The future of shortwave?
 

I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

Mike Terry wrote:

I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Do you actually listen, or do you just surf the net finding articles?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

This morning I talked to a guy in Colorado for over half an hour via
shortwave (40 meter ham radio). A bit later I talked to a VK station
(Australia). I live in Michigan. I can imagine what it would cost to
make a phone call to those places. But for the price of a small amount
of electricity (and a radio of course) I was able to talk to them (via
efficient SSB). Do I think shortwave has a future? Yes I do.

Jim

On 6 Jun 2005 22:42:35 GMT, "Mike Terry"
wrote:

I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

"R.F. Collins" wrote:

This morning I talked to a guy in Colorado for over half an hour via
shortwave (40 meter ham radio). A bit later I talked to a VK station
(Australia). I live in Michigan. I can imagine what it would cost to
make a phone call to those places. But for the price of a small amount
of electricity (and a radio of course) I was able to talk to them (via
efficient SSB). Do I think shortwave has a future? Yes I do.

In deference to Mr. Terry I believe he was addressing the issue of shortwave
broadcasting rather than amateur radio. It goes without saying that the 'use' of
shortwave, in general, will continue for some time.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Besides my obvious plug for ham radio, I was also implying that I
don't believe "AM" can continue to be the standard for shortwave
transmission (due to power costs). I don't really think DRM is the
solution either. SSB is more efficient and can be decoded without the
added costs associated wth a proprietary system.

My point is that for shortwave broadcasting to continue, cost of
transmission and reception will be the top priority. Content is
unfortunately not as important.

Just my carefully disguised opinion. Not so much now.

Jim

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:33:50 -0400, dxAce
wrote:



"R.F. Collins" wrote:

This morning I talked to a guy in Colorado for over half an hour via
shortwave (40 meter ham radio). A bit later I talked to a VK station
(Australia). I live in Michigan. I can imagine what it would cost to
make a phone call to those places. But for the price of a small amount
of electricity (and a radio of course) I was able to talk to them (via
efficient SSB). Do I think shortwave has a future? Yes I do.

In deference to Mr. Terry I believe he was addressing the issue of shortwave
broadcasting rather than amateur radio. It goes without saying that the 'use' of
shortwave, in general, will continue for some time.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

"R.F. Collins" wrote:

Besides my obvious plug for ham radio, I was also implying that I
don't believe "AM" can continue to be the standard for shortwave
transmission (due to power costs). I don't really think DRM is the
solution either. SSB is more efficient and can be decoded without the
added costs associated wth a proprietary system.

My point is that for shortwave broadcasting to continue, cost of
transmission and reception will be the top priority. Content is
unfortunately not as important.

Just my carefully disguised opinion. Not so much now.

Well, it was indeed carefully disguised. :-)

dxAce
Michigan
USA

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:32:03 -0400, R.F. Collins wrote:

This morning I talked to a guy in Colorado for over half an hour via
shortwave (40 meter ham radio). A bit later I talked to a VK station
(Australia). I live in Michigan. I can imagine what it would cost to
make a phone call to those places.

Five cents a minute on Callvantage (which I happened to check). that's only
$3 an hour (and falling).......


But for the price of a small amount
of electricity (and a radio of course) I was able to talk to them (via
efficient SSB). Do I think shortwave has a future? Yes I do.

Jim

On 6 Jun 2005 22:42:35 GMT, "Mike Terry"
wrote:

I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

It's outa here. Thank the Internet... especially broadband. The BBC no
longer broadcasts on shortwave to North America because they feel they have
more listeners on the Internet. They are also available on both of the
USA's satellite radio services.

And coming soon-- radio on your cell phone. That will make international
broadcasters available everywhere... including metropolitan areas where
interference sources and the need for an outside aerial made shortwave
listening impossible.

Hi Mike:

- Yes, Shortwave has a future..
for communication over long distances - at low cost
or
for military applications..
or
for commercial SW that doesn't neatly fit into the larger commercial
loop... Including Pirates..

As for the cost of fixed stations.. I think WBCQ is on the cutting
edge, building a wind farm to power it's transmitters..

L am as an avid shortwave listener for more than 50 years unfortunately I am
sseing demise of shortwave broadcasts, such as BBC and VOA.

"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

We'd better all hope that shortwave continues and has a future for the sake
of getting REAL news. So-called "streaming audio" is a joke, there is
nothing "streaming" about it except the malarky coming from the mouths of
its proponents.

Satellite as well as Internet information and, yes, news, is too easy to
censor or block entirely.

God help us if we have to rely on the pathetic US broadcasters (all 3 of
them which own most media now) or satellite/Internet "technology" .In the
so-called "Cold War" days I remember hearing how the communists would go up
and down the streets with radios tuned to IF frequencies and detect what
people were listening to. If you were tuned to RFE or some banned station,
you were in trouble. Good grief...does anyone believe that Internet/digital
mediums are not being monitored or soon will be?

Smokey
Fed up with the BS


"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

On 7 Jun 2005 02:47:59 GMT, "PM" wrote:

L am as an avid shortwave listener for more than 50 years unfortunately I am
sseing demise of shortwave broadcasts, such as BBC and VOA.

"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike






Believe me, the VoA is still here...although it's not cheap for us in
the CNMI! The CUC (Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) gouges the US
Government on our electricity because it can't get it's own government
(CNMI) to pay its power bills. Every time they go to shut off a CNMI
govt office, the CNMI govt gets it's buddies in the CNMI judiciary to
issue an injunction prohibiting it! Front Page news has it that the
CNMI govt will be completely broke by election day this year...

