David writes:

How do you use this thing if you're a step away from Strip Mall
America..; or out in the middle of Africa, out on a lake or up in the hills..
- or just taking a walk !

You are totally chained to the nearest low powered repeater..
else the thing is an expensive paperweight

Eventually broadband over mobile phone networks will be cheap enough so that
listening to internet radio on portable devices will be practical.

Obviously, this is unlikely to solve the "listening in the middle of Africa"
problem, but then, let's face it, there isn't much to listen to out there
on a portable radio anyway.

Internet streaming provides a variety of stations that you just can't otherwise
get. I like shortwave broadcast radio as much as the next person here, but
currently there's no other way for me to listen to the stations in Europe that
I'd like to hear, here in Australia, other than via internet streams.

That said, I probably wouldn't buy one of those expensive dedicated streaming
receivers. My HP ipaq with wifi does a perfectly good job on its own.

Cheers,

Paul

--
http://shortwwwave.com/

"Paul Dwerryhouse" wrote in message
...

Eventually broadband over mobile phone networks will be cheap enough so
that
listening to internet radio on portable devices will be practical.

Obviously, this is unlikely to solve the "listening in the middle of
Africa"
problem, but then, let's face it, there isn't much to listen to out there
on a portable radio anyway.

That is precisely what shortwave radio was designed to provide.... (just to
bring this all 'round to something completely on topic)

On May 23, 4:49*pm, Paul Dwerryhouse
wrote:
David writes:
How do you use this thing if you're a step away from Strip Mall
America..; or out in the middle of Africa, out on a lake or up in the hills..
- or just taking a walk !
You are totally chained to the nearest low powered repeater..
else the thing is an expensive paperweight

- Eventually broadband over mobile phone networks
- will be cheap enough so that listening to internet radio
- on portable devices will be practical.

PDh -wrt- Moblie Phones being used as 24/7
Streaming Audio Internet Radios two words :
"Battery Live" - D'Oh ! ~ RHF

A Real AM&FM Radio -versus-
a portable 'mobile network' device : They Ain't the Same.

The characteristics that made products like the
GE Superadio a Super Radio were :

1 - Free Over-the-Air AM&FM Radio
-versus- Paid Celphone Minutes / Monthly Fee
and Paid Mobile-Media/Internet MB$ Monthly Fee
-ps- cheap enough still means you are paying
out money for your 'mobile' service and minutes.

2 - Quality of Audio Reception Anywhere & All the Time
-versus- Drop-Outs and No Bars/Service

3 - Very Long Battery Life and Endless Hours of Radio
Listening Enjoyment {For Free}
-versus- Once or Twice a Day Battery Recharge Time.

Plus - It was a Real Radio and Sounded like a Radio
Turn it On and Fill the Room with Sound
-versus- small tinny sounding ear-buds/headphones

On Fri, 23 May 2008 17:29:14 -0700 (PDT), RHF
wrote:

A Real AM&FM Radio -versus-
a portable 'mobile network' device : They Ain't the Same.

The characteristics that made products like the
GE Superadio a Super Radio were :

1 - Free Over-the-Air AM&FM Radio
-versus- Paid Celphone Minutes / Monthly Fee
and Paid Mobile-Media/Internet MB$ Monthly Fee
-ps- cheap enough still means you are paying
out money for your 'mobile' service and minutes.

Still true today.

2 - Quality of Audio Reception Anywhere & All the Time
-versus- Drop-Outs and No Bars/Service

Still true today, for the most part...QRM due to transmissions of HD,
DRM, etc. notwithstanding.

3 - Very Long Battery Life and Endless Hours of Radio
Listening Enjoyment {For Free}
-versus- Once or Twice a Day Battery Recharge Time.

Still true today.

Plus - It was a Real Radio and Sounded like a Radio
Turn it On and Fill the Room with Sound
-versus- small tinny sounding ear-buds/headphones

Still true today, and a major consideration for people such as myself
who routinely monitor multiple radios simultaneously (currently
running in my shack as I type this: my TS-450, three scanners, and my
2m ham transceiver). Possible, but a major PITA, to do that using
headphones/earbuds/whatever.

73 DE John, KC2HMZ, Tonawanda, NY
TS-50/TS-450/DX-394/DX-300/Wires

"Paul Dwerryhouse" wrote in message
...
David writes:

How do you use this thing if you're a step away from Strip Mall
America..; or out in the middle of Africa, out on a lake or up in the
hills..
- or just taking a walk !

You are totally chained to the nearest low powered repeater..
else the thing is an expensive paperweight

Eventually broadband over mobile phone networks will be cheap enough so
that
listening to internet radio on portable devices will be practical.

Actually, it will be WiMax which seemed to be coming fast till the Sprint
and Clearwire deal fell apart. For the moment, there is neither the range
nor bandwidth needed for every American to listen to the average 17 to 18
hours a week of "radio" that is the norm.

Obviously, this is unlikely to solve the "listening in the middle of
Africa"
problem, but then, let's face it, there isn't much to listen to out there
on a portable radio anyway.

There are towns in Burkina Faso (one example) that don't appear on most
large scale maps that have 7 to 12 FMs, a combination of local and national
services. Except for a couple of very restrictive regimes, there are
actually too many stations to listen to in most places... and all are on FM.