Shortwave listening in 2018

Shortwave is dead. Long live shortwave!

This is often what goes through my mind as I am tuning across the traditional HF shortwave bands, looking for some interesting program listening. Why do I try? Because what passes for “news” on popular media is of no use to me. If it is important enough, I will hear about it on the BBC or (at worst) CKLW.

I am still a big fan of WBCQ – I have listened to Alan and friends since before he was legal. Even so, there are fewer programs than ever that interest me, even over there on perhaps the last free and open information outlet this country has.

Then there is Radio Havana. I have listened to them for nearly fifty years now. I love that the interval signal and voice ID has never changed, and I enjoy their music so much that I will happily sit through Spanish or French programs just to hear it. I know it is them within seconds, before I even identify the language, due to their strong signal with under-modulation.

I listen (using actual audio amps and speakers) while I am in the garage, detailing my car or fussing with a mower. I walk over to the radio, usually at the top of the hour, to see what is drifting in. This is still one of the magical things about HF radio – you never know what you are going to find! Even at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.

With a good antenna I can also check in with the BBC to or from Africa, and good old VOA – which has lightened up considerably in the current political climate.

When nothing of interest is coming through, I fall back on AM. There are still a few local (meaning within 100 miles) stations with some interesting programs, especially on weekends. The high-power stations like WLW, WJR, KDKA, CFZM and CKLW almost always come through, even at 200+ miles ground wave. And Canadian stations are always less annoying.

What a radio is

So now we know – there is no longer such a thing as a radio. If you want to listen to an interesting program, you buy a “speaker” that  waits for your commands like a trusty dog (and incidentally eavesdrops on your conversations.) Pretty soon, it will be impossible to find an actual speaker with an 8-ohm connector and no Internet access.

Hey google, play “Radio Moscow.” (I am not sure they do time-travel yet.)