SWL - Shortwave Listening

I ran across a story on shortwave listening and it inspired me to write about SWL. One of my first shortwave stations heard was the Radio Havana Cuba and it was actually a 30 minute ham radio show. Here is a YouTube with a show from this October 2018. Listen to this and then continue reading below. Sunday nights on Radio Havana Cuba on 15140Khz. Radio Havana has many frequencies and you can CLICK HERE for a list. This is not the best recording but if you want to hear a clean version, it is available streaming on the internet HERE.

The number of shortwave radio broadcasting stations has declined in recent years but there are still many stations out there. (See list of current stations with the link below) Of course with band conditions as they are, hearing them is sometimes a challenge. Along with the licensed broadcast stations around the world, many individuals operate "Pirate" stations on the air. No license and a wide range of power output but most stations use low power or QRP while some have used WAY over the legal limit.

Another cool personal story is that I once used my Yaesu FT1D HT to listen to the shortwave broadcast when W6OBB (sk) Art Bell returned to radio after a long absence. He was broadcasting from his studio in Arizona. I don't believe that station is still on the air but it was so cool to actually hear the legend Art Bell while laying in bed on a handheld shortwave receiver! Please post your shortwave experiences and stories in the comments below.

Give SWL a try if you never have or listen some more if you have not for a while. You never know what you might hear and maybe you will even find a wild and free Pirate Radio Station. Maybe we should start one? I hope we never have to rely on shortwave for information but it is good to know you have the ability to hear them. Here are some SW stations I ran across while researching and writing this.

WTWW on 5.085 which is mostly a religious station but they do broadcast Ham Nation on Wednesday nights and Bob Heil playing his organ on Saturday at 8pm. I heard an interesting show on Tuesday night at 9pm talking about amateur radio called QSO Live. Very good show!

Radio Havana Cuba on 6.192. All in English from what I heard and mostly just news but it would be interesting to listen to and study what they report. And what they don't report. Sounds familiar huh?

Also heard was ham operator K1KW just inside the 40m band and wow did he have a great AM signal from Massachusetts. Check out his QRZ page HERE.


This Wikipedia page has a great list of PIRATE stations in the middle of this page.


Here is an interesting article about the Pirate Radio station set up at Burning Man.


Here is a great link, I recommend you print these pages out for future reference.

BIG LIST OF SHORTWAVE STATIONS

Tyler KBØPQP sent me this link to a station I did listen to. WRMI has a huge setup on 5.850 and other frequencies. WRMI mostly broadcasts religious programming. This video reports about one of my favorite YouTubers Ham Radio Concepts and friends touring the WRMI site. Now THIS is a station or actually stations....

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Baofeng Radios Illegal?

From the KB9VBR YouTube Channel.

The Baofeng UV-5R Radio, just about every ham active on VHF/UHF has one. With a purchase price of around $30, you get a lot for your money.

But on August 1, 2018 the FCC isued a Citation and Order for the 'Illegal Marketing of Unauthorized Radio Frequency Devices" against Amcrest Industries, the company that imports Baofeng radios in to the US. So what does that mean? Are these radio now illegal to use? Are they contraband? . . .