longwire.com

Yes, you can escape the disinformation clogging up the airwaves and screens here in the USA. Although the international media all do have their own slant, I think you will find them to be a nice break from what passes for “news” here on the mainland. My own working theory is, “if it’s important enough, you will hear about it on the BBC.”

All listed here are (usually) in English, and some are still audible via shortwave in North America. You do have a shortwave radio, right? Actually, I don’t even have one any more either, in the traditional sense. If you want anything more than average-performance portables, your only option now is the receiver in a (general coverage) ham rig. The good news is that they are readily available and cost no more than the old SWL receivers. DSP rocks.

Back in 2020 I traded my trusty R75 for an IC-7300 transceiver. I still have it, but I now use it mostly to listen to local AM. (I use a 7410 for working FT8.) But for me, this is the year of the stream.

The world has changed. Direct listening via stream is now a pretty good option. I will mention in parting (with HF listening) that WBCQ is alive and well, still on 7.490, 9.330, 4.790, 3.265, and 6.160 MHz.

WHRI was also still around last time I checked (summer 2021,) although their on-air folks like John Jurasek (TheReportOfTheWeek) are just as likely to direct listeners to a stream or YouTube. I believe they are faltering, as there was an attempt to sell to Alan Weiner (above) at WBCQ that fell through.

Where are the streams?

The BBC of course, still broadcasts – they may be the last to go – but stopped their HF efforts to North America more than ten years ago. They now offer every kind of stream imaginable.

Both Australia and New Zealand are still broadcasting on shortwave, but both offer great streams now. [update: 5-24-22 – “RNZ Pacific adds new SW transmitter”]

Here is a listing of streams for all of Europe, by country. (Beware, these are not often kept up to date.) Which brings me to:

My ultimate radio solution arrived last fall – it is the closest thing to a useful shortwave radio that you can buy now. There have been many generations of streaming radio boxes, but they do seem to be stabilizing. It all comes down to the database of stations provided and (hopefully) maintained by the manufacturer.

I have settled on Como Audio models. They have a rich history, which you can read about on their site – going all the way back to Cambridge Audio, B&W speakers and Tivoli Soundworks. But it’s all about the database.

They call them “station aggregators” and Como uses one called “Airable.” You can read about the history leading up to that here. If you manage to find a station that is not already in there, you can submit a ticket to add it. Of course, the station may not actually HAVE a stream, in which case there is nothing they can do. The one glaring exception is that you will not be hearing any iHeart Radio stations, which is fine by me. They represent everything bad about what is left of broadcasting… but let’s not go there.

The search capabilities are awesome. Aside from the fact that you can do perfectly good searches on the radio itself (which has actual knobs, by the way!) there is a web interface for the aggregator called Frontier Nuvola. It’s a clunky interface meant for universal access, but it works. You can build your own “favorites” folder structure and it is immediately replicated and available on all your radios. Warning: you can’t check this out without actually buying a radio. They are not a retail outfit, and apparently exist only to support manufacturers. But they do a great job – it just takes a little patience with the nuts & bolts style interface.

Como also integrates hardware-wise with nearly everything imaginable – Bluetooth, DLNA or Chromecast from other devices, or maybe use it as a TV soundbar. There is an Android app – although as you might imagine, integration with Apple’s walled garden is not going to happen. That’s OK – most of us actual hardware guys and experimenters use Android anyway.

There is even an actual analog FM tuner, complete with whip antenna – which I will never use, of course. They even offer a decent (actual analog) turntable, with an Ortofon cartridge!

The only RF-based radio I listen to any more is medium wave (AM) although I do still listen to jazz on R. Havana Cuba now and then, but for the most part my listening centers around a laptop used as a radio. It sits high on a shelf in the garage, safely out of reach of dust and solvents. I fire it up, browse to my personal favorites page, and usually choose Radio New Zealand. (If I ever get tired of that I switch to R. Australia.) My previous “receiver,” the IC-7300, is on the left…

It all started with watching The Brokenwood Mysteries. The best way I can describe it is, imagine a less serious and much funnier version of Midsummer Murders. With better music!

Anyway, New Zealand got my attention, and sure enough, Radio New Zealand is alive and well and streaming – and to a lesser extent, still on shortwave.

Here is an actual audio recording of their interval signal and sign on (unchanged in the last 30 years that I know of) featuring the New Zealand Bellbird (Anthornis melanura.)

What is really interesting is that what we hear streaming on RNZ Pacific (International) really is an audio feed of their shortwave service, complete with announcements of frequency changes and upcoming broadcasts. The original transmitter site is still operating, although unlikely to be heard on this side (North America) of the world.

National Service

International Service

For the times of day that I like to listen, where (when) I usually end up is with the overnight shows – 10AM EDT is 1AM (the next day) in NZ. Actual engaging, polite professional announcers, (we can probably thank BBC influence for that.) Thoughtfully done and fascinating programs on local events and culture – this is what shortwave has always been, and here it is – still intact.

Call in shows, trivia contests, and – best of all, a carefully curated selection of musical breaks, mostly local but, often as not with American artists. And, David Bowie seems to be a favorite.

If you are interested in Māori culture, this is the place. Māori are the second-largest population in New Zealand, after “European New Zealanders” (Pākehā.) Almost a parallel universe with Australia and it’s own natives, which I will cover another time.

