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shortwave radios?

Question:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? Would a walkman be the next best thing? thanks, Sandy

Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see a post regarding a hand-held scanner.  For $200, Sandy can have a Radio Shack shortwave (under $75) and a little 30-channel scanner (around $125 or so on sale.)  No, neither are state of the art, but you can receive am, fm a few SW bands as well as non-trunked police, fire, EMS, and 2-meter ham repeaters, where you can get very accurate weather info on amatuer weather nets and NOAA weather radio. Not professional-grade rigs, but will provide several options in an emergency. Byron Craig WD4FAU Blacksmiths’ children do not fear sparks. — Danish proverb "I fear Washington and centralized government more than I do Moscow."          – Barry Goldwater "Hit hard, hit fast, hit often."– Adm. Wm. F. Halsey

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Why is it some people think the only thing on shortwave (and the ham bands)is the BBC?  By making such an obviously ignorant comment, you automatically invalidate anything else you might have to say on the subject. Lets see, 90% foreign language programing,  Of the English Language Broadcasters, 80% want to sell you salvation, then there are the 20, 40, 80 and 160 meter hams ( oh, 15, 30 and whatever other slivers are out there)  They usually are duscussing their linear, antenna or rig, and if they are passing NTS or ARES/Races traffic, it is done on  such a formatted bassis the novice listener won’t understand anything.  If you really want to be " in the know" get a scanner, and hope you don’t have a municipal agency with digital, encrypted or trunked ( GE/ Erickson) systems. AM and FM will provide the necessary info, the scanner will provide you with raw, sometimes erronious information ( Especially from dispatchers side). Local news is usually good about hazzards and needs of communities. 73 de S. " It’s Never too late to be what you might have been"<<<<<<                                      Elliot           " It’s Never enough until your Heart Stops Beating"                                 new  order

If someone really wants/needs a shortwave radio, look into the Sony model ICF2010 . It lists for around $350.00, copies both upper or lower sideband, and CW, and the usual AM shortwave broadcasting. Also has the standard AM and FM broadcast bands.. great set.. Trish — Patricia E. Gibbons Acting Chief Communications Technician City of San Jose – ITD/communications My Public Key is available at: <http://pgp5.ai.mit.edu/pks-commands.html Key ID: 0xEDECB44F This key is RSA, NOT Diffie-Hellman !!

Response:

For local info this is the best your going to get. Do you really think the BBC is going to have any info. I doubt it. Its going to take a BIG ass emergency for the BBC to give any thing more than a mention about it. Why is it some people think the only thing on shortwave (and the ham bands)is the BBC?  By making such an obviously ignorant comment, you automatically invalidate anything else you might have to say on the subject.

You have government operated radio Such as BBC, radio canada, Radio havana, etc, You either have BBC style programming or US based religious programming. There is little other programming out there that can be heard on low end, back of set antennna radio many are getting and little of interest to folks in an emergency. The tropic bands are hard to hear any programmin on, exspecially with the low end SWL radio most people have. digital communications requires additional equipment and has little info. The weather fax are pretty useuless unless you know how to use them to forcast weather. — Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege." This address may *not* be used for unsolicited mailings.

Response:

Why is it some people think the only thing on shortwave (and the ham bands)is the BBC?  By making such an obviously ignorant comment, you automatically invalidate anything else you might have to say on the subject.

Lets see, 90% foreign language programing,  Of the English Language Broadcasters, 80% want to sell you salvation, then there are the 20, 40, 80 and 160 meter hams ( oh, 15, 30 and whatever other slivers are out there)  They usually are duscussing their linear, antenna or rig, and if they are passing NTS or ARES/Races traffic, it is done on  such a formatted bassis the novice listener won’t understand anything.  If you really want to be " in the know" get a scanner, and hope you don’t have a municipal agency with digital, encrypted or trunked ( GE/ Erickson) systems. AM and FM will provide the necessary info, the scanner will provide you with raw, sometimes erronious information ( Especially from dispatchers side). Local news is usually good about hazzards and needs of communities. 73 de S. " It’s Never too late to be what you might have been"<<<<<<

                                     Elliot           " It’s Never enough until your Heart Stops Beating"                                 new  order

Response:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency?

