Shortwave radio

[sony mavica]

are there any Shortwave radio stations i can pick up in New Zealand i have a really cheap portable sw radio cost me $6.99usd free shipping and where i live i was able to only pick up one sw radio station radio sport australia

i would love to pick up a better sw radio but im wanting to know if there is really any point these days i know i can stream radio online but its not as fun

[tautech]

Not sure what's out there now....used to do a bit of listening, it was my dads interest too. He listened in the 50's and sent his reception particulars (snail mail) to the various stations and they returned Q Cards acknowledging his reception. IIRC dozens in all of Aussie, Texas, BBC's and European Q cards were in his collection.

Depending on your receiver you might need an aerial strung to a tree or pole, dad was a young man when he did SW and his aerial was a bit longer than a tennis court from his second story window to a tree  We used various lighting arrestors (cause that's what you did) but I doubt they would have protected much from a direct hit.
Some sets could benefit from a GND peg too.
Well after dark was the best for distant broadcasts when SW reflected off the ionosphere and around the world.

[miguelvp]

I still think, but I might be wrong, Shortwave radio has the most listeners in the planet, but of course those are people that don't have access to modern media.

So I will get that Radio Free Europe and Voice of America still plays, not sure what propaganda they spew now a days, but it's probably not great and totally out of date.

But it couldn't be worse than Fox News or CNN

[SeanB]

Before sunrise you should get quite a few broadcasts, like VOA, a few dozen transmitters aimed at Africa and a few European stations.  With a night path between you and the USA the shortwave stations there should be easy to hear. I regularly listen to WWVH  and WWV from half way around the planet.

[tautech]

Transmissions "used to be" directional, meaning a broadcast that NZ could get was only for a few hours per day.
Anyway some links:
http://www.short-wave.info/
http://swling.com/blog/2014/10/introducing-shortwaves-newest-broadcaster-global-24-radio/
http://swling.com/blog/
http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/maps/index.html
http://www.hfcc.org/schedule/help.html

And when one got real bored you could listen to the GMT world clock that ticked away and beeped every minute. Pre-recorded "and the time is XX o'clock" each hour, IIRC on 10 MHz.
Google can't find the UK one but this US one might keep you amused:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWV_(radio_station)

[sony mavica]

Transmissions "used to be" directional, meaning a broadcast that NZ could get was only for a few hours per day.
Anyway some links:
http://www.short-wave.info/
http://swling.com/blog/2014/10/introducing-shortwaves-newest-broadcaster-global-24-radio/
http://swling.com/blog/
http://www.itu.int/net/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/maps/index.html
http://www.hfcc.org/schedule/help.html

And when one got real bored you could listen to the GMT world clock that ticked away and beeped every minute. Pre-recorded "and the time is XX o'clock" each hour, IIRC on 10 MHz.
Google can't find the UK one but this US one might keep you amused:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWV_(radio_station)

thanks for the info i did pick up a station that could have been the GMT world clock but its was tuned in fine but it was the audio was muffled

[sony mavica]

Not sure what's out there now....used to do a bit of listening, it was my dads interest too. He listened in the 50's and sent his reception particulars (snail mail) to the various stations and they returned Q Cards acknowledging his reception. IIRC dozens in all of Aussie, Texas, BBC's and European Q cards were in his collection.

Depending on your receiver you might need an aerial strung to a tree or pole, dad was a young man when he did SW and his aerial was a bit longer than a tennis court from his second story window to a tree  We used various lighting arrestors (cause that's what you did) but I doubt they would have protected much from a direct hit.
Some sets could benefit from a GND peg too.
Well after dark was the best for distant broadcasts when SW reflected off the ionosphere and around the world.

do you think i could use an old vhf/uhf antenna we have on our roof

[tautech]

Not sure what's out there now....used to do a bit of listening, it was my dads interest too. He listened in the 50's and sent his reception particulars (snail mail) to the various stations and they returned Q Cards acknowledging his reception. IIRC dozens in all of Aussie, Texas, BBC's and European Q cards were in his collection.

