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Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge
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ANARC12.TXT
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1990-10-28
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341 lines
What is shortwave radio?
From a purely technical point of view, shortwave radio refers to those
frequencies between 3 and 30 MHz. Their main characteristic is their ability
to "propagate" for long distances, making possible such worldwide
communications as international broadcasting and coordination of long-distance
shipping.
From a social point of view, shortwave radio is a method of facilitating
worldwide dissemination of information and opinion, and a way to find out what
the rest of the world thinks is important. Many countries broadcast to the
world in English, making it easy to find out what a given country's position is
on those things it finds important. Shortwave radio can also provide a way to
eavesdrop on the everyday workings of international politics and commerce.
Where can I find broadcasts by Radio Foobar?
The World Radio TV Handbook is the standard reference for this sort of
information. The WRTH provides SWLs worldwide with virtually everything they
need on frequencies, schedules and addresses. It comes out annually, right
about the first of the year, with an optional update magazine throughout the
year. It covers virtually every shortwave station in the world, and many of
the medium wave (AM), FM, and television stations as well. The body of the
book is a listing of stations by country, with a cross-reference in the back by
frequency. It's available from any radio store dealing in shortwave.
World Radio TV Handbook
Billboard Publications
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
The past five years have seen competition of a sort for the WRTH, in the form
of Passport to World Band Radio. Passport's main section is a graph/table of
what's on the air, by frequency. There are few addresses, but the beginning of
the book is filled with articles of interest to the beginner. There is also a
comprehensive review section of shortwave receivers currently available, one of
the few places all this information can be found in one place. The book is
more useful for identifying a station you've already tuned in than for
searching out a particular transmission; the WRTH is useful at both, however,
rendering the purchase of this book not essential. It can still be worthwhile,
though, especially for beginners who won't be put off by the "gee whiz, look
what we can listen to" tone of some of the articles. The book is unabashedly
an advocate of making the hobby of "World Band Radio" accessible to people who
wouldn't have participated before the advent of good, cheap portables.
Passport to World Band Radio
International Broadcast Services, Ltd.
Box 300
Penn's Park, PA 18943
For utility band listeners, there are a couple of books that perform much the
same function as the above two books, although due to the nature of
point-to-point communication, not with the same sense of definitiveness.
Confidential Frequency List
Published by Gilfer Shortwave
(address elsewhere)
The Shortwave Directory
Published by Grove Enterprises
(address elsewhere)
Where can I find a list of broadcasts in the English language?
The World Radio TV Handbook used to carry this information each year, but this
feature seems to have been discontinued with the 1990 edition. Nevertheless,
there are still sources for this information.
-Monitoring Times magazine carries a listing every month, one of the best
arguments I know of for subscribing (it's what keeps me on their rolls....)
-The North American Shortwave Association (NASWA) periodically publishes a
complete listing in their bulletin, The Journal, sent to all members monthly;
each month there are updates to the list. NASWA can be reached at:
NASWA
45 Wildflower Road
Levittown, PA 19057
Membership costs: $23/yr; sample issue $1
-Tom Sundstrom, sysop of the Pinelands BBS in New Jersey (609-859-1910 modem)
offers a subscription service with constantly updated electronic versions of
his listing (which are also the source for the NASWA listings). It comes in
text form, or formatted for Tom's Shortwave Database program for MS-DOS
computers.
-The best source for information of this type is the "SWL Program Guide." This
gives not just the times and frequencies of most of the stations audible in
North America, but the names of the programs and the days of the week they're
on. It's sort of like TV Guide. You can also subscribe to quarterly updates
published throughout the year. The mail order address is:
Shortwave Listeners Program Guide
P.O. Box 472
Annandale, VA 22003 USA
What kind of receiver should I get?
That depends largely on what kind of listening you expect to do. There are two
or three basic kinds of radios. The first is the travel portable. These
usually cost between $70 and $250. Their main characteristic is their
extremely small size, making them most suitable for the person who spends a lot
of time on airplanes. They do an adequate job of receiving the major
broadcasters, such as the BBC, the Voice of America, Radio Nederland, etc.
They are generally not capable of receiving hams, or utility transmissions, and
they do not do a good job on weak stations. Many of them also lack frequency
coverage beyond the major international broadcasting bands. As such, they
cannot receive the out-of-band channels that often provide clearer reception
(due to lessened interference) of such stations as the BBC, Kol Israel, and the
Voice of Iran.
The second category overlaps with the first, and consists of slightly larger
portables. Common among this category are radios like the Sangean ATS-803A, a
fine starter radio with many capabilities for the inexpensive price of $200.
These radios often have digital readout, making it easier to know which
frequency you are tuned to, and such features as dual conversion (which
decreases the possibility of your radio receiving spurious signals from other
frequencies), audio filters (which allow you to decrease interference from
stations on adjacent frequencies) and beat frequency oscillators (which allow
you to decode morse code and single sideband (SSB) transmissions on the ham and
utility bands). The top range of this kind of radio includes technically
sophisticated radios like the Sony ICF-2010 and Grundig Satellit 500, which
contain innovative circuitry to lock on to a given signal and allow you to
choose the portion of the signal you want to listen to, depending on which part
gets the least interference. If you follow the newsgroup for any amount of
time, you're bound to notice some discussion of the relative merit of these
features versus their cost (about double that of the Sangean radio.) Many of
these radios can be and have been used to receive distant and weak stations
from a number of countries; they're also suitable for listening to programs
from the major broadcasters.
The third category of receivers is the tabletop receiver. These receivers cost
from $600 upward, with a concentration of radios around $1000. These radios
naturally contain many more features than the portables, and are used by
serious hobbyists who specialize in rare and weak stations. Current radios in
this group include the ICOM R-71A, the Kenwood R-5000, and the Japan Radio
Corporation NRD-525. These radios can be very complex to operate, and are
generally not recommended for the beginner. Radios from the first two
categories can give a beginner a very good idea of what's on the air and where
their interests lie, at which point one of these radios may be an appropriate
acquisition.
There are many sources for detailed information on specific radios, most of it
provided by two groups. Larry Magne, who publishes the Passport to World Band
Radio, includes a review of virtually all shortwave radios currently available
in that publication. For more extensive reviews of selected receivers, he
offers detailed "white papers", which run between ten and twenty pages or so.
Magne also contributes a monthly review column to Monitoring Times, and also
appears on Radio Canada International's "SWL Digest" program monthly w