Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Other than music listening and reading books, I recently tried to get back into SWL (shortwave listening) after not doing it for 15 years. The process has been quite bumpy. SWL involves listening to international broadcasters, but for this time of year and my location mostly what I've gotten is Christian broadcasters, Cuban stations and Radio Marti (the propaganda arm of the Voice of America directed at Cuba). I've also managed to hear Radio Slovakia, Radio Romania, the Voice of Vietnam and China Radio International.
Reception and intelligibility of the broadcasts have been mostly poor, with a lot of noise. This is mostly due to living in an apartment, and being surrounded by devices like computers, wireless routers, cellphones and other modern gadgets that affect shortwave reception. I am also hampered in that I can't setup an antenna outside, living in an apartment complex. The little shortwave radio I got did come with a 20 foot wire antenna which I ran to the inside of my living room window, but it didn't make much difference.
However, I did try getting a more expensive radio that had better sensitivity, which resulted in broadcasts being a lot more understandable and less noisy. Unfortunately, that radio turned out to be defective and I had to return it. Once I get the refund for that return I may try buying another one of the same model to see if I can get a good one.
It's a very fun hobby, but the reality is that the emergence of the internet has caused much international broadcasting to die down. Many stations I use to listen to years ago are no longer on the air, because countries can do their foreign outreach more effectively on the net. Still, there's something about hearing a broadcast over the air that feels more satisfying than the effortlessness of listening to a stream or podcast.
This is my current radio:
Reception and intelligibility of the broadcasts have been mostly poor, with a lot of noise. This is mostly due to living in an apartment, and being surrounded by devices like computers, wireless routers, cellphones and other modern gadgets that affect shortwave reception. I am also hampered in that I can't setup an antenna outside, living in an apartment complex. The little shortwave radio I got did come with a 20 foot wire antenna which I ran to the inside of my living room window, but it didn't make much difference.
However, I did try getting a more expensive radio that had better sensitivity, which resulted in broadcasts being a lot more understandable and less noisy. Unfortunately, that radio turned out to be defective and I had to return it. Once I get the refund for that return I may try buying another one of the same model to see if I can get a good one.
It's a very fun hobby, but the reality is that the emergence of the internet has caused much international broadcasting to die down. Many stations I use to listen to years ago are no longer on the air, because countries can do their foreign outreach more effectively on the net. Still, there's something about hearing a broadcast over the air that feels more satisfying than the effortlessness of listening to a stream or podcast.
This is my current radio:
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