Hello and welcome back....Shortwave Radio is one of those hobbies that can be started with minimal layout, which means a shortwave radio can cost as little as $100 or it can cost several thousand for a decent rig.
I enjoy shortwave mostly because you can hear lots of different things including weather reports from far away places, news services from America (Voice Of America), Australia (ABC), Aircraft from around the world and various Military stations.
The shortwave frequency band is between 3 - 30mhz. Being low in frequency means long distance.
As explained in a web page from radio shack =
- Shortwave frequencies tend to follow the curvature of the earth, which allows them to bend around the horizon rather than going off into space.
- Shortwave frequencies can be bounced off of the ionosphere, which also allows the signal to be sent past the horizon.
To recive Shortwave Radio you will need a decent antenna, the best one to use is a "Longwire" antenna which as it sounds, is a length of wire with insulators and a single lead to the radio (see below)... one word of warning, Disconnect from the radio in a thunder storm other wise you way end up with a new perm or worse.
You can also use a telescopic antenna which will give you O.K results. Youtube has some great homemade ideas as well.
Jaycar electronics sell several Shortwave Radios (Digitech) but my faviourite brands would be Sangean and Sony, Also Dick Smith sell just one radio being a Sangean ATS-505 ($149).
Andrews Communications ( see Links) sometimes sell used shortwave radios that can save a good deal of money, these radios have been checked to make sure that they work. : )
Alot of high end scanners will do Shortwave as well and E-Bay is always an option.
If anyone knows anywhere else you can buy shortwave rigs let me know and I will add them to the post
There are several websites that have hundreds of frequency's available and I will put the links below, rather than copy and paste, which would not be fair for enthusiasts who spend hundreds of hours putting these pages together.
| Band | Frequency Range | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 m | 2300 - 2495 kHz | Tropical (regional) band | ||
| 90 m | 3200–3400 kHz | Tropical band | ||
| 75 m | 3900–4000 kHz | Shared with the North American amateur radio 80 m band | ||
| 60 m | 4750–5060 kHz | Tropical band | ||
| 49 m | 5900–6200 kHz | |||
| 41 m | 7200–7450 kHz | Shared with the amateur radio 40 m band | ||
| 31 m | 9400–9900 kHz | Most heavily used band | ||
| 25 m | 11,600–12,100 kHz | |||
| 22 m | 13,570–13,870 kHz | Substantially used in Eurasia | ||
| 19 m | 15,100–15,800 kHz | |||
| 16 m | 17,480–17,900 kHz | |||
| 15 m | 18,900–19,020 kHz | Lightly utilized; may become DRM band in future | ||
| 13 m | 21,450–21,850 kHz | |||
| 11 m | 25,600–26,100 kHz | May be used for local DRM broadcasting |
UPDATES
16/5/13
Pacific Region
Tahiti = 15170khz
New Caledonia = 7170khz
Kiribati = 9825khz
Rangoon (Burma) = 5985.85khz
Ulaan Baator (Mongolia) = 12085khz
South Korea (KBS World) = 9515khz, 7275khz, 3955khz
Quebec (CBC North) = 9625khz
Brazil (Radio Nacional da Amaznia) = 11780khz
Nigeria (Voice of Nigeria) = 15120khz, 9690khz, 7255khz
LINKS
http://www.swld.com.au/pages/aus_radio_aus.htm
http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/radio-australia-revised-summer-schedule.html
http://members.optusnet.com.au/patrick/
http://swaus.blogspot.com.au/
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~vk5vka/bcast.htm
http://w6yra.bol.ucla.edu/swb.htm
OR you can listen online = http://www.wrn.org/listeners/#home-listeners
MY SHORTWAVE RIG (An oldie but it still works)
Great blog you have. I have recently got my self the Sangean ATS-505 its great. I use to have a Grundig Satellit 300, that was getting a bit old.
ReplyDeleteI also have a uniden ubcd996T being mainly used for normal single scanning non trunking (mainly as dont know a lot about how to use the more advanced features) i will have find some people who knows about trunking to teach me, (dont know where to start). I use the info on your blog a lot for my type of normal scanning.
Hi Chris
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your comments
In regards to trunking, most trunking sites around Sydney have moved to digital and would be difficult to listen to, but i will find out for you if this is correct.
Trunking works by finding the nearest trunking site near you and inputting the Control ch, everything is linked to it, you can also put in all channels for the site as well but keep all the frequency's in order from lowest to highest, This will work better
There is also a bit more setup involved, i used to own a uniden UBC245 and while it worked, it was temperamental as you had to set the parameters as well, meaning each bank was 12.5khz and there was a starting frequency you had to enter. fun
Hope this helps.
If i find anymore info I will let you know.
Thanks again :)
Chris this page may help also = http://www.scanningtasmania.org/resources/guides?id=163
ReplyDeletecheers
Thanks for your help. I found out that you can download the config files the others have put together via the radio reference website via butel software as i do find doing it manually is hard at times.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Excellent,I love Radio Reference website, its full of great information, In regards to trunking, N.S.W. GRN is fully Digital, but there are alot of Analogue sites that you can trunk and I will post them soon :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your comments
Hi I wanted to pass along a great SWL Antenna at a low price at http://www.dipolesusa.com/shortwave.html
ReplyDeleteWDX2RADIO Timeless Classic. 50' foot longwire antenna kit w/ 25' foot lead in, quick clip (to click onto a telescoping antenna), wire connector ends to radio, twine, shrink tube for sealing connections, tape, and insulators. Includes instructions. This is very similar to the Shortwave Antennas that were sold at every radio store (incl Radio Shack). Now hard to find. Works with any Shortwave Radio, desktop or portable, new or vintage. I supply all of the clips and lugs necessary.
Perfect for Shortwave, LW, AM DX and General Communications Reception, .05khz to 54 Mhz.. Simple, classic design and installation. Excellent Performer, Big Bang for the Buck and a Super Value. Nothing beats a Longwire Antenna for Shortwave Reception.
Ready to connect to antenna screw on back of set, or to clip onto telescoping antennas on most portables. Everything you need to Mount Outdoors, or in Attic. Easy to follow instructions included.
Mike
Hi I wanted to pass along a great SWL Antenna at a low price at http://www.dipolesusa.com/shortwave.html
ReplyDeleteWDX2RADIO Timeless Classic. 50' foot longwire antenna kit w/ 25' foot lead in, quick clip (to click onto a telescoping antenna), wire connector ends to radio, twine, shrink tube for sealing connections, tape, and insulators. Includes instructions. This is very similar to the Shortwave Antennas that were sold at every radio store (incl Radio Shack). Now hard to find. Works with any Shortwave Radio, desktop or portable, new or vintage. I supply all of the clips and lugs necessary.
Perfect for Shortwave, LW, AM DX and General Communications Reception, .05khz to 54 Mhz.. Simple, classic design and installation. Excellent Performer, Big Bang for the Buck and a Super Value. Nothing beats a Longwire Antenna for Shortwave Reception.
Ready to connect to antenna screw on back of set, or to clip onto telescoping antennas on most portables. Everything you need to Mount Outdoors, or in Attic. Easy to follow instructions included.
Mike
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