Frank White wrote:

In article ,
says...

On 19 Dec 2003 04:32:14 -0800
(Vijay) wrote:

Hi everyone:

Newbie to this group. I have listened to several short wave
Radio Stations and used to be a DXer in India almost 15 years
ago. (one of my favorites wsas Radio Netherlands, Jonathan
Marks). Had collected


I am seeing a lot of North Americans here and am very surprised.
There are so many other activites to do these days here. Regular
radio, TV, DVDs, Movies, other hobbies, collectibles etc., etc.,
Why shortwave ? What motivates a North American to listen to
Shortwave and participate so much in detail here on the Usenet ?

What is the average profile of the SW listener in North America ?
Is this person someone who can't afford a PC, has a lot of
free time, lives in a fairly remote region etc., ? I feel this
way as jobs, chores and other activities fill ones life.


I was deep into SW in India. Reasons being no Internet access,
curious to know about the World, Great Clean Hobby, Once you had
the Radio there was no other recurring investment etc., After
comming to North America, getting poor signals with a bad
receiver, I got discouraged and gave up as otehr activities took
over my life. So curious.

Vijay

Curiosity is precisely the point. We - or at least, I - want
to find out more about other people and cultures, what THEY
feel is important, what their opinions are. You can also
hear music, stories, and discussions that would never make it
onto mainline media in the U.S. And - for those of us
dubious about what our government and news media are telling
us - shortwave provides a second source of information about
what's going on in the world...

FW


Absolutely. And another thing - one that I love about SW,
especially the Latin and South American countries, is the lack of
"gloss". I remember live local radio in the fifties, and that's what a
lot of SW reminds me of - all live, all the time, and all the slip-ups
and off-the-cuff stuff that goes along with that.

Tony


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On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 03:04:31 GMT
"David Eduardo" wrote:


SW radios are at nearly every electronics and gadget store.
Frys in the West has many; Sharper Image, Hammacher-Schlemmer,
etc., have them, too. Have even seen the multi-band one at Bed,
Bath and Beyond in an emergency-preparedness all-band, crank to
power radio.


I need to visit more Mom and Pop Electronic Stores to see if they
carry SW Radios. This has me really curious. Most I went to
didn't have them at all. I thought SW was dead in North America
until I came here.

Vijay

R Vijay wrote in message m...
On 19 Dec 2003 04:32:14 -0800
(Vijay) wrote:

Great Answer to my Question online at:

http://www.speedline.ca/grundig/

Also, lots of SW Radio's on ebay under $20 and some even around
$10 !!! However, they are not in Canada.

Vijay

I started in SW in late 2001 and I tell you that the bands are always
packed with stations when I listen in the evening/night time. I like
listening to Voice Of Russia and it's mailbag program. You find
opinions and news here that you won't find off cable TV. The cable
system channels are all controlled by the elite corporations so your
not going to get the same openness you would get from certain SW
stations.

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 03:04:31 GMT
"David Eduardo" wrote:

SW radios are at nearly every electronics and gadget store.
Frys in the West has many; Sharper Image, Hammacher-Schlemmer,
etc., have them, too. Have even seen the multi-band one at Bed,
Bath and Beyond in an emergency-preparedness all-band, crank to
power radio.


You are very correct. I couldn't contain my curiosity. Went to a
nearby Electronics Store. Then had a half a shelf full of SW
Radios. I was not looking in the right places before. I asked the
employee and he said that SW Radios are still popular but not as
much as before.

There were some nice Grundigs priced around $120 Canadian !! This
is very good to know for the future.

Vijay )

There's also a tremendous potential for shortwave to enter the
"entertainment mainstream" with the introduction of "digital
shortwave" using the DRM system.

I have the facility to listen to the "pioneering" transmissions of DRM
from BBC, Radio Canada, Vatican Radio, Radio Nederland, Radio Sweden,
China Radio International and Deutsche Welle every afternoon and
early evening from 2055 UTC till 0300 UTC.

