Is Short Wave Still Relevant?

Thomas writes:

Thought you may be asked this question yourself:

http://swling.com/blog/2012/07/is-there-anything-to-listen-to-on-shortwave/

 

Comments

[Doug T.]

I'm not buying it. Every single one of the broadcasts he mentioned it is available as an Internet radio stream. (Note that he wrote WWTW when he meant WTWW.) Moreover, they are available in perfect fidelity and often time-shifted.

So, if one expects to have Internet access, the reasons he gives for buying a shortwave radio are not really relevant. (If one will be away from the Internet, there may be reasons for buying a shortwave radio.)

[Brian]

Doug - I have internet access and I do spend plenty of time on the internet. I rarely, if ever, stream the broadcasts I listen to on my shortwave radios. The times I have streamed it was usually to confirm what I was hearing on the radio.

Listening to internet streams in what you call perfect fidelity does not have the same appeal to me as tuning across the bands with an analog shortwave radio or even running band scans on my digital shortwave radios.

I can easily take a portable SW radio with me almost anywhere and listen. The same cannot be said about my laptop. Perhaps a smartphone or an iPhone would allow me to stream shortwave stations in a semi-rural location, but it just isn't the same as simply having a radio to turn on and listen to.

[Tom Welch]

I'm with Doug T, SW radio is a total waste of money and time for fans of this blog...has anyone noticed both Sony and Sangean use to manufacture many SW radio models and today just manufacture a very few models. SW radio is for people living in 3rd countries. For North Americans, there's only bible thumpers and right wing nuts on SW. I stopped recommending people buy SW radios when friends that took my recommendations said that there's only nuts on SW.

[Brian]

I guess I have been wasting time and money listening to shortwave radios. What a fool I have been. Thank you for showing me the error in my ways Tom.

[Keith Beesley]

As the comments above illustrate, I think whether or not shortwave is dead depends to some extent on what kind of listener you are. If you're the kind of person who feels secure knowing that a certain program will be on a certain frequency at a certain time, then SW is probably not for you due to the vagaries of location, time of day, propagation, etc. Stick to cable TV or web streams or your own playlists on your Ipod. If, on the other hand, you're the kind of person who enjoys the serendipity of just tuning around on a radio or TV to see what's on, then you will probably still enjoy SW as it exists now.

[Huesby]

Spanish speaking people have a super great super interesting program named TABLERO DEPORTIVO from Radio Exterior de España it´s a must for Hispanic people it airs Sundays at 17850 Khz from 1100 to 1800 hours USA Central time and the signal is 10/10 as they transmit from Costa Rica to all America (North and south). Of course you can webstream it but who in hell want to turns a PC into a radio ?

[Tom Welch]

Many years ago my letters were read on Radio Exterior de España, Radio Canada International, Glenn Hauser's World of Radio, and Swiss Radio International, I was in fact a contest winner on Swiss radio International and interviewed live on Radio Japan (NHK), I was a SW geek then and have since moved on to listen on better and more effective technologies. BTW, I still have a Tecsun PL 210 for backup.

[Paul]

I've been a long time SW enthusiast and live in a "3rd country" although I can listen to streams on my smartphone and PC, internet service here is spotty and oftentimes slows to a crawl during peak hours. So I have to make do and listen to nutty stations like the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio New Zealand and Radio Australia. On SSB I sometimes listen to nutty broadcasts from the U.S. over the AFN. I can't rely on my internet service to get sane broadcasts...

[J.P.]

I for one WILL NEVER trust the reliability of ACCESS to internet. Every body takes it for granted that
internet access is a surefire 100% guarantee. I have been an internet junkie for decades and yes, it has gotten a lot more reliable. But, the times that I have had loss of service more are times than I can remember. Everything from hours to over a week. STORMS,contractors cutting cables, equipment failures, fires and let alone network issues. I'll take good old over the air shortwave signals any time. The FADING in and out, the distant static crashes and that is fun and enjoyable. Catching the DX as it was meant to be. NOT some flawless audio feed via the internet. Tuning a DIAL. Adjusting filters. Listening hard to catch details so I can send a signal report and get a QSL card. I find with my resources at hand I hardly listen to internet music stations, but that's me. It's different strokes for different folks. Putting all this reliance on letting the internet be the do all, end all for everything is going to some day bite us in the arse. These are my opinions. Some day things ain't go right and a whole lot of us are going to be LOST. Excuse me I gotta go spin the knob and see what I can hear......

[JB]

I enjoy the spontaneity of scanning the dial for SW broadcasts, and settling in on something that catches my ear. It also is a very sentimental thing for me, as I remember countless hours as a kid playing with my dad's portable multi-band radio and so excited when I'd pull in some far-away broadcast. The world seemed so much bigger then. :)

[Brian]

There is some truth to what Mr. Welch says, but his assertion that SW is a "total waste of time and money for fans of this blog" is far-fetched. This blog often features SW radios and I am pretty sure that many readers of this blog use SW radios on a regular basis.

[KE7CYT]

I turn on the SW radio when I want to surprised by the unexpected:

- Pirates around 6925

- Numbers stations (still bizarre and fascinating)

- Aeronautical and Maritime 'cuz satcom doesn't always work

The hams can be entertaining when they're not complaining about gall bladder trouble or lambasting the POTUS. I like the AM'ers on 80m.

Except for the major broadcasters, all the stuff I like on SW is still there. To say nothing of digital modes that only require you to plug your radio into your computer's sound card and run free software like fldigi.

[GregS]

I'm a long-time shortwave listener, but in 2012 I'd say the following: If your interest is in DXing, in exploring the radio spectrum, in discovering the many interesting signals to be heard, then yes it's worth buying a shortwave radio. But if your interest is in listening to content, to programming from around the world, then investing in a WiFi radio is probably a better choice. There's far more content available, the audio quality is far better, and it's much more reliable. Personally, I listen to both shortwave and internet radio.