Emergency implies immediate local action needed for whatever reason. Shortwave radio will do you no good.  However, with respect to Y2K, SWL (short wave listening) will give you information about what’s happening in Australia, Japan, Russia, etc. as the date change rolls around the globe. I plan to be listening to Radio Australia and Radio New Zeland New Year’s Eve morning, as that when they make the change.  New Year’s eve should provide interesting listening all day long, assuming stations are still on the air. Prior to and after the century changeover, you should be able to get information on the world situation via the big international broadcasters. My favorites are BBC, Radio Australia, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Nederland. SWL is not like AM/FM listening.  There’s a bit of learning to do about frequencies, effects of time of day and weather systems on broadcast propagation, tuning, and training your ear to ignore the occasional fading. It’s not hard to do, just different. Last I remember there were at least two good reference books for SWL.  One is Passport to World Band Radio, and the name of the other escapes me.  Both list frequency and broadcast schedules for stations around the world, have reviews of specific receiver models, and tips for SWL. At least one of these books is a must for the beginning SW listener, and I suggest you buy or borrow the book and review it before buyiny the radio so you can make an informed choice. If you get a SW radio, get one with digital tuning so you can punch in the exact frequency. Slide rule or knob tuning can be very frustrating on a shortwave radio. Also, SYNC capability is a nice feature, but not essential. The amatuer bands require SSB (single sideband) capability in the receiver. Keep in mind that hams do not "broadcast",  and most ham radio conversations concern the weather, height and configuration of the antennas, transmitter power, or relatively private material concerning the individuals or members of the particular net. Yes, hams do carry message traffic for non-hams, but that’s not going to do you any good from a listening standpoint.   There is local ham traffic on 2 meter, but I am not familiar with that and so defer to others for comments. I may be wrong, but I don’t think you will find the 2 meter band on the typical consumer-level shortwave radio. I believe it is on most scanners. If you want to try SWL, I suggest you look at the Grundig Yacht Boy 400  or the Sony SW 7600, both popular portable radios about the size of a video cassette for about $190. A step up would be the Sony ICF 2010 at about $390, considered by many to be the top portable SW radio.  Sangean makes some nice receivers I am told, and I’m sure there are others. There are many table model radios that cost mucho bucks, but for general listening and battery power, the portables in this price range are really nice. The Walkman is a totally different world of listening.  I’ll defer to someone else for Walkman comments. Hope this helps… Rod haroldr at earthlink spot net

Response:

The quality of day to day is there because of market research and sponsor demands.

You are saying that market research and sponsors call for inaccuratereporting, when accurate reporting could be done in the same 30 second news slot? I feel much more comfortable with them during emergency. We just went through 2 weeks of snow and ice storms. 2 of the local TV stations went 24×7 with storm updates during the big storm and ran continual weather craws during on other days, The other 2 main stations continued with normal programming but with 1/2hr weather updates.

Storm updates? Sure, it’s nice to know whether more snow is coming,but how many reports did you hear about town x being without power, hospital y being low on fuel, firestation z needing volunteers, or even store k being looted? Those are the  things that might actually be _important_ to someone, and situations where people would want to help (or stay away). For local info this is the best your going to get. Do you really think the BBC is going to have any info. I doubt it. Its going to take a BIG ass emergency for the BBC to give any thing more than a mention about it.

