Listening to the BBC on an inexpensive shortwave radio
 

Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie, the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.

DJ wrote:
Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie, the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.




If what you want is something for program listening, in portable,
I like Panasonic RF-B65. Good sensitivity off the whip, with the
ability to use a random wire or small active, decent but not
exemplary selectivity, and exceptional audio in a portable. Digital
tuning, on a wheel or direct input. A handful of memories. Even twin
timers, and SSB if your friend wants to move into something more
than program listening. Good battery life. And build quality is good.

This radio is out of print, of course. But you do find them on
the used market well within your budget. Most of the $100 portables
out there, today, are not up to the same standard.

If you're determined to buy new, look at the Universal Radio,
CCrane and Grove websites.

There are still people buying portables by
Lex-Tecs-Pass-dig-sahn, or whatever the f*ck they call themselves
this week, with mixed but generally favorable results. Most of which
fall within your budget. One of the more popular being S350.

Sangean fields several in your price range. ATS 404, PT-50 come
to mind off the top. Ok. Not impressive, but ok.

Take the time to hit some of the dealer's sites, and, if you can,
try to get some hands-on locally.

And if you look carefully, you can find some much better radios
on the used market within your price range.

On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 15:53:17 -0500, "DJ" wrote:


Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie, the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.


XM has a delightful little unit for under $50. Rig up a 12 Vdc
adapter and a pair of powered speakers and you'll have the BBC World
Service 24/7/365, in HiFi sound, for under $100.

There is $13/month fee, but they also have lots of music and stuff.

DJ wrote:

Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie, the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.

BBC World Service is streamed online (at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice),
isn't it? Okay, occasionally they won't play a particular program
online, but at least (a) it's free (assuming he has an Internet
connection), and (b) it's not subject to having to search for a signal
that's not aimed to North America.

-- Don

David wrote:
XM has a delightful little unit for under $50..

There is $13/month fee, but they also have lots of music and stuff.

- Sounds great!

$ 156 / Yr or ~$1,500 for ten years..
- and you only have to have continuous line of sight to the Bird.

- Quite a Bargain.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
DJ wrote:
Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie,
the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern
Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.




If what you want is something for program listening, in portable,
I like Panasonic RF-B65. Good sensitivity off the whip, with the
ability to use a random wire or small active, decent but not
exemplary selectivity, and exceptional audio in a portable. Digital
tuning, on a wheel or direct input. A handful of memories. Even twin
timers, and SSB if your friend wants to move into something more
than program listening. Good battery life. And build quality is good.

This radio is out of print, of course. But you do find them on
the used market well within your budget. Most of the $100 portables
out there, today, are not up to the same standard.

If you're determined to buy new, look at the Universal Radio,
CCrane and Grove websites.

There are still people buying portables by
Lex-Tecs-Pass-dig-sahn, or whatever the f*ck they call themselves
this week, with mixed but generally favorable results. Most of which
fall within your budget. One of the more popular being S350.

Sangean fields several in your price range. ATS 404, PT-50 come
to mind off the top. Ok. Not impressive, but ok.

Take the time to hit some of the dealer's sites, and, if you can,
try to get some hands-on locally.

And if you look carefully, you can find some much better radios
on the used market within your price range.

On 4 Jul 2005 19:03:54 -0700, "Dan" wrote:



David wrote:
XM has a delightful little unit for under $50..

There is $13/month fee, but they also have lots of music and stuff.

- Sounds great!

$ 156 / Yr or ~$1,500 for ten years..
- and you only have to have continuous line of sight to the Bird.

- Quite a Bargain.

Or you can spend two grand on a radio and an antenna.

Big cities have repeaters and the reception is very FM-like.

In article ,
DJ wrote:
Have a friend who listens to tape delayed BBC broadcasts on local FM
station. Would like to get him an inexpensive ($100 or less) shortwave
radio so he can hear the real deal live. He won't install a secondary
antenna, so a unit with a good antenna is a must. Digital tuning (ie, the
ability to see the frequency) would be nice, too. He is in northern Indiana,
USA. Thanks for any tips/advice.

