Shortwave Radios

When you use shortwave radios, you are not only able to hear local radio stations, but also other broadcasts from all over the world that you would not normally be able to hear. Millions of people are amateur radio enthusiasts, even in this day of the Internet, and there is the possibility of being able to listen to thousands of new and exciting broadcasts from hundreds of different stations.

In a nutshell, shortwave is radio waves that hit the earth's ionosphere and sent back to other parts of the world. Shortwave radios are created to receive these signals. Most of your basic radio models can receive as many as 13 bands (ranges of frequencies), and some can even pick up AM and FM bands. All shortwave radios feature headphone jacks, programmable stations and a built-in antenna (you will more than likely wish to purchase an external antenna for a better listening experience). Of course, most have a speaker, and there are even some models that have built-in tape recorders.

There are a number of uses for shortwave radio, including amateur radio (also referred to as ham radio), news broadcasts, airing personal opinions, maritime signals and then some, and each use requires a different radio frequency.

In contrast to AM and FM bands, which are only able to be heard short distances (between 50 and 75 miles, or so), short wave radios are capable or receiving signals from hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Because some of the transmissions you receive are often from far away places, the quality can vary, depending on three things: your receiver; your antenna; and your location.

There are two methods of tuning for shortwave radios: analog and digital. Remember your old radio with the knob that you had to turn to tune in a station? Well, this is analog tuning, and you will find that most lower-end radios use this technology. One major drawback to analog tuning is the fact that it is not as accurate as digital, and it can be harder to tune into specific frequencies.

Digital tuning is much more specific than analog, using the technology Phase Locked Loop (PLL). If you have a shortwave radio with digital tuning capabilities, you will be able to enjoy features such as channel scanning and locking. Also, with digital tuning, you can get some radio models that instead of displaying the frequency number, what you see is the station identity or call letters (ie. WXYZ). The method of tuning you use will depend on the model of radio you purchase.

We live in a world that loves convenience. We pre-set numbers into our telephones. We create personal television guides right on the screen so we can easily find our favorite channels, and we preset the radio stations we listen to the most. The majority of shortwave radios enable you to pre-program up to 40 channels, so you can easily find your favorites. There are even radios that have factory-programmed channels. For those of you who have an even wider array of interests when it comes to radio stations, more expensive models offer you the ability to pre-set as many as 162 channels.

Even now, shortwave radio, a technology that is more than 100 years old, does have some advantages over today's technology. One of the biggest advantages shortwave radio has over other technologies is the fact that is inexpensive. Not only are the radios themselves inexpensive, listening to foreign broadcasts with shortwave radio is free, as compared to other technologies, such as satellite radio. One disadvantage here is you may have interference troubles, and your sound will not be in stereo.

You do not need a license to own or operate a short wave receiver in North America, unless you plan to begin communicating via shortwave. In fact, you do not even need a transmitter to be able to listen to transmissions from around the world, just a receiver.

Shortwave radios are handy little gadgets, and not just for hearing broadcasts and communicating with others around the world. You can even use your radio as an alarm clock. Just like a clock radio, you can set your shortwave radio to tune into a certain station at a specific time. And, speaking of clocks, most shortwave radios have world time clocks, so you can always know what time it is in any country where the broadcast you are listening to is coming from.