Take a short wave radio with you

I started out listening to short wave radio while traveling as a way of keeping up with the news. I remember hearing of the bomb going off at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I was in Bulgaria at the time. At the same time I was hearing how Bulgaria was being wooed by Nato and a couple of days later I came into the Black Sea port of Varna and watched the first American warship dock in Bulgaria.

Most short wave stations are state owned and provides a place to showcase the nation culture. Radio stations may be broadcasting propaganda, such as any thing on Voice of Korea broadcast out of North Korean but you can find documentaries, music shows, and political discussion and education and language programs. When you’re finding it hard to get a newspaper when you are on the road, a short wave radio can fill that need.

I have an iPod and grateful to have it. (Twelve hours on a Turkish bus listening to the bus driver’s favorite hits). But an iPod contains you in a closed circuit; while a short wave radio keeps you open to the world. Taking a small short wave radio with you on your travels is worth the investment.

What radio and what’s gonna cost?

Choosing a radio isn’t something to worry about and small and cheap is the way to go. On the internet there are hundreds of reviews of different radios. Don’t worry if the review on the radio that you are thinking about buying doesn’t get a high number of stars. Remember, these reviews are by radio enthusiasts who look for different things in a radio, such as the performance picking up a small Guatemalan station broadcasting at 11.00pm every second Sunday. The basic non enthusiast requirement is being able to hear the news on the big international stations broadcasting in your chosen language.

The questions to ask are:
Does it pick up the most commonly used radio frequency bands?
Is it small enough and light enough for me to carry?
Will it handle a few knocks and bumps?
How much do I want to pay?

The bonus is that most short wave radios usually let you have local AM/FM reception as well. This can be another way of you getting a broader prospective of the people you are among by listening to what they listen to.

Let’s get to the basics. (Very basic)

Your favorite local AM and FM radio station relies on you being near enough in line of sight to the transmitter. The Drive Time Show soon fades out the further you drive away from the station. However, radio stations broadcasting on short wave radio signals are able to be heard across the globe.

The atmosphere is the important part in this. The atmosphere is made of different layers of ionized gases which reflect short wave radio signal. The signal can bounce off the atmosphere atmosphere and earth’s surface. This repeated bouncing off the atmosphere and earth allows the radio wave to travel great distances and lets you hear the BBC in the middle of the Gobi Desert. Radio stations often use repeater stations which boost the quality of the signal and further increase the distance the radio station can be heard.

Atmospheric conditions will vary from daytime to nighttime and from day to day. It is like the sea. One day it is calm and flat, then next choppy. Some days will be better than others for skimming stones across the surface of the sea. You can hear the way the sun affects the atmosphere with an AM radio. Try counting how many stations you can hear. At night you will pick up many more stations than in day time. Some station can be from quite far away. The sun isn’t influencing the atmosphere in the same way and allows the radio waves to travel further.

A little simple jargon (I hope)

To tune into a short wave station it is good to understand how the different frequencies are organized into Meter Bands. A meter band is a way of describing a range of frequencies.

A typical radio will be able to pick up two bands; the AM band and the FM band. You have to switch over to the radio to tune into a station broadcasting either in AM (the range of radio frequencies between 531kHz and 1602kHz) or FM (the range of frequencies between 87.5MHz and 108.0MHz, in Japan the range is between 76MHz to 90 MHz).

Cincinnati’s WAIF 88.3 FM broadcasts at 88.3 MHz on the FM band.

Short wave radio is like having 9 or so different bands to switch between. The simplest way of referring to a station broadcasting some where on SW1 SW2, SW3 etc. range of frequency. However, many years ago men in white lab coats thought this too simple and added in some complex mathematics and decided on referring to things being broadcast across a certain meter band.

If the radio you are thinking of buying shows it can receive the 31m band, it means that it can receive the frequencies between 9400kHz and 9900kHz.

