AM radios stations from around the world!

[King Mudduck]

I was just sitting here playing with a FT 101-EE last night seeing what i could find to listen to. On 40 meters i heard what sounded like Asia...middle eastern and Russian radio stations and i was blown away! In my ignorance i thought that i would only hear people talking on ssb so once i started hearing all of these radio stations from all around the world it just made me want to get my ticket that much worse.

.....hell sitting here as i'm typing this post it sounds like chinese or maybe a japanese radio station on 40 meters. That's totally cool!

 

[King Mudduck]

.......Athens Greece as well!!!!!

 

[KI4MSJ]

There is a book called "Passport to World Band Radio" that is great for helping to locate SWL stations all over the world. It list them in order, best time of year to find them, what shows will be playing. To much info to list. The new 2008 book is out now. You will enjoy this book very much and listening to these stations with world news is a great way to find out what's going on in the world. Enjoy

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

You have just discovered the 41 meter international shortwave band. Hams use SSB for 99.9% of the voice communications.All those AM stations you heard were international shortwave broadcasters broadcasting to various target areas around the world.

 

[Beetle]

Short Wave Listening (SWLing) is how many, if not most, of the hams around my age got started - before CB. I spent a couple of years with a Hallicrafters SX-99 and a piece of #22 copper wire running diagonally across my bedroom ceiling for an antenna. I got severely bitten by the DX bug, listening to Radio Moscow, HCJB, Deutsche Welle, Radio Japan and hundreds more.

Sadly, with the Internet helping in the field of international communications and the cost of large transmitters and antennas, there aren't nearly as many SWBC stations any more, and I fear it'll get worse as time goes along.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

What you say is true beetle. I also got bitten by the SWL bug. Too bad a lot of stations have gone off the air. I used to get a hoot out of listening for the African domestic services down in the tropical bands as low as 90 and 120m. I could get surprisingly good reception on those freqs because of my location relative to Africa,it's all water between here and there. I also logged standard AM and longwave stations on five continents. Those were the good ol' days.

 

[Sonwatcher]

Another neat thing about SWLing is if you write a station and let them know when and where you heard them many will send a QSL pack back to you.

 

[King Mudduck]

Another neat thing about SWLing is if you write a station and let them know when and where you heard them many will send a QSL pack back to you.

The only bad thing about that it is i only speak English, well hillbilly English any way and cant understand where these people are broad casting from. But i would write them if i could just to let them know that there are walking the dog ( CB lingo ) here in NC

 

[Beetle]

It used to be that SWBC stations would identify in English on the hour (sometimes on the half-hour as well) regardless of the language they were using at the time. Radio Moscow especially would beam programming at a particular area in the language of that area, and ID in Russian, English, French and others. I have a good story about how Radio Moscow helped me get an A in American Government class in High School.

I can see the look on the face of the guy reading your report and trying to figure out "walking the dog!"

"Hey, Comrade Supervisor! Somebody in Amerika say somethin' about "perambulating the pooch" - you know this term?"