RadioBanter - View Single Post

April 7th 04, 06:57 AM

In article ,
(R Neutron) wrote:

tommyknocker wrote in message
...
I was just thinking about this today. Has anybody noticed that
shortwave radio has really declined over the past five years or so?
We've lost BBC and Deutsche Welle transmissions to North America,
we've lost several smaller European broadcasters entirely, other
stations have drastically cut back. Are transmitting facilities
really going on the blink so soon after the end of the cold war? Or
has everybody jumped on the BBC's bandwagon and concluded that
satellite and internet broadcasting has replaced shortwave? Any
thoughts?

4 or 5 years ago my brother and I bought my father a grundig 800. He
is a ww2 vet, Navy signalman and loved to listen to morse. He had
always asked me if I was interested in SW and at the time being
possesed by the internet I thought it (SW) was a dying interest only
taken to by guys like my dad. Well as ill health has taken much of
his mobility he gave me the 800 (about 4 mos ago). Well to cut to
the chase I now have my own little mini-shack next to my pc and I'm
loving it. To work the dials in the dark of the late evening,
pulling in some radio broadcast from the other side of the planet is
something I find hard to explain!

Yes I can't explain the attraction either. Worse I actually like some
of the noise and distortion impressed on the signals as they make their
way through the ionosphere. Listening to weak signals with the static
coming in stronger signal fading and then the signal coming back with
the static fading in rhythmic fastion sounds at times like ocean waves
breaking on the beach while listening to distant stations.

You may have guessed that I live near the beach for several reasons.

My once flat and clean Passport now dogeared and smudged attest to
my late hours. I don't listen to any sw from the net as I kind of
want to keep it the way it is. My father by the way most vicariously
shares my "new" found interest. Sure things will change over
time...I have,,good listening RN

Nothing beats sharing your interests or spending time with your family.
A win-win situation if I ever saw one.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California