Is shortwave radio still a thing?
 

Hi, going back about a decade, people would recommend carrying a shortwave radio on long tours for getting news around the world.

I don't hear anyone mentioning shortwave any more. Is it still worth considering?

Thanks,
James

James, The internet has really diminished the need for a short wave radio. There are still a handful of die hard hobbyists, however.

Brad

Its also a good idea to be sure any time you are near a Western Union, to send telegrams to people you know so they know that your ok.

Shortwaves still bounce around the world pretty well. But I am not sure people even carry radios anymore. Unless of course your going to be in very remote areas where cell service won't be available. Then maybe a little battery powered combo radio might be nice at night.

The BBC World Service cut back SW broadcasts recently, but there's still plenty of other broadcasters. I carry an small AM/FM radio for news and NPR and in case I'm out of 3G/wifi range or get bored with stored podcasts and music on my iPhone. If I was going outside North America or Europe I'd probably carry an AM/FM/SW radio.

Agree, There is more activity for 3rd world listeners .. the Beeb turned their SW transmitters away from the US, but they still likely send programming to Africa
and perhaps the Middle east .

I carried a Sony ICF 2003 Am Fm Lw Sw on my trips.. took 6 AA batteries .. 2 ran the station memory.

http://www.dxing.com/rx/icf2003.htm

C Crane is a good Go To for SW and DX listening .. http://www.ccrane.com/

If I wanted good SW reception I'd go for something a bit bigger.

Shortwave is diminishing, however I still carry an Eaton Traveler mini radio. Get local AM stations, FM, some shortwave, plus it is a clock and alarm - don't carry a smart phone - so it is nice to listen to local weather prognostications on the radio.

Don't forget to brush up on your morse code.

Tecsun makes some nice radios, with SW, although i use them for their excellent FM AM reception. Only one distributor in USA, sold on Amazon and eBay.

I have the pl606 for a couple years now

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q21I4U

I've used both the Degen 1123 (AAA batteries) and Degen 1125 (rechargable batteries). Both units are AM/FM radios with an integrated speaker. The cool thing is they also have Shortwave and an MP3 player.

I've used the Shortwave sparingly, but it's nice to have on some nights when I want to hear what's happening around the world. Much like AM radio, I only seem to get stations at night. The FM and MP3 get the most use.

You mean places like the hills eighteen miles from my doorstep? No wonder I see so many vanity license plates with radio licenses on them.

Voice is better. CW is not too useful for news unless you can read @ 20+ w.p.m.
VE4ZD - et /VK, et /K0 .....

Yeah... I understand. But radios aren't a big (or as popular) as they once were. And ones like my favorite portable which holds six big D-cell batteries aren't easy to find (new). Remember of course... these radios are for listening ONLY they are NOT communication devices.

Not too long ago I had thought I was getting too attached to TV and decided to try listening to radio more instead. I thought an attractive table-side radio with a nice sized speaker would be nice. I was a little surprised at how individual "radios" have pretty much slipped away from the marketplace. I finally found a beautiful table radio with a really nice wood cabinet, at an estate sale. It must be 30 years.

Rural areas can also lose communication because of downed phone/cable lines as well. So... Short Wave has remained popular as emergency back-up. But I wasn't referring to "communicating". No license is require to just "listen" to the radio. Using Short Wave for communicating... is an entirely different endeavor... and NOT suitable for bicycle touring IMHO (at least outside the US).

Then the terms are Transceiver.. Amateur, Ham Radio Licences and call signs assignment is then involved..

LOL! stop

I bought a small Grundig short wave radio for a trip to Europe so that I could get BBC for news in English. That is when I learned that BBC dropped shortwave.

Even my old boom boxes by JVC had short wave several decades ago.

I moved to the US from the UK back in the late 1980s and I bought an Sony 7600A to listen to the BBC world service on SW. It worked well and I still have it, but with the internet the need for SW is really declining. I now listen to UK radio on my computer and iPhone. However, I still carry a Sony Walkman radio to listen to NPR when I am on tour. I have a happy memory of listening to Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" while sheltering from the rain under my umbrella just outside of Burlington VT, without the radio I would have been pretty bored. I'd only take a SW radio if I was going to a place with poor local radio broadcasts.

Walkman Digital Tuning Weather Radio - SRFM37W Review - Sony US

Yeah... my Dad was a bit of a radio enthusiast decades ago. I myself was an Army radio/radio teletype operator (encrypted) several decades ago. That was very High-Tech stuff back then. Ham stuff entered into slow scan imagining (television) years ago and isn't like what most people "imagine" ham radio to be like.

I used to build my own desktop computers and would attend the Hamvention to acquire parts. It was interesting to see how the technology has progressed.

Western Union hasn't provided telegram service since 2006.
Western Union Sends Its Last Telegram : NPR

I still have a Sony 2010 and and really tiny Sony 4900. Haven't listened to them in years, though. I used to take the 4900 to work with me, and listen at lunchtime. I remember listening to the BBC during the first Iraq War in the early 90's.

I've brought along a pocket SW radio a couple times on bike camping trips. The usefulness of shortwave in the US is pretty limited, as you can't pick up BBC or even CBC anymore. I got Radio Havana Cuba, though. A radio with Weather Band is much more useful in the US and Canada.

At risk of revealing my dinosaur origins, I must confess to owning and carrying short wave radios on bike tours to different continents for many years.Shortwave was the only way to receive information directly from other countries complete with their view of the world which was remarkably different from US news sources. What a surprise! A great way to learn languages and learn about other cultures. I can remember listening to the BBC (UK) or NHK(Japan) while camping at 5000 meters in the Andes of Ecuador one Christmas long ago.

The expensive and energy hungry SW transmitters have mostly been sold off to religious broadcasters by major international broadcasters who transferred many programs to internet only. Fine if you have internet access but we all know how reliable cell and wi-fi systems work in non-urban areas.

For nostalgia buffs: I own and use mostly Sony portable shortwave radios from the 1980's and earlier such as the ICF-2010; the ICF-7600G; the ICF-SW1 and various Grundig portables. Sony still has the best chip for portables, that I know of, for stabilizing shortwave radio signals bouncing off the ever changing ionosphere. Always a surprise station popped-up from some exotic place unexpectedly.

Yes, I still bring the ICF-SW1 along on tour. It is only the size of a cassette box -- something I will not bother to explain, but leave to Wikipedia.

I always have a transceiver with me on any trips longer than 5 miles. Also gets am/fm and weather.