RadioBanter - View Single Post

May 4th 05, 08:06 PM

wrote:

Hi Newsgroup,

How many folks listen to shortwave radio in the US? I have to wonder where
shortwave is going, whats the appeal of SW station when there are millions
of radio streams available?

More than some like to admit. As bad as reception is sometimes it just
may be more dependable than broadband streaming when the net goes down.

Personally, I like listening to it but the only time I seem to be able to hear
it is when I shut my computers off. ("Shielding" the computers would be a lost
cause, just too many of them, with ethernet and all that..)

I have multiple radios. One is right by my computer and yes, I do have
to shut the computer down to get certain frequencies. 3210 was really
bad to get when the monitor/computer was on.

Anyone else have this problem? Will a shielded antenna line work? (I was
thinking about maybe using my clothes line as an antenna)

I've got a DX-392 (Made by sangean under radioshack name) how does this compare
with a table-top model? Would a table-top model get MW any better? (The DX-292
kind of sucks for MW reception)

I've got my eyes on some table top models, something I can hook up to a
computer and/or the stereo, but I don't want to spend the $$, especially if it
suffers the same problems as my DX-392. Computer noise, station fading in and
out, (Gets LOUD then quiet and LOUD)

Station sync would help a little but not completely solve the problem.
Some days reception is bad all across the band. I'm in NC perhaps 500
miles from WWCR. When 9985 first comes on in the morning I can
generally get Australia, Canada and China better, but this is because of
the "skip zone" around the station.

Also, are these shortwaves with remote controls really worth it? Since
a station goes off air, often need to adjust 1Khz and a lot of other fiddling,
seems like a good remote control would be nice. (obviously, something that
handles the wavy lOuD-qUiEt problem as well as compensating for frequency
shift automatically would be nicer)

I don't use a remote with any of mine. It depends on where and when you
use your radios as to the type to get. If you spend a lot of time in
the car you may want to look at a SW radio for the vehicle instead of
getting a table top. I have one of the older Sony auto radios that
includes SW and have enjoyed many hours of SWLing as I rode from place
to place. Can't recall right now who carries these in the US, but
someone does. I had to get one from overseas. Sony will probably still
tell you they "don't make" an automobile radio with shortwave if they
know you are contacting them from the US. Don't ask why! :-(