-9900 kHz (31 meter band) 21450-21850 kHz (13 meter band)
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11650-12050 kHz (25 meter band) 25600-26100 kHz (11 meter band)
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In general, lower frequencies (below 10000 kHz) are better received at night
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and for a few hours surrounding dawn and dusk, and higher frequencies (15000
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kHz and up) are better received during the day. The frequencies in between are
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transitional, with reception being possible most times. In practice, these
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guidelines are not absolute, with reception on high frequencies being possible
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at night, and lower frequencies can provide decent medium-distance reception
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during the day.
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Hams (who have their own newsgroups, rec.radio.amateur.*) and point-to-point,
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or utility communications, fill most of the rest of the frequencies. The
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Confidential Frequency List and The Shortwave Guide mentioned above can provide
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more information on what can be heard in these areas, as can utility loggings
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in magazines like Monitoring Times and Popular Communications, and in club
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bulletins.
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o What is SINPO/SIO?
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The SINPO code is a way of quantifying reception conditions in a five-digit
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code, especially for use in reception reports to broadcasters. The code
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covers Signal strength, Interference (from other stations), Noise (from
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atmospheric conditions), Propagation disturbance (or Fading, in the SINFO
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code), andOverall. The code is as follows:
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(S)ignal (I)nterference (N)oise (P)ropagation (O)verall
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5 excellent 5 none 5 none 5 none 5 excellent
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4 good 4 slight 4 slight 4 slight 4 good
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3 fair 3 moderate 3 moderate 3 moderate 3 fair
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2 poor 2 severe 2 severe 2 severe 2 poor
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1 barely aud. 1 extreme 1 extreme 1 extreme 1 unusable
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In recent years, many broadcasters have tried to steer listeners away from
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the SINPO code and toward the simpler SIO code. SIO deletes the extremes
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(1 and 5) and the noise and propagation categories, which were confusing
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to too many people to be useful. In sending reports to stations other than
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large international broadcasters who are likely to understand the codes, it
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is better to simply describe reception conditions in words.
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o Why can't I receive all of the broadcasts listed in Monitoring
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Times/WRTH/Passport/etc.?
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This is a fact of life on shortwave. Because of propagation, antenna headings,
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the kind of radio you have, your local environment, etc., you're never going to
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be able to hear all the things you find in a list. The lists in Monitoring
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Times, etc., aren't lists of what's being heard in a general location. They're
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lists of everything that you could possibly hear, from a daily powerhouse like
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the BBC to a once or twice a year rarity like Bhutan. They're listed because
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you *might* hear them, depending on where you are and the given circumstances,
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not because they're necessarily being heard outside of their immediate target
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area.
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If you want lists of what is actually being heard in something roughly
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analogous to "your area", the best source for these are the logging sections
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of the bulletins of the SWL/DX clubs. You might want to sample a few club
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bulletins to see if they'll help. The bulletins also offer articles from
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experts on many facets of the hobby.
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o What are some books or other resources that can help me get started?
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There are a number of books dealing with the basics of the hobby. The most
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recent book, one that has been getting good reviews, is *The Shortwave
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Listening Guidebook* by Harry Helms. The book should be easily available
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from most shortwave specialty outlets. It is also being published directly
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by Mr. Helms, and is therefore likely to stay in print for a while.
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Due to the extreme difficulty in finding copies of Gerry Dexter's *Shortwave
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Listening With The Experts*, the recommendation of this book has been
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removed from this article.
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o Where can I find further information?
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There are a number of hobby publications available. Two glossy magazines which
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cover the hobby are Monitoring Times and Popular Communications. They both
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cover a number of aspects of the hobby, including international broadcasts,
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scanning, pirate radio, QSLing, and Utility broadcasting. Monitoring Times
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also contains listings of broadcasts and programs in English, which gives it a
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slight edge. PopComm, however, is the one you're more likely to find on your
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local newsstand.
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There are many clubs catering to the hobbyist, many of which publish bulletins.
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Many of these groups are part of an all-encompassing group known as ANARC,
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the Association of North American Radio Clubs. ANARC has a list available
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of its constituent clubs, listing addresses, what the focus of each club is,
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club publications, and current dues. You can contact them by writing to
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ANARC, 79 Kipps Street, Greenfield Park, Quebec J4V 3B1, Canada. You should
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include some form of return postage when asking for the club list. The WRTH
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contains contact addresses for the clubs that constitute ANARC.
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ANARC has counterpart organizations in Europe and the south Pacific. The
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European organization is the European DX Council (EDXC). More information on
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their constituent clubs is available for 2 International Reply Coupons from
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P.O. Box 4, St. Ives, Huntingdon, PE17 4FE, England. In the south Pacific, the
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organization is the South Pacific Association of Radio Clubs, or SPARC. They
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offer information from P.O. Box 1313, Invercargill, New Zealand.
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A company called The Radio Collection offers a number of publications in a
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series called "Radio 101" aimed at the beginner. The compiler hasn't seen
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any of the publications, but judging from the titles, they look like they
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would be useful to anyone getting seriously interested in the hobby aspects
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of shortwave radio. A catalog is available for US$1 from The Radio
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Collection, P.O. Box 149, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510.
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And, naturally, listening to the radio can provide you with excellent
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information on radio. There are a number of excellent "DX" programs on the air
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for the radio hobbyist. The WRTH contains a comprehensive list of such shows;
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Tom Sundstrom also has a list as part of his Shortwave Database subscription
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service, Different shows have different strengths. DX Party Line on Ecuador's
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HCJB is directed toward the beginner. Sweden Calling DXers on Radio Sweden
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is a compendium of news about shortwave and satellites, including frequency
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changes, station reactivations and deactivations, and such. Radio Nederland's
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Media Network is a slickly produced general-coverage program.
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o Addresses
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Billboard Publications Billboard Ltd. WRTH
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1515 Broadway 71 Beak Street Soliljevej 44
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New York, NY 10036 London W1R 3LF DK-2650 Hvidovre
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United States United Kingdom Denmark
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Radio Nederland Receiver Guide Passport to World Band Radio
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Engineering Department International Broadcast Services, Ltd.
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PO Box 222 Box 300
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1200 JG Hilversum Penn's Park, PA 18943
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The Netherlands
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Electronic Equipment Bank Gilfer Shortwave
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137 Church St. N.W. 52 Park Ave
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Vienna, VA 22180 Park Ridge, NJ 07656
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(800) 368 3270 (orders) (800) GILFER-1 (445-3371) (orders)
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(703) 938-3350 (local and (201) 391-7887 (New Jersey, business
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technical information) and technical)
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(703) 938-6911 (FAX) Free Catalog
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Free catalog
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Grove Enterprises Radio West
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(also Monitoring Times) 850 Anns Way Drive
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P.O. Box 98 Vista, CA 92083
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Brasstown, NC 28902 (619) 726-3910
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(800) 438-8155 Price list: $1
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(704) 837-9200
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Free Catalog
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Universal Radio Popular Communications
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1280 Aida Drive 76 North Broadway
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Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068 Hicksville, NY 11801
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(800) 431-3939
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(614) 866-4267
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SWL Catalog: $1.00
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NASWA
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45 Wildflower Road
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Levittown, PA 19057
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Membership costs: $23/yr; sample issue $1
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