I already asked this, but a flippant comment I made started another
insult war, so this time without the pithy addons. Does anybody know how
many (numbers or percentage) Americans own a SW radio, and how many of
those are hams or DXers and how many are casual listeners? Has anybody
ever studied this?



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On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:08:02 -0800, tommyknocker
wrote:

I already asked this, but a flippant comment I made started another
insult war, so this time without the pithy addons. Does anybody know how
many (numbers or percentage) Americans own a SW radio, and how many of
those are hams or DXers and how many are casual listeners? Has anybody
ever studied this?



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Don't have a clue, though I imagine the number of owners is higher
than us swl'ers might think. The reasoning behind that is my memory
of what happened during Desert Shield/Desert Storm when everyone was
rushing to by sw radios and stores had a hard time keeping the entry &
mid-level models on the shelves. Still, that "large number" is
probably a small number in relation to our total population. Also I
would bet than the vast majority of those who bought radios then; or
around the time of natural disasters stateside as that often boosts
sales a bit eg the Baygen that folks bought does have sw; very few of
them use it beyond the AM/FM bands.

Your question did get my curiosity up as well, though I'm not sure an
answer is forthcoming on this forum. So, I'll offer my OOTB (Out Of
The Blue) guesstimate at 2.5%.

Howard

"Howard" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:08:02 -0800, tommyknocker

wrote:

I already asked this, but a flippant comment I made started another
insult war, so this time without the pithy addons. Does anybody
know how
many (numbers or percentage) Americans own a SW radio, and how many
of
those are hams or DXers and how many are casual listeners? Has
anybody
ever studied this?



----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure
Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
=---
Don't have a clue, though I imagine the number of owners is higher
than us swl'ers might think. The reasoning behind that is my memory
of what happened during Desert Shield/Desert Storm when everyone was
rushing to by sw radios and stores had a hard time keeping the entry
&
mid-level models on the shelves. Still, that "large number" is
probably a small number in relation to our total population. Also I
would bet than the vast majority of those who bought radios then; or
around the time of natural disasters stateside as that often boosts
sales a bit eg the Baygen that folks bought does have sw; very few
of
them use it beyond the AM/FM bands.

Your question did get my curiosity up as well, though I'm not sure
an
answer is forthcoming on this forum. So, I'll offer my OOTB (Out Of
The Blue) guesstimate at 2.5%.

I'd imagine it closer to 5%, mainly due to some radios
simply having a "SW" band on them.

Internet streaming is far more focused than SW broadcasts,
as people who are aware of SW broadcasts might not
be aware of internet streaming. You have to actually want
the news from XXX to want to do internet streaming. The
channel flipping that you can do on SW is nonexistent
on Internet streaming (takes too long to connect and maintain
a connection), and people are more used to channel surfing
for news and info and "what's on?" than trying each stream
at a time. Plus, there are finite issues with internet streams
as far as how many people can connect at once and can listen
at once with decent audio fidelity.

Is an internet stream cheaper than maintaining a 500kW
broadcast station?? As far as electrical costs go for
a broadcaster, sure. As far as support costs for the
broadcaster (NOT including the people who put the
broadcasts together, but to support the transmission
points)?? I'd say it's a wash. Depends on the size of
the server farm you have, and how proactive you want
to be in protection/maintenance of the servers. As far
as handling the volume of people who would
listen in to a crisis?? Probably not. CNN's stream was
impossible to get into during 9/11. If a ton of people
tried to get into Deutche Welle during a major crisis,
their stream could quite easily go down. Also, security
at a broadcast site is easier to maintain than on a bunch
of servers that are out there streaming beyond the DMZ.
Shortwave is low tech compared to internet streaming,
but it works well at things that the Net has problems with.
Kinda like regular phone service versus cell phones.

--Mike L.