It’s curious that, as every week seems to bring news of more cuts or closures in international shortwave broadcasting, the popular press seem to be turning their attention more and more to shortwave. The latest article I’ve seen is in the Palm Beach Post, whose technology writer Bill Husted opens with the words “Follow today’s tips and you could aggravate your spouse by spending money on out-of-date technology. You might even annoy your neighbors.”
Bill Husted is apparently a seasoned shortwave listener, who also listens on the amateur radio and utility portions of the shortwave spectrum. He says “I can’t promise that shortwave listening is for you. I limit myself to writing about this topic once a year, but each time I hear from people who have made the plunge and love it. Some of them are returning to a childhood interest and others are trying it for the first time. I’m always pleased and a little surprised at the appeal this hobby still holds.”
Andy Sennitt comments: I’m wondering if there’s a trend here. Is retro technology something that could be more effectively used to draw attention to international broadcasts, catching peoples’ attention in a way that would be impossible on platforms such as the Internet? Are the numbers of people returning to shortwave or trying it for the first time large enough to matter? I’d be interested to hear your views.
One thing that did raise a smile is Bill Husted’s reference to annoying the neighbours. I remember one of my university friends commenting that he always knew when I was in my room because of the whistles, crackles and other assorted noises that could be heard in the corridor outside!
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 15:06
True enough, SW is listened to less and less by the likes of me (and you?). But I know a number of Russians, etc. who used to listen successfully to the VoA and RL in the cold war days without too much effort, and with no specialist technical knowledge, despite Soviet jamming. Government blocked internet sites are a different ball game - I certainly would not know how access the BBC website in China. Local FM stations can be simply switched off by disapproving local governments.
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 15:21
It is all about content, not technology.
THe typical SW listener would be male 40-65. Interested in unbiased news, feature programmes and entertainment. I still have this idea about a 60-70-80’s music programme with news and current affairs at certain moments. The Beatles and Stones are still popular and there are areas like Latin Am and sub Indian-cont, China (in Japan there is a retro-revival) where this could not be heard in the past. The music and speech is fit for SW-AM. Looking for a partner. R. Netherlands used to broadcast a lot of music in the past.
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 15:34
I don’t see what’s ‘retro’ or ‘old-fashioned’ about short wave. No-one would say that international voice calls are out of date simply because the telephone wasn’t invented yesterday. Even FM dates back to the 1940s, and that certainly won’t be switched off for quite a while !
When travelling, I want to stay in touch, and short wave radio is often the only practical way to do this: local TV news is often parochial or tabloid, and imported newspapers are dated or unavailable.
However, my Etón E5 slips happily into a jacket pocket, works everywhere and its 4 AAA rechargeable cells cost virtually nothing to run.
But the bean counters expect me to lug around an expensive, power-hungry laptop and pay for an expensive mobile data subscription, or to use a transportable satellite receiver which is even more impractical.
With synthesiser tuning and hundreds of presets, today’s affordable hi-tech radios make SW easier to receive than ever before; it’s no longer the preserve of anoraks. The BBC World Service and similar outlets should be actively promoted, e.g. at airports, not deliberately run down.
Why should almost every English language SW broadcast turn out to be China Radio International?
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 17:54
Alastair,
I was in Krasnodar in July 1972. From one of the upstairs open windows in a busy street, I heard the Rolling Stones being played loudly, with the unmistakeable sound of jamming in the background. Obviously a recording (or less likely, a relay) of Radio Liberty.
But what was most interesting to me was that on the street were quite a few uniformed people - police, military - who were within earshot of the music, and nobody appeared to take any notice of it, as if it were quite normal. And I suspect it was.
on Feb 24th, 2008 at 21:22
My view: Shortwave is the place where international broadcasters really stand out and do not get dwarfed by an abundance of other content. Shortwave radios are cheap and small, something that still stands out as well.
Shouldn’t it matter enough to keep some shortwave service? This does not require to put numerous frequencies on air with 500 kW. It still works with a few decibels less signal strength, it still works with less redundancy. Listeners would even hardly notice if no big announcements about such cost-saving measures are being made. As Kim Elliott put it: It could still serve a small but grateful audience. I would not declare it as dead until serious audience research proves that really nobody is out there anymore.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 00:23
Ruud said:
“It is all about content, not technology.
