Shortwave help

[saburai]

Hi Gang!

I just got a Kaito KA1103 see it here:
http://www.kaitousa.com/KA1103.htm
So far I'm pretty impressed with it!
Any help with good/useful frequencies to listen to would be great!

Many thanks...

 

[TD64]

I am using the Passport To World Band Radio book and Monitoring Times magazine to find stations to listen to.

HFRadio.org has good information and there is a link to find out what is on right now.

 

[gary in ohio]

One of the better interactive SWL guides is http://www.naswa.net/swlguide/

 

[Corey]

Very addicting shortwave listening can be.
Back in the late 60s my brother and his wife has some old radio I use to listen to at their place.

Around 1970 for my birthday my dad got me a brand new Halicrafters S 129 radio.
It was all tubes, and would often drift and I would have to re-tune it again.
But I spent hours as a kid listening to it and writing the foreign stations to have them mail me an SQL card to hang on my wall.

I tuned everything in on it back then, the WWV atomic clock, hams, CB, radio stations in far away lands, it was very cool to pick up stuff late at night.

http://www.qsl.net/la5ki/s.htm

Have fun with your radio, they sure have got a lot more compact

 

[Alchemyguy]

Good suggestions above; Passport is (was?) an awesome resource for shows to try and catch, but it appears they may not be publishing future editions. I would pick up a copy of the 2009 edition for certain.

 

[cletaco]

As mentioned, Monitoring Times is an excellent source for what is out there to listen to. But it all depends upon what is of interest to you: Broadcast, or "utility" transmissions. Broadcast are the AM stations from around the world that often boom into a receiver of any size and capability (and with whip antennas like yours has). Utility transmissions are typically on SSB and are everything else, such as aircraft, military, data (you can buy decoders for the various types of data transmissions), etc. Ham also. My favorite (but I have not heard one for a long time) are the so-called "numbers" stations from Cuba, the former Soviet Union and other countries. These were reputedly coded messages for operatives around the world, and quite spooky to listen to (no pun intended). There are all sorts of interesting things to hear on SW! You may find that if you are interested in utility transmissions, you'll need a more sensitive receiver and a long antenna. I run an Icom R-75 with an Eavesdropper trapped dipole, which is fairly short at 43 feet (I have it in my attic).

In any event, check out Monitoring Times to see what is out there!

Have fun!