Welcome to Shortwave Central @ Fred's Radio Central (SC-FRC)
Where my personal radio recordings and radio reception logs take place. Browse around and discover my collection of radio recordings, both broadcast and amateur/utility, from local and international stations on the air!
You may also discover my collection of radio reception QSL cards, both old and new.
Read an article about the history of radio and the hobby of radio DXing. You may also chat with me live on my chatbox. (It will be featured in a future update!)
Happy SW/MW/LW/FM Listening!
Two Tecsun PL-660 world band radio receivers
My radio receiver setup:
Radio: TECSUN PL-600
Antenna for MW DXing: TECSUN AN-200
Antenna for SW DXing: Internal ferrite rod antenna or external Tecsun wire antenna.
History of Shortwave Radio
Shortwave radio is
radio transmission using shortwave frequencies, generally 1.6–30
MHz, just above the
medium wave band.
Shortwave radio is used for long distance communication by means of
skywave or
skip propagation, in which the radio waves are reflected or refracted back to Earth from the
ionosphere, allowing communication around the curve of the Earth. Shortwave radio is used for
broadcasting of voice and music, and long-distance communication to ships and aircraft, or to remote areas out of reach of wired communication or other radio services. Additionally, it is used for two-way international communication by
amateur radio enthusiasts for hobby, educational and emergency purposes.
(Source: wikipedia.com)
Example of Shortwave Broadcast Radio Stations
There are many shortwave broadcast stations available for you to listen to. Similar to their FM radio counterparts, SW broadcast stations are operated by public and private radio broadcasters, which target audiences either locally or globally.
Among the examples are:
Additionally you may refer to
swling.com,
wrth.com or
short-wave.info for more info on SW broadcast radio stations which includes the full list of existing SW broadcast stations as well as their broadcast schedules and programming, updated from time to time by fellow shortwave radio enthusiasts around the world.
Utility Stations Around The World
About a quarter of the shortwave band around the world are occupied by utility stations (atomic clocks, volmets, ATC, etc.)
Examples of the utility stations or "ute" stations are time signal stations. One of the popular time signal stations are WWV Fort Collins, Colorado and WWVH Kekaha, Hawaii which is operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States. These two stations are capable to tell the time accurately with an accuracy of "1 part in 10 13"
More information about the NIST time signal stations can be retrieved at http://tf.nist.gov/stations/tour.html or http://nist.gov
Other examples of time signal stations which are transmitted on shortwave are CHU from Canada, RWM from Russia, BPM from China, Italcable from Italy and Observatorio Nacional (ON) from Brazil.
The rest of the major time signal stations like JJY and DCF-77 are only available on the very low frequency (VLF) band, which is transmitted as digital time code for clock synchronization and not readily accessible to the general public without using a radio receiver with an option to tune down to the VLF bands.
Amateur Radios Stations Around the World
About half of the shortwave band are occupied by amateur radio stations. Amateur radio stations are operated by licensed individuals called amateur radio operators (or ham radio operators) in which they conduct two-way communications on the shortwave radio band using various types of modulations such as SSB, CW, digital (FSK, TTY, etc.) and FM.
Clandestine/Number Stations Around the World
Clandestine stations often uses the shortwave radio spectrum for clandestine one way or two-way communications. Clandestine stations can also refer to pirate broadcast radio stations on the shortwave and mediumwave bands. In other ways, the former specialization of clandestine stations are called number stations. They use a special decoding device (a one time pad) to encrypt their secret messages. These stations are called number stations because the station broadcasts nothing but lines of secret ciphers can be only decoded by recipients with possession of a decoder. Governmental intelligence agencies are thought to have utilized number stations to pass down confidential information to informants or spies around the world.
Contrary to popular belief, UVB-76 - otherwise known as The Buzzer is generally classified as a military station from Naro Fominsk, Russia and not a clandestine nor a number station. More information about clandestine stations as well as UVB 76 can be retrieved at http://priyom.org.
So how can I get started?
With the advent of modern technology and the rapid advancement of the Internet in the 21st centurt, you are no longer required to aquire/purchase a shortwave radio receiver to start shortwave radio DXing. You can now listen to shortwave radio signals (as well as LW, MW and even FM radio) on the Internet via online remote radio receivers hosted on websites such as
kiwisdr.com and
GlobalTuners.com
Most of the receivers online are equipped with state-of-the-art software defined radio (SDR) technology. That means your reception of radio signals will be miles better than the physical radios you may own. However propagation plays a vital key in ensuring good radio DX. Hence, using sophisticated SDRs alone will not guarantee you good DX.
Anyhow, if you still prefer on acquiring a physical radio receiver, then
sw-ling.com and
short-wave.info can assist you in acquiring your dream radio receiver at the best price. I am not a radio professional, but my advice is that as long as you aquire a radio that is of decent quality and performance (even though it's cheap) and you are satisfied with it, then enjoy your radio DXing hobby with whatever preferred receiver you own.
To those who are newbies to shortwave radio (and radio DXing as a whole), I wish you all the best in radio DXing! To returning and current radio DXers, keep on DXing as to keep our hobby alive!
73 and 88's from Malaysia - truly Asia!
M. Fred
Founder and Admin of Shortwave Central @ Fred's Radio Central (SC-FRC)
Disclaimer: The information in this section of my blog is accurate at the time of posting, so in case of inaccuracy or misinformation I will try my best to update it from time to time.