THe typical SW listener would be male 40-65. Interested in unbiased news, feature programmes and entertainment. I still have this idea about a 60-70-80’s music programme with news and current affairs at certain moments. The Beatles and Stones are still popular and there are areas like Latin Am and sub Indian-cont, China (in Japan there is a retro-revival) where this could not be heard in the past. The music and speech is fit for SW-AM. Looking for a partner. R. Netherlands used to broadcast a lot of music in the past.”
I think this is an important part of the equation. The technology to reach listeners in any part of the world has improved immensly in the last 30 years - but at the same time things that are WORTH listening to seem to be disappearing even faster
80s music was definately the domain of stations like KYOI - how I miss them ! (Memories of KYOI at http://kyoi.zcm.com.au)
What ORIGINALLY attracted me to Radio Nederland (as it was known in the 70s) was their pop programme on Saturdays - “What’s New” with Graham Gill and Bruce Parsons, and “His and Hers” on Tuesdays.
I hope DRM takes off, it could really breathe new life back into direct HF broadcasting. It would appear the communications authorities here in Australia have worked out that this may happen (and commercial interests are obviously worried about the threat this would pose to their existing markets) with the frequency embargo ACMA slapped on all HF allocations within this country 18 months ago.
Calvin.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 13:30
I’m rooting for the shortwave broadcasters. Some of it is selfish, I remember - as a 13-year-old kid living in a tiny and isolated Arkansas town - the thrill of listening to Big Ben chime on the BBC. And then tuning over to HCJB - it made me feel as if the world was within reach, all from Arkadelphia, Ark. And all that was done (hey, I’m old) on a Hallicrafters SX-99 that drifted more than a rowboat in a river.
I know the Internet offers some of the same advantages. After all, I wrote the shortwave piece that is being discussed here (my parent newspaper is the Atlanta Constitution but the column also appears in other newspapers, including the one in Palm Beach). The fact that I’m reading about my column here demonstrates the reach of the Internet.
But, there’s still something special about shortwave - I’m not even sure I can say what it is, but there’s a thrill to it that the Internet can’t match.
And the same benefit that I found as a kid also still exists. There are places in the world - tiny and isolated - where a computer and high speed Internet service is out of reach even today. But - as posters here noted - an inexpensive shortwave radio is within reach. And I hope that combination will open up the world for others, just as it did for me.
If anyone wants to stay in touch with my columns, you can go to my tech blog here:
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/technobuddy/
And, Calvin, my best friends will be moving from Atlanta to Australia (Sydney) in early March. They’re very much looking forward to the adventure of that.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 13:38
SW reaches areas MW and LW don’t and with good propagation gets even further.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 13:44
Thanks for your remarks Calvin. I used to listen to Happy Station on my Crystal receiver (!) on Aruba via the Bonaire 800 kHz relay RN hired. Always the latest pop-songs, in fact I was the first on the island to have them on my tape-recorder.
My suggestion is make the content more attractive on old analogue SW, in parrallel with Internet audio and Satellite in FM quality. Do we still need DRM. Internet becomes wireless as well. To find out make the same service available in DRM and see if the listener will go out for the shop and buy a new receiver. After all, DRM is more expensive for the broadcaster then Internet-Satelite.
But content allways comes first.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 13:58
ruud,the broadcasters seem to think DRM-SW will work;I have heard DRM-SW tx’s from various stations all over Europe on a friend’s Himalaya set and most sound good with just temporary loss of service occasionally due to the fading and propagation conditions that are a bugbear of SW in DRM format. With good control of the parameters by the broadcaster,this can certainly be reduced and kept to a minimum.
on Feb 25th, 2008 at 15:22
Thanks everyone for the feedback, and it was especially nice to hear from Bill, who wrote the original article!
on Feb 26th, 2008 at 17:45
Coming a bit nearer home, it would be really nice to be able to hear RNW on SW (or MW) here in the UK! I know you’ve recently started a DRM service from Wertachtal, but it’s too weak to be usable here due to the use of an omni antenna and a frequency which is too low for the time of day. If it’s not too late, could you put in a word for A08 with your colleagues in the transmission planning area!