And yes, this is a fully-qualified alternative news source for those of us who are fed up with what passes for “news” here in the US. Enjoy!

(A CW guy switches to FT8)

As much as I love CW, having used almost nothing else since 1972, I am finally going to make the call: time of death: July 4th, 2019.

That was the year when even old timers like me decided to give this special flavor of “digital” a try. To be fair, one reason people are now flocking to FT8 is because all the other CW ops are there. The CW segments are going dark. Outside of the “military” countries, no one cares any more.

It’s not like I never experimented with digital modes. I was there right at the beginning – in 2001, running PSK like the rest of you. But one of the things that always drove me up a wall with the “new” modes is that they could never quite reach critical mass. Sure, you could sit there and maybe do a worked all states eventually, but DXCC on PSK? Correct me if I am wrong, but I never heard of anyone who actually did that.

With each mode, by the time I had a few countries under my belt, everyone was moving on to something else. I really enjoyed Olivia, and I found a few guys running it I could have a QSO with. A few.

I took a stab at RTTY. It’s a great mode, but it’s age is showing. Terrible software. Way too many settings to fuss with, that no one understands any more.

Then came JT65. That was when digital went sour for me. Oddly enough, there were (and probably still are) more people using this than anything that came before it. But I just couldn’t take it. So S-L-O-W. It just didn’t appear to require human interaction at all. It seemed like I heard it everywhere, all through the CW segments. It was maddening. I went back to CW, and finished my 8B-DXCC.

But then – when I wasn’t looking, the culture (not the technology) changed.

Here’s the thing about FT8: everyone is actually using it! I mean, just this morning I got Greenland. Easily. No more waiting for contests, for everyone to turn on their radios. You can find good DX, 24 hours a day, without too much trouble.

Is it TOO easy? NO. That’s what I like best about FT8. If you want to work anything besides Texas, California and Florida, it really does require some skill. Like “listening” (oops – I mean watching. And waiting. As a matter of fact, I don’t listen to the audio at all any more.)

I imagine the old RTTY guys probably have an edge. Of course, those of us who operated CW at any kind of speed definitely have an advantage too. That’s because it’s all about timing! (Don’t forget: the first digital mode was CW!)

Stuff happens FAST in FT8. Even faster in FT4 of course. I need to juggle about eight things at once, every fifteen seconds. If you are used to CW pileups, you know about this already. A lot of the same rules apply, too – “never call on his transmit frequency,” “spread out…” etc. Sometimes I find myself accidentally working two stations at once – no problem, the protocol allows for that. Rare/DXpedition stations often use a trick that allows them to respond to four stations at once. No problem, since they are all within the same 3KHz audio envelope.

The best part of FT8 (and, to be fair, many other modern digital modes) is that I no longer need to wander up and down the band, listening to each station ID, to see who they are and whether I might want to work them. Now, when I fire up my rig, within seconds I have a display of everyone on the “band.” Thanks to JTAlert, no more looking them up one by one, to see if a KL7 is really in Alaska, or just moved to Texas.

It is important to remember that the primary “sub-band” for FT8 is technically only as large as a single voice conversation. So when the band is open I can see maybe thirty stations at a time without retuning. (Don’t forget that every other 15 seconds shows a different set of stations.)

One of the best and most surprising things to me is that there are so many rare ones on the air routinely. I am only talking in terms of “states and countries” (and what exactly is a country any more?!) Sure, you will see the usual characters from our (North American) neighborhood, especially central america and the caribbean… but in one morning this week, I snagged Greenland, Lichtenstein, and Mauritania, not to mention more than a few of the tougher states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

No humans involved?

No skill required?

Is this ham radio?

Well, all I can say is that there are guys out there (not me!) with nothing but a laptop, connecting to each other over the cables that make up the Internet – and calling that “ham radio.” Um, is it possible to have radio without RF?! Some think so. Not me.

What I mean is, FT8 is nothing like that. It absolutely is radio, bringing together all the best and most important skills that us crazy experimenters have been playing with for the last 100 years. Plus a computer. So? I say anyone who thinks they can do anything resembling ham radio without a computer in some form, probably hasn’t made a QSO for 20 years, and will be left out in the cold very soon.

You could actually make the case that this is a whole other hobby – and in my opinion, it is the perfect hobby for today’s hams, who usually have loads of experience with computers, networks and digital technology.

As I finally approach retirement, I think this is about my speed – turn on the radio, bring up the computer, check for correct time, make a few contacts on whatever band is open, or NOT. Longer term, I need to stay up to date with WSJTX, JTAlert, and my log. Most important – keeping a dedicated rig control computer running smoothly.

Here is my advice. Computers are cheap. Don’t try to play around with FT8 on the laptop that you use every day for work, or listening to music, or other everyday activities. There are just SO many settings that need to be right in order for FT8 to work, that you will find yourself spending hours hunting down what broke it. Dedicate a computer to your radio hobby. Run the FT8 software, maybe a logger, and a few other utilities like a time-sync service. Leave it at that! FT8 actually doen’t require a lot of horsepower. I am using a 5-year-old tiny desktop and I am happy as a clam with that.

Finally, please remember that this is a weak signal, low-power mode. 50 watts is more than enough – and more than that on your average barefoot rig will come close to damaging it. See you on 6 meters!