Boy am I feeling old/ the end of short wave broadcasting.

[catman]

G'day all, yes that's a strange title but I am indeed feeling quite old as I notice that one of my passions since I was very young, short wave radio broadcasting is being rapidly replaced by the internet and or other digital delivery platforms.

Yes the world is changing. Short wave listening directly led into Amateur Radio for me and indirectly into a career in telecommunications and hobby electronics generally including audio and vinyl records.

To me, short wave listening with long distance reception around the world via ionospheric propagation is something akin to magic even now in this digital age and antenna design has long been an area of great interest for me. http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/amateur_radio_antennas_03.html particularly 'full wavelength' loop antennas!

I guess I just find it so sad to see something that was so popular and even 'state of the art' not that long ago is now being so rapidly replaced. The internet is nice to have, but radio is something special. Regards, Felix (vk4fuq) aka catman.

 

[DC]

I agree with every word, Felix. Indeed, radio is something special and I too feel nostalgic for magical radio signals that cannot be replaced with digital technology.

... sigh ...

 

[tybrad]

I agree too Felix! It was just last week that I taught radio transmission in my classroom and brought in my sw radio for an illustration of skywave phenomena. Students just don't get my fascination with fading signals and the possibility of pirate radio or a numbers station capture. For me, the distance and ionospheric factors are enhanced by the fading signals; I like it that there are still wild or dimly-touched areas of the world. I hope that it will be around for the remainder of my life!

Cheers,
Ty

 

[harman/kardon]

Felix I am owner of several tube radios from 1950-1968 and I also regret the end of short wave broadcasting whose undertaker definitely is the internet.

There remains only one FM (!) radio station that I can enjoy, all the other radio stations on FM became so stupid. SWR2/Germany is a radio station for classical music and culture.

When I want to use my high quality tube radios any other way, I have to hook my CD players or turntables via adapter.

Best from Black Forest to Australia,

Chris

 

[Fisherdude]

I spent many, many evenings back in the 60's and 70's late into the night, headphones on, listening to China, Russia, Germany, and, yes, our old buddies at Radio Havana. I still have all my QSL cards. I agree, Felix, it's very sad to see this starting to fade away. So many people have no idea of the magic that it used to be. I still have a very large collection of shortwave radios.

Otoh, don't give up entirely! This has turned out to be a very, very unusual sunspot cycle, with the bottom of the trough lasting much longer than usual. It's got to start getting better this year!! Here's a link from a great web site that sends me a daily email with loggings:

http://primetimeshortwave.com/

 

[Sandy G]

I hear ya, Felix. Spent all this time, effort, & not to mention MONEY to assemble a pretty reasonable collection of the finest SW Tooob receivers ever made, only to have SW broadcasting kinda die...Ain't fair...And the internet is kinda "cheating", in a way...Somethin' "Magickal" about diggin' a far-off signal outta the ether that typing in a www. address will never match...(Sigh)

 

[Bozzmonster]

Plus as witnessed in Japan after the earthquake, the broadband connections (along with cell service and wired telephone service) were the first to go down. However, the dissemination of local communication was quickly re-established via a low power FM transmitter. Be it shortwave or broadcast, radio can save lives.

 

[Captain Slack]

I bought my first shortwave radio a little over a week ago. So far, I'm really enjoying it, but I get the feeling I came to the party late.

 

[Arkay]

I grew up loving the whole idea of listening to far-off places via shortwave, and used to stay up spinning the dial and listening, too, via a series of different radios over the years. Just as catman said, there is something "magic" about shortwave, and Internet listening just isn't the same. I still get a kick out of tuning in a station from the other side of the planet, and listening to it, even with the almost-inevitable sonic imperfections.

It will be a sad world, indeed, when there are no more analog TV broadcasts, no more analog free-to-air AM and FM broadcasts --at least none remotely worth hearing-- and no more shortwave magic! :sigh:

 

[electronjohn]

I'm in the same club, Felix. There's still plenty of shortwave to listen to...but the enjoyment level is severely lacking. The big signals seem to be dominated by religious broadcasters which aren't exactly my cuppa tea. The most interesting stuff today seems to be out of Africa or S. America...but I speak neither Spanish nor Swahili

 

[BruceRPA]

I agree with the comments and sentiments expressed so far. I have also spent many hours, especially in my youth, listening to SW. Someplace around here I still have the file box of 3X5 cards that I filled out logging distant AM broadcast stations. I learned a lot by building radio kits and experimenting with all sorts of antennas. Unfortunately, life has not allowed for the time in recent years to sit and listen. Music, for one, keeps getting in the way! A few minutes here and there but that is just about it. I still have two SW rigs set up and ready in the man-cave. Maybe this thread will motivate me to put the longwire antenna back up that came down in a storm a couple of years ago. The simple vertical that remains just doesn't quite cut it on most of the SW band.