But I digress. The VoA is still here...we just concentrate on new
targets and have expended services to those new targets at the expense
of old services like English and most european languages. However,
the general feeling at the IBB water cooler is that we'll all be
pahsed out within 10-15 years. :-(

Al in CNMI

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Remember the CB craze of the 1970s? It became insanely popular for a while
with a very wide audience, but then the sunspot cycle created horrible
conditions, and the faddists went somewhere else. The CB survived, though,
and even in these days of GPS and satellite and internet, there's still
nothing better for truckers and other interstate drivers than the old
familiar CB. I listen to channel 19 all the time, and it's just as busy as
ever before. CB is not about to go anywhere.

Neither is shortwave. I think shortwave is in a decline, but I think it will
survive and even flourish over the next few decades. I don't know who will
be on the SW band in 10 years, but I'm sure someone will be smart enough to
realize what a powerful medium radio can be.

lsmyer wrote:

Remember the CB craze of the 1970s? It became insanely popular for a while
with a very wide audience, but then the sunspot cycle created horrible
conditions, and the faddists went somewhere else. The CB survived, though,
and even in these days of GPS and satellite and internet, there's still
nothing better for truckers and other interstate drivers than the old
familiar CB. I listen to channel 19 all the time, and it's just as busy as
ever before. CB is not about to go anywhere.

Neither is shortwave. I think shortwave is in a decline, but I think it will
survive and even flourish over the next few decades. I don't know who will
be on the SW band in 10 years, but I'm sure someone will be smart enough to
realize what a powerful medium radio can be.

The idiots at BBC and DW and VOA may deepsix their SW operations, but in
places like Africa SW is STILL the best way to reach rural audiences,
most of whom live on $1 a day yet who have SW radios. Also, SW is the
best way to get around media censorship. Look at Zimbabwe, where the
opposition has taken to SW in order to get anti Mugabe messages to the
public. In places where local media is heavily censored, SW can get the
opposition's message out to a wide audience. There is a lot of
clandestine SW to China, not only RFA but private operations like Sound
of Hope. And of course there will always be the preachers, who don't
have the money or local market share necessary for local media but who
can turn a profit on SW. The new Radio Wantok from Papua New Guinea that
has been discussed here mostly broadcasts tapes of American right wing
commentators, from reports I've read, but the locals still consider it a
community station.


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Tebojockey wrote:

On 7 Jun 2005 02:47:59 GMT, "PM" wrote:

L am as an avid shortwave listener for more than 50 years unfortunately I am
sseing demise of shortwave broadcasts, such as BBC and VOA.

"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike






Believe me, the VoA is still here...although it's not cheap for us in
the CNMI! The CUC (Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) gouges the US
Government on our electricity because it can't get it's own government
(CNMI) to pay its power bills. Every time they go to shut off a CNMI
govt office, the CNMI govt gets it's buddies in the CNMI judiciary to
issue an injunction prohibiting it! Front Page news has it that the
CNMI govt will be completely broke by election day this year...

But I digress. The VoA is still here...we just concentrate on new
targets and have expended services to those new targets at the expense
of old services like English and most european languages. However,
the general feeling at the IBB water cooler is that we'll all be
pahsed out within 10-15 years. :-(

Al in CNMI

There's always Sawa and Farda, both IBB operations, although Sawa is
only on FM. And then there's the Studio 7 service to Zimbabwe. But most
VOA services have been cut deeply, and they'll probably cut the rest
soon. DW has already cut all its Americas services, and BBC is heading
in that direction.


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----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 13:47:02 -0700, running dogg wrote:

Tebojockey wrote:

On 7 Jun 2005 02:47:59 GMT, "PM" wrote:

L am as an avid shortwave listener for more than 50 years unfortunately I am
sseing demise of shortwave broadcasts, such as BBC and VOA.

"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
I am interested in the latest views on this topic.

What do you think - has shortwave got a future?

Views/links to articles would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike






Believe me, the VoA is still here...although it's not cheap for us in
the CNMI! The CUC (Commonwealth Utilities Corp.) gouges the US
Government on our electricity because it can't get it's own government
(CNMI) to pay its power bills. Every time they go to shut off a CNMI
govt office, the CNMI govt gets it's buddies in the CNMI judiciary to
issue an injunction prohibiting it! Front Page news has it that the
CNMI govt will be completely broke by election day this year...

But I digress. The VoA is still here...we just concentrate on new
targets and have expended services to those new targets at the expense
of old services like English and most european languages. However,
the general feeling at the IBB water cooler is that we'll all be
pahsed out within 10-15 years. :-(

Al in CNMI

There's always Sawa and Farda, both IBB operations, although Sawa is
only on FM. And then there's the Studio 7 service to Zimbabwe. But most
VOA services have been cut deeply, and they'll probably cut the rest
soon. DW has already cut all its Americas services, and BBC is heading
in that direction.


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VoA will definitely not disappear anytime soon. There are too many
minority languages it supports. VoA, Sawa, Farda and all the other
stations run by us here at IBB will continue as long as they are
politically necessary and convenient. After all, it is nothing more
than a propaganda war we're fighting on the airwaves. I've got this
contract for at least five more years, and the IBB has been mandated
by Congress to outsource (contract operation) 35% more of its
stations, so there is a future, but an indeterminate one!

Al in CNMI

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