Why is it some people think the only thing on shortwave (and the ham bands)is the BBC?  By making such an obviously ignorant comment, you automatically invalidate anything else you might have to say on the subject. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – depends on how big the emergency!!! If your hoping to get info about the local spring floods then its worthless. If you want world info then its ok. an AM/FM radio is going to get you most of the local info you need. How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? You must live in a small town. The quality of reporting in big cities is close to useless under normal conditions. If you have ever been at the scene of an accident or crime or whatever, and then seen the tv coverage, you’ll be amazed at the obvious errors and omissions.  We wouldn’t expect these folks to do much better under severely abnormal conditions, would we? Irv

Response:

The quality of day to day is there because of market research and sponsor demands. I feel much more comfortable with them during emergency. We just went through 2 weeks of snow and ice storms. 2 of the local TV stations went 24×7 with storm updates during the big storm and ran continual weather craws during on other days, The other 2 main stations continued with normal programming but with 1/2hr weather updates. For local info this is the best your going to get. Do you really think the BBC is going to have any info. I doubt it. Its going to take a BIG ass emergency for the BBC to give any thing more than a mention about it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – depends on how big the emergency!!! If your hoping to get info about the local spring floods then its worthless. If you want world info then its ok. an AM/FM radio is going to get you most of the local info you need. How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? You must live in a small town. The quality of reporting in big cities is close to useless under normal conditions. If you have ever been at the scene of an accident or crime or whatever, and then seen the tv coverage, you’ll be amazed at the obvious errors and omissions.  We wouldn’t expect these folks to do much better under severely abnormal conditions, would we? Irv

– Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege." This address may *not* be used for unsolicited mailings.

Response:

depends on how big the emergency!!! If your hoping to get info about the local spring floods then its worthless. If you want world info then its ok. an AM/FM radio is going to get you most of the local info you need. How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? Would a walkman be the next best thing? thanks, Sandy

– Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege." This address may *not* be used for unsolicited mailings.

Response:

Unless the SWL radio has SSB coverage then your not going to be able to listen to ham radio stations. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? depends on how much info the BBC will have on developments in your town. OR , if you cannot get by without the Born Again DJ’s looking for more of your cash.  An AM/FM radio will supply you with what you need to know in the immediate area.   A SW radio is great for news and opinions from another perspective. One that can pick up the "ham" bands and shortwave broadcasts will get you more real info that is likely to be dispensed by the local news organizations. Irv

– Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege." This address may *not* be used for unsolicited mailings.

Response:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency?

Nice, but certainly not a neccesity Would a walkman be the next best thing?

It would be nice, but I’d suggest a basic AM/FM portable radio with a speaker. Reception will probably be a bit beter and if there’s a group everyone can listen. You might want to search past messages in this group on this topic.

Response:

depends on how big the emergency!!! If your hoping to get info about the local spring floods then its worthless. If you want world info then its ok. an AM/FM radio is going to get you most of the local info you need. How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency?

You must live in a small town. The quality of reporting in big cities is close to useless under normal conditions. If you have ever been at the scene of an accident or crime or whatever, and then seen the tv coverage, you’ll be amazed at the obvious errors and omissions.  We wouldn’t expect these folks to do much better under severely abnormal conditions, would we? Irv

Response:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? depends on how much info the BBC will have on developments in your town. OR , if you cannot get by without the Born Again DJ’s looking for more of your cash.  An AM/FM radio will supply you with what you need to know in the immediate area.   A SW radio is great for news and opinions from another perspective.

One that can pick up the "ham" bands and shortwave broadcasts will get you more real info that is likely to be dispensed by the local news organizations. Irv

Response:

In an emergency….having something is better than having nothing. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? Would a walkman be the next best thing? thanks, Sandy

Response:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency? Would a walkman be the next best thing? thanks, Sandy

Response:

How important is it to have a shortwave radio in an emergency?

depends on how much info the BBC will have on developments in your town. OR , if you cannot get by without the Born Again DJ’s looking for more of your cash.  An AM/FM radio will supply you with what you need to know in the immediate area.   A SW radio is great for news and opinions from another perspective. " It’s Never too late to be what you might have been"<<<<<<

                                     Elliot           " It’s Never enough until your Heart Stops Beating"                                 new  order

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