And I agree about the magic in listening to radio that is lacking with internet radio. There is nothing like spending a Saturday afternoon in January during a snow storm putting up some crazy new antenna and then staying up half the night when not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, listening to faint signals from all over the world. God, I miss those days!

I hope that SW broadcasting and listening does not fade out permanently. Perhaps after the excitement over this new fangled internet thing wears off, good old shortwave listening will get rediscovered by some future generation that has yet to be born. I just hope that there will be something to listen to that does not get overwhelmed by man made noise.

73!

 

[Fisherdude]

The link I posted is for English language broadcasts, and they're far from gone. Plus, it's just as much fun to positively identify a far-away station broadcasting in a strange and exotic language! The biggest change overall is a reduction in English broadcasting. Those listeners are the ones moving to the internet. Listeners in underdeveloped countries, not so much.

Winter's coming!:yes:

 

[Scuzzer]

then staying up half the night when not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, listening to faint signals from all over the world. God, I miss those days!

If we can get some sunspots going I'll haul the Icom up to the cabin and start checking it out again. I've always wanted to hear a full Voice of Korea english broadcast.

 

[drillher]

I agree.There is something cool about being able to pick up a broadcast from half way around the globe.My wife can't listen to any broadcast that has static and fades,but then she never got a thrill out of tuning in faint far away signals.
Dave

 

[electronjohn]

Anyone else here take the solid-state electronics course offered by Radio Netherlands back in the 60s? Think it was on Tuesday night...they mailed you materials then you tuned in for class. Yeez I'm an old fart.

 

[Scuzzer]

Yeez I'm an old fart.

Don't sell yourself short. I was born in the 60s and I'm an old fart. So to answer your question, no I'm wasn't old enough to do the Radio Netherlands thing but I bet it would have been fun.

 

[WhiteSE]

G'day all, yes that's a strange title but I am indeed feeling quite old as I notice that one of my passions since I was very young, short wave radio broadcasting is being rapidly replaced by the internet and or other digital delivery platforms.

Yes the world is changing. Short wave listening directly led into Amateur Radio for me and indirectly into a career in telecommunications and hobby electronics generally including audio and vinyl records.

To me, short wave listening with long distance reception around the world via ionospheric propagation is something akin to magic even now in this digital age and antenna design has long been an area of great interest for me. http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/amateur_radio_antennas_03.html particularly 'full wavelength' loop antennas!

I guess I just find it so sad to see something that was so popular and even 'state of the art' not that long ago is now being so rapidly replaced. The internet is nice to have, but radio is something special. Regards, Felix (vk4fuq) aka catman.

I find it sad also that the era when people got into hobbies and spent time on activitities that actually taught them something and had long lasting influences are going extinct. I was talking to a hobby store owner and RC models of all kinds sales are basically nil.

For today's youth, the thought of building sometimes sounds as foreign as klingon. Doing anything that isnt already built, programmed, and quick is like asking for gravity to stop. Its obvious that technological advances are killing some of the "Build, Do, Learn" curve of old..and THAT can NOT be a good thing in the long run.

 

[HackerJohn1]

I bought a Kenwood R-5000 new in the early 90's just to get more then a Hallicrafters could get me. Then the "good" stations started dropping like flies. There is a little still out there, but it just doesn't have that same excitement. I still do give it a listen now and then, or maybe do some AM dx'ing, or listen for a pirate.

 

[electroking]

I find it sad also that the era when people got into hobbies and spent time on activitities that actually taught them something and had long lasting influences are going extinct. I was talking to a hobby store owner and RC models of all kinds sales are basically nil.

For today's youth, the thought of building sometimes sounds as foreign as klingon. Doing anything that isnt already built, programmed, and quick is like asking for gravity to stop. Its obvious that technological advances are killing some of the "Build, Do, Learn" curve of old..and THAT can NOT be a good thing in the long run.

I can relate to the last part of your post: I teach electronics to EE/CE
majors, and something as simple as a resistive voltage divider seems
to remain a mystery to most of them. When you're about 20 and have
never touched any kind of electronic circuitry, the learning curve is very
steep indeed...

 

[garww]

Great thread. No cable tv, digital tv, or cell phone here. I can occassionaly get that Korean broadcast, but I'm not getting a lot where I live.

I would like to see more pirate, but I was talking to a kid online who tried that and it only took one complaint from a FM station to shut him down.