The Shortwave Radio Thread.

[plain old dave]

I'm listening to Jack Benny on a station somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.2 Mc, program called "Classic Radio Theater".... Nothing like OTR on, well, an old time radio. What do you have, and what are you listening to on it?

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

 

[LizzieMaine]

I often tune around on the Philco 37-10 console in my living room when I get home from work at night. 49 meter band is usually open, and Radio Havana Cuba usually has something going on in English. There's also a group of hams around 4 mc blabbing away in AM voice mode on Sunday nights, all of them blowhards but mostly in an entertaining way.

I have my own micropower AM stations broadcasting automated schedules of Era-oriennted programming 24 hours a day at 1230kc and 990 kc, and they also put out weak harmonics in the shortwave bands. Nothing that can be picked up outside of my neighborhood, but it's sometimes confusing to run across those harmonics when I'm looking for something else on shortwave.

 

[RW Observer]

I use a more contemporary shortwave receiver, the Tecsun PL-660, which is always perched next to me on my desk. Presently I am listening to Radio Havana Cuba on 6000 kHz, Radio Romania International and the BBC World Service are two other favorites of mine.

I have heard a pirate station on 6770 kHz which sometimes broadcasts old radio dramas and classic music, though signals are oftentimes weak in New York.

 

[52Styleline]

I have my Grandparents Zenith 8S661 Console (purchased in 1942) that has two shortwave bands. I occasionally use it to listen to MW and SW in the evening. It was this radio that got me interested in ham radio so many years ago.

In my hamshack, I have my original Hallicrafters S53A (purchased from Sears in 1956), a Hammarlund HQ100C, and a assortment of other vintage general coverage receivers to choose from. Then of course, there is my modern technology ham rig which has the best SW capability, and performance of all my radios.

Still, there is Magic to the glow of the old tube rigs as I remember myself as a boy sitting up all night to winkle out a weak signal. I really long for the 1950's through 70's when the bands were alive with broadcasts from all over the world.

 

[plain old dave]

There's also a group of hams around 4 mc blabbing away in AM voice mode on Sunday nights, all of them blowhards but mostly in an entertaining way.

That's the AM Window, 3.880 or 3.885 Mc. There's a similar Window on 1.8 and 7.2. Listen long enough and google the rigs they're talking about. Most of those guys use Golden Age Amateur Radio equipment, some even build their own. Occasionally, you'll hear a slight clunk when they start transmitting. That's a Transmit/Receive relay clicking over, and should be taken as evidence you're listening to a radio built when cars still had tailfins if not before WW2, it it wasn't built by the ham you're listening to.

http://www.amwindow.org/

I'm listening to Shortwave Saturday Night on WBCQ (7.4 Mc) right now... Golden Age stuff... They're rebroadcasting WHBW.

http://www.wbcq.com/

 

[LizzieMaine]

WBCQ is here in Maine, but they're nearly impossible to receive in-state. I used to be able to pick it up occasionally, but they must've changed their antenna pattern or something, because I can never find it now.

 

[plain old dave]

I have made a routine out of Shortwave Saturday Night on WBCQ. Just listened to BBC Newsline rebroadcast from New Zealand on a new (to me) 1970 Zenith D7000Y Trans-Oceanic. This is a great radio, booming full tone. Good sensitivity, too. It's the only portable I have ever had that will get WDVX (independent non-NPR public radio, google them) clear. Really, it's the best of the T-Os and the last of the breed with point to point wiring. It's a tube radio that has transistors in it instead. The R7000 that replaced the D7000Y was just another big portable. Made in Taiwan and had circuit boards, and by 1981 a radio without digital readout just wouldn't sell at $250.

 

[tgace]

I restored a Philco 38-61 Tombstone that my wife liked so much she told me to keep it and put it in the dining room vs trying to sell it. On a good night I get Chinese speakers on a couple of unidentified SW stations.

 

[Giftmacher]

I used to listen to the Mighty KBC on 6095 kHz, but it ended broadcasting on SW this year, so I'm looking for another good SW station in Europe is there any?

 

[ChrisB]

I used to listen to WBCQ on my Hammarlund HQ 129, until it went on the fritz. Since I have "more important" things to see to, repairs will have to wait. Who is still broadcasting on SW? In years past, there were Deutsche Welle, Radio Nederland, VOA, the ever present Radio Moscow and many more. Many have ceased SW operations, or have reduced schedules. Aside from the occaisional numbers station, what is out there today?

 

[Angus Forbes]

The Hammarlund HQ-129X is a great radio. My university club station (back when dinosaurs still roamed) had two setups. One was a fancy, modern (for the day) set of equipment. The other was dedicated to 160 meter operation.

The 160 station had an HQ-129X and a full-sized, half-wave dipole with the center point more than 100 feet up. If you tuned across the broadcast band any time of the night or day, you could hear a station on just about every 10 KHz channel.

IIRC, the 129 had three IF stages and a good crystal filter. A real quality radio for its day. I hope that you get yours working again. Probably not too hard, presuming that you can find whatever parts are needed.