I also, (on good nights), receive the DRM transmissions from Radio
Luxembourg here in Detroit, proving that DRM is feasible over
trans-Atlantic conditions. It's amazing that after a more than 10
year abscence from shortwave, Radio Luxembourg is back on the bands.

The fidelity, while not "audiophile" quality, is absolutely amazing,
approaching the sound quality of a decent FM mono table radio. No
static, no hetrodynes, no selective fading etc. Non-SWL'ers who I've
had over actually enjoy listening to it!

Since DRM uses the non-proprietary MPEG-4 digital audio compression
system, it is conceivable that inexpensive chipsets for decoding it
will be developed over the next couple of years and put into Sangean,
Sony, and Grundig receivers.

I don't mean to be a "shill" for DRM, but I am truly blown away by it
and its potential for making shortwave broadcasting viable again.

Fred E.

N8UC -- Detroit, MI

In article , R Vijay wrote:
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 03:04:31 GMT
"David Eduardo" wrote:


SW radios are at nearly every electronics and gadget store.
Frys in the West has many; Sharper Image, Hammacher-Schlemmer,
etc., have them, too. Have even seen the multi-band one at Bed,
Bath and Beyond in an emergency-preparedness all-band, crank to
power radio.


I need to visit more Mom and Pop Electronic Stores to see if they
carry SW Radios. This has me really curious. Most I went to
didn't have them at all. I thought SW was dead in North America
until I came here.
Vijay
-----------
A good start in Canada is the advice and references at
the CIDX messenger and the ODXA Listening In (Google them)
http://www.odxa.on.ca/li.html
http://www.anarc.org/cidx/messenger.html

"starman" wrote in message
...
R Vijay wrote:

If it were true, it might be because the more intelligent people
*choose* to listen to radio instead of television. The radio doesn't
make them smarter. They find radio more interesting because of their
intelligence.


I'm not sure we are more intelligent, but I figure we are more
imaginative. We have to fill in the blanks during fadeouts, and the
conspiratorialists have us connecting the dots.

Why, the mere mention of floride can put me into a mental be-bop of
ideas, images and conspiracies. The NWO gets me into a Charlie Parker
swirl.

Radio hosts expose what they claim are the real powers behind the
scenes, and every day the Last Day Prophet of God tells the world as we
know it will be ending very soon.

And what do our couch potato brethren watch? A Victoria's Secret
underwear show which leaves little to the imagination, perhaps?

I think the intelligent choice is clear.

Frank Dresser

On 22 Dec 2003 12:05:24 -0800
(RedOctober90) wrote:

I started in SW in late 2001 and I tell you that the bands are
always packed with stations when I listen in the evening/night
time. I like listening to Voice Of Russia and it's mailbag
program. You find opinions and news here that you won't find
off cable TV. The cable system channels are all controlled by
the elite corporations so your not going to get the same
openness you would get from certain SW stations.


Where are you located ? What receiver do you use ?

Thanks.

Vijay

We just had a Fry's open here (Renton, WA). They don't carry shortwave
radios.


"R Vijay" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 03:04:31 GMT
"David Eduardo" wrote:


SW radios are at nearly every electronics and gadget store.
Frys in the West has many; Sharper Image, Hammacher-Schlemmer,
etc., have them, too. Have even seen the multi-band one at Bed,
Bath and Beyond in an emergency-preparedness all-band, crank to
power radio.


I need to visit more Mom and Pop Electronic Stores to see if they
carry SW Radios. This has me really curious. Most I went to
didn't have them at all. I thought SW was dead in North America
until I came here.

Vijay

I'm not sure we are more intelligent, but I figure we are more
imaginative. We have to fill in the blanks during fadeouts, and the
conspiratorialists have us connecting the dots.

"When television came roaring in after the war (World War II) they did a
little school survey asking children which they preferred and why -
television or radio. And there was this 7-year-old boy who said he
preferred radio because the pictures were better."

Alistair Cooke- BBC radio
'Letter from America'


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