When you hear that the BBC is broadcasting on 9575 kHz you can switch your radio to the 31 meter band and then start tuning your radio.

The following are common short wave bands which should get most of the big international radio stations.

Meter Band Frequency Range
49 m 5,900 - 6,200 kHz
41 m 7.100 – 7,350 kHz
31 m 9,400 - 9,900 kHz
25 m 11,600 - 12,100 kHz
22 m 13,570 - 13,870 kHz
19 m 15,100 - 15,800 kHz
16 m 17,480 - 17,900 kHz
13 m 21,450 - 21,850 kHz
11 m 25,600 - 26,100 kHz

Memorised the table yet? You will be tested on it.

Nar, I wouldn’t worry. It is just as easy to scan through the different short wave bands until you hear someone talking a language you understand on topic that holds your interest.

If your asking where the 12, 15, 17, 18 etc meter bands are, those are set aside for other types of radio users such as ham radio amatures.

I was listening to a station yesterday, but now there’s someone talking Spanish.

Another big difference between short wave radio stations and your local radio station is the way short wave radio stations change frequency at different time of the day. Imagine having to search every couple of hours for your favorite station.

There are many reasons for this. Some radio stations may not be able to afford to broadcast for 24 hours a day and only transmit at times of the day when they know atmospheric conditions are favorable. Stations may stop transmitting and turn their transmitting antenna to a different part of the world and start broadcasting their message again to new listeners. A station may change language at a particular time.
There are thick books printed annually giving the different frequencies radio stations will use. There are also websites giving this information. I wouldn’t bother carrying the paper. It just as easy to surf through the different radio bands trying to pick up something. For the most part you should pick up at least one station broadcasting in English and the news will always be on at the top of the hour. After a while you will get an idea of where to tune into at a particular time.

Improving reception

Now the quality of what you hear on a short wave radio isn’t going to be crystal clear and something you will have to accept. There is always going to be static and a hiss; sometimes even a hum in the background. Some days you might not be able to hear a thing. The atmosphere constantly changes and this will affect your reception. But it can be fun too trying different things to improve reception. (Hay, I’m a geek. Things like this amuse us).

Getting a better antenna is a start. The small telescopic antenna attached to the radio is never going to be enough. An antenna is like a net catching the radio signal and the wider the net, the better the more fish you’ll catch. The simplest antenna for when you’re on the road is just a piece of wire about 10 meters long festooned around your hotel room and clipped onto the telescopic antenna on the radio. There is nothing fancy about the wire. It can be a piece of thin insulated wire with a bull dog clip on one end to attach it to the antenna. This wire is handy for other things too such as a clothes line or something to hang the mosquito net from.

NEVER HANG THE ANTENNA OUTSIDE THE WINDOW. Have you ever seen the bird nest of wires many countries have knotted around the power pole? Guaranteed electrocution if your antenna touches one of these wires.

Simple things like setting up the radio near a window help too and turning off florescent lights which produce interference sounding like a hum or a whistle. I found once that placing the radio on the heating radiator worked.

Decades ago people would sit by their short wave radios and search for different radio stations. In a way it was the precursor to surfing the internet. For many people across the world short wave radio is still their main way of getting information. Sadly many stations are scaling back their operations. However, Africa and Asia have for now good coverage.

Listening to short wave radio is one form travel and provides a similar experience of how different people view their lives. I can compare the different ways a single news event is covered by different countries. Hearing first hand the issues of concern different people have has placed me into the rewarding position of evaluating what really is important in life.

I’ve arrived home and short wave listening has turned into a serious interest and for home use I have a more powerful radio. I play around with different antennas trying to get better reception of radio station broadcasting on low power transmitters. I build radio stuff too. This all started from nothing more than wanting to hearing the news while I was on the road. I still have the small radio I brought on Tottenham Court Road and it is placed in my bag where ever I go. It has kept me company many a night in a hotel room and it will see a few more years of service.