Short Wave listening

[Tyso_Bl]

I feel I have to chip in here, regarding SW receive aerials and noise, the solution I've settled on here is an untuned active loop, although I'm in a shielded valley with lots of local interference sources it works better than anything else I've tried, can't really explain the physics of it. As to broadcasts, there are still things to be heard, nothing like the heyday of shortwave though, I do tend to listen to some of the output from RMI, WWCR, etc, for entertainment value, there is also RRI if you fancy harking back to the old cold war style of broadcasting.

T

[G6Tanuki]

One place there still is worthwhile stuff-to-listen-to on SW is between about 6.2 and 6.4MHz at the weekends. Sunday morning in particular brings out a good crop of free-radio stations, many of them Dutch and playing an interesting blend of 60s to 90s music.

They provide a good opportunity to sort-of recreate the old 'naughtily listening to Caroline/RNI through the noise' experience.

[Tyso_Bl]

Yep, I do enjoy the going back in time aspect of these broadcasts, It was one of these stations that introduced me to The Orb, (little fluffy clouds), there are some stations also in 7.4Mhz region, and if you're into CW clandestine ops, have a look at this website...

http://www.masteroscillator.info/cgi...w-recent-pages

There is still lots of enjoyment to be had from shortwave radio, it's just not like it used to be.

T

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by Bazz4CQJ

. . . I already knew that this QTH is very bad for noise. I suspect it is made worse because many houses, including mine, have overhead cables supplying the power.

I have exactly the same problem here. And my aerial / reception problem is further complicated by the fact that although the back garden is long enough for a reasonably long length of wire (avoiding the word 'long-wire'), there is no easy route for any aerial feeder / down-lead from that garden to the room where my receivers are. But that room has plenty of space for other, related activities. And yes, I realised all that before we chose this place: so there's a story there, but it is not relevant to this Forum.

Al.

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by Tyso_Bl

. . . . RMI, WWCR, etc., for entertainment value. There is also RRI if you fancy harking back to the old cold war style of broadcasting.

Please remind me of what stations those abbreviations are - and any appropriate frequencies, please.
Thank you.

Al.

['LIVEWIRE?']

According to Wikipedia, WWCR is an evangelical station based in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts at various times on the 75, 49, 31, 25 & 19 Meter bands, using 4 x 100kW transmitters. WWCR apparently stood fo 'WorldWide Country Radio', though Callsigns of U.s. stations don't normally stand for anything. As for RMI, it appears to be a disco station based in Warsaw, Poland.

[Bazz4CQJ]

When I built my TRF, I was about 12 years old and for some reason I found it very interesting to spend time listening to the pair of (barely glowing) DF91's pulling in Radio Sweden, Switzerland and stations in Moscow, Prague, Sofia etc. Even if the current noise problem allowed it, I don't think I would find that very interesting now, at least not for very long. And if I did, an internet radio would make it effortless.

But, I still have this inclination to want to listen to radio receivers, maybe a home-made one with valves inside...but I'm not sure what I would now find interesting to listen to . I had every good intention of investigating the 60m ham band, and went out and bought a IC-718, but it can barely pull anything through the S8 background noise level with a dipole. An active mag loop is under construction (at a slow snail's pace) to see if that takes me anywhere, but I suspect that this QTH is not viable.

B