Depending on your receiver you might need an aerial strung to a tree or pole, dad was a young man when he did SW and his aerial was a bit longer than a tennis court from his second story window to a tree  We used various lighting arrestors (cause that's what you did) but I doubt they would have protected much from a direct hit.
Some sets could benefit from a GND peg too.
Well after dark was the best for distant broadcasts when SW reflected off the ionosphere and around the world.

do you think i could use an old vhf/uhf antenna we have on our roof

Possibly although I wouldn't even try.
No doubt it's a Yagi and they're a directional antenna and optimised for normal broadcast frequencies not SW. If you had one of the old analogue TV aerials that were ~3 m wide that might be worth a try if you knew where to point it. 

Time for some Googling.....

[rdl]

A long wire with a really good ground can get you started. I used to listen a lot back in the 90s. I had Radio Shack DX-440 connected to piece of copper water pipe hammered in the ground with about 30 or so feet of wire strung up across the ceiling for the antenna. I could pick up most well known stations fairly well.

[cdev]

Check out http://www.short-wave.info/index.php for station schedules.

I recently picked up a new software defined radio - a Softrock, expressly with the purpose of improving my SW reception. Its a big cut above the RTLSDR dongles I have been using up until now, and its not so expensive, however, you need a good sound card in your computer, I cannot stress that enough. A noisy computer and/or noise around your home can ruin the reception and its hard to track down. Also, check that whatever software you like is fully supported. Linux is not so well supported, unfortunately.

Short term, to get some new signals tonight, if you have something you can use as a variable capacitor, I would try out a magnetic loop antenna, a loop of approximately one or one and a half meters in diameter will dramatically improve your reception over the typical long wire. You will need a variable capacitor from an old AM radio. Make a smaller pickup loop, you could use a short alligator clip to ground- on your radio, in the same plane as the main loop. Tune it very slowly and listen for the peak. Google "magnetic loop".

Another option is a cheap ($15 or less) RTL2832 dongle, and an upconverter ($30 or less, any more than that you would be better off spending the money on a softrock - sound card and mixer based SDR. They can be bought as kits and are very affordable.

You can also use a RTL2832 dongle to receive HF in direct sampling mode. Don't spend extra on a more expensive RTL dongle, you are better off getting a better HF SDR.

[vk6zgo]

Not sure what's out there now....used to do a bit of listening, it was my dads interest too. He listened in the 50's and sent his reception particulars (snail mail) to the various stations and they returned Q Cards acknowledging his reception. IIRC dozens in all of Aussie, Texas, BBC's and European Q cards were in his collection.

Depending on your receiver you might need an aerial strung to a tree or pole, dad was a young man when he did SW and his aerial was a bit longer than a tennis court from his second story window to a tree  We used various lighting arrestors (cause that's what you did) but I doubt they would have protected much from a direct hit.
Some sets could benefit from a GND peg too.
Well after dark was the best for distant broadcasts when SW reflected off the ionosphere and around the world.

do you think i could use an old vhf/uhf antenna we have on our roof

Possibly although I wouldn't even try.
No doubt it's a Yagi and they're a directional antenna and optimised for normal broadcast frequencies not SW. If you had one of the old analogue TV aerials that were ~3 m wide that might be worth a try if you knew where to point it. 

Time for some Googling.....

Don't try to use the antenna----tie both conductors of the feeder together & use it as a random length vertical antenna.

[Deathwish]

snip

And when one got real bored you could listen to the GMT world clock that ticked away and beeped every minute. Pre-recorded "and the time is XX o'clock" each hour, IIRC on 10 MHz.

I bet you used to watch the white dot in the middle of the TV all night too didnt you my little chukkle bunny.

[tautech]

Na Gazza, never saw those. 

What was that stuff you were smoking?

[jsmn4vu]

That white dot was something that persisted for only seconds after a black-and-white TV was turned off.

[Deathwish]

That white dot was something that persisted for only seconds after a black-and-white TV was turned off.

Depended on what you had dropped or been smoking at the time. likewise the National Anthem being played at shut down and those who were standing too attention saluting the Queen. Very strange people here in the UK.