 

[The Reno Kid]

I just had this delivered to my house today (for my shortwave listening pleasure):

RCA AR88D

 

[52Styleline]

Nice looking WWII boat anchor. A lot of these were shipped to England as part of the US Lend Lease program. In the early 60's I helped one of my friends restore one.
As I remember, it did a good job with AM and CW but SSB (using the bfo) required a fine touch.

Glad to see another fine old receiver back in service.

 

[Angus Forbes]

Beaautiful (in its own way ) AR88. According to my boatanchor book, that rascal weighs 110 pounds! As 52Styleline mentioned, it was built for lend-lease, mainly, and sent to England and Russia. The book notes that it is rare in the United States. Great find.

 

[Wally Taylor]

John Lightning is on WBCQ I think every other Sunday night. Lots of humour, opinions on just about anything important here in the US. Some nights the signal on 7.435 is weak where I live, so I listen on BCQ's Website, amd broadcast back to my Zenith Trans-Oceanic with my FM Broadcaster. It's kind of cheating, but I'm still listening to it on my old Zenith. We used to manufacture some great Radio and Television eouipment here in the good ol' USA. Too bad those days are gone, but my old Zemith is really old and runs like a champ. When I was a kid I didn't leave the house without my transistor radio. Listening to all of the Cubs games on Super Station WGN 720 AM. Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau were some of the last classic baseball broadcasters. You didn't need to watch the game on TV, because Vince and Lou painted Wrigley Field and all of the action so well that You could actually see the game their descriptive style wasb so refined I could "see" Don Kessinger toss it to Glen Beckert and glen would turn a fire it over to Ernie Banks at first.
Wally Philips had a great morning show on WGN complete with dozens of hilarious sound effects with his smooth, "made for radio" voice and a sense of humour that made me tune in every morning,
Larry Lujack had a great matning show on WLS, complete with The "World Famous, World Reknowned, Animal Stories", with his faceful sidekich "Li'l Snot Nose Tiommy" Edwards. I'll have to see if Animal Stories are online anywhere. Larry and Tommy ALWAYS had You rolling with laughter. Chicago' AM Radio scene was worthy of my tuning in every day. And AM was where You listened to the Top 40 hits back then. FM was usually broadxasting "Deep Cuts", and often entire albums. Radio was in the Golden Age in Chicago in the 60's an early 70's.

 

[Wally Taylor]

John Lightning is on WBCQ I think every other Sunday night. Lots of humour, opinions on just about anything important here in the US. Some nights the signal on 7.435 is weak where I live, so I listen on BCQ's Website, amd broadcast back to my Zenith Trans-Oceanic with my FM Broadcaster. It's kind of cheating, but I'm still listening to it on my old Zenith. We used to manufacture some great Radio and Television eouipment here in the good ol' USA. Too bad those days are gone, but my old Zemith is really old and runs like a champ. When I was a kid I didn't leave the house without my transistor radio. Listening to all of the Cubs games on Super Station WGN 720 AM. Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau were some of the last classic baseball broadcasters. You didn't need to watch the game on TV, because Vince and Lou painted Wrigley Field and all of the action so well that You could actually see the game their descriptive style wasb so refined I could "see" Don Kessinger toss it to Glen Beckert and glen would turn a fire it over to Ernie Banks at first.
Wally Philips had a great morning show on WGN complete with dozens of hilarious sound effects with his smooth, "made for radio" voice and a sense of humour that made me tune in every morning,
Larry Lujack had a great matning show on WLS, complete with The "World Famous, World Reknowned, Animal Stories", with his faceful sidekich "Li'l Snot Nose Tiommy" Edwards. I'll have to see if Animal Stories are online anywhere. Larry and Tommy ALWAYS had You rolling with laughter. Chicago' AM Radio scene was worthy of my tuning in every day. And AM was where You listened to the Top 40 hits back then. FM was usually broadxasting "Deep Cuts", and often entire albums. Radio was in the Golden Age in Chicago in the 60's an early 70's.

 

[CSG]

I have a late 1980's (?) Grundig Yacht Boy 400 that I bought new just before a long RV trip so we'd have something to listen to. It was useful then but I rarely used the short wave bands after we returned, just AM. When I moved to rural Idaho in 1994, I strung up a long antenna and started using short wave again. But now, it serves as a bedside radio playing AM talk radio in the morning and little else. The internet has changed those habits of using a short wave.

 

[Giftmacher]

I just discovered one great SW radio on 6070 kHz. http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/?tune=6070am

 

[LizzieMaine]

Fooling around with the Philco tonight in the area of the 41 meter band, I was astonished to hear the familiar sound of the BBC World Service booming in at 7300 kc. Not having heard Auntie direct since she closed down her North American transmissions nearly twenty years ago, I figured this was some kind of leased-time deal with one of the American dollar-a-holler SW stations -- but no, it's a for-real transmission from Wooferton in the UK at 250 kw. It's supposedly directed to Asia, but whether due to atmospherics or accident, it's coming in fine here in the Great Northeast.

They just shut down, without a closedown announcement, at 9PM EDT, and Radio Vatican's Portuguese-language service immediately took over the frequency. Brings back fond memories of the busy international bands of decades past -- hopefully it'll be a regular thing.

 

[3fingers]

I miss listening to shortwave broadcasts. I may have to come up with another receiver if there are things available again besides screaming preachers.