The sad fact is that the BBC has, in just the last year or two, cut out
shortwave broadcasting aimed at North America and you can't get reliable
reception of a lot of the programs in their schedule.

For example, the only time I can pick up their "World of Music", a
half hour of world music by Charlie Gillett is in the dead of
night on a frequency (15360 kHz, from Singapore, aimed at Japan) that
will quit working as the seasons change.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident

Or you can spend two grand on a radio and an antenna.

Utter rubbish, ~100 USD and 50 feet of bell wire does just fine

Big cities have repeaters and the reception is very FM-like.

STILL not Shortwave

Anybody else getting the BBC on a regular basis? Especially in the midwest?
I am interested in news and general interest type programming.

Mark, is west coast SWL difficult anyway? That's what I've heard.


The sad fact is that the BBC has, in just the last year or two, cut out
shortwave broadcasting aimed at North America and you can't get reliable
reception of a lot of the programs in their schedule.

For example, the only time I can pick up their "World of Music", a
half hour of world music by Charlie Gillett is in the dead of
night on a frequency (15360 kHz, from Singapore, aimed at Japan) that
will quit working as the seasons change.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident

DJ wrote:

Anybody else getting the BBC on a regular basis? Especially in the midwest?
I am interested in news and general interest type programming.

I can usually hear 9825 from Ascension aimed at SAm here in California
on my Yaesu, although it can be quite noisy at times. 9825 at 0200 has
world news. You might be able to get the Asian stream on 9740 in the
morning and on 15280/15360 for a few hours in the afternoon. Timing is
different though, with world news at 0000. 15280/15360 tends to fade out
by 0300 during the winter.

Mark, is west coast SWL difficult anyway? That's what I've heard.

Depends on your definition. We can't get Africans. We can't get DW in
English. But we get lots of Asians, even clandestines like Sound of Hope
from Palau aimed at China. I got a Burmese clandestine once. We can get
the Middle East for a couple hours around sunrise their local time (0300
or so). I would think that places like Australia and up north where
Uncle Arnie is (northern Canada, Alaska, and other northern climes)
would be hardest.



The sad fact is that the BBC has, in just the last year or two, cut out
shortwave broadcasting aimed at North America and you can't get reliable
reception of a lot of the programs in their schedule.

For example, the only time I can pick up their "World of Music", a
half hour of world music by Charlie Gillett is in the dead of
night on a frequency (15360 kHz, from Singapore, aimed at Japan) that
will quit working as the seasons change.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident





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David wrote:
On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 15:53:17 -0500, "DJ" wrote:



There is $13/month fee, but they also have lots of music and stuff.

Man, what a rip off.

Steve

wrote:



David wrote:
On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 15:53:17 -0500, "DJ" wrote:



There is $13/month fee, but they also have lots of music and stuff.

Man, what a rip off.

Yeah, we ALL need 10 channels of rap and 10 channels of alternative
rock. :(


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In article ,
DJ wrote:
Anybody else getting the BBC on a regular basis? Especially in the midwest?
I am interested in news and general interest type programming.

You could try some of the frequencies that we don't get here very well.
12095 kHz perhaps, or some of the african or european targeted ones.
(But the Beeb also chopped their European shortwave schedule). For both
Europe and the Americas, the big broadcasters have decided that the
shortwave audience isn't worth covering in the same areas that they are
providing satellite TV and audio transmissions.

Start with the BBC web site and you can find the transmitter schedules
for each region. They're in two forms, a text web page, and a graphic
bar chart showing the transmitter times for each frequency, and a location
of the transmitter.

Mark, is west coast SWL difficult anyway? That's what I've heard.

Not difficult, but not convenient. At Noon here, it's 2-6 AM for the
other side of the Pacific, so they just don't bother transmiting. Stuff
starts to come on in the late afternoon when it's breakfast time there.
And the evening news comes on at 4 AM here. (I do a lot of my radio
listening on a tape recorder). As you're two or three hours ahead,
you may find it more convenient, if the signals get there.

Mark Zenier Washington State resident