Shortwave Listening Not Dead At All

Hello all SWL enthusiasts,

I have seen fads come and go. In the early 90's a Tamagotchi was all the rage, it was a computerized pet game. We had the fold up scooter phase and even Pokemon trade cards - the list goes on. But one fad took off and never faded.

Shortwave radio is a worldwide band that many people from every country in the world can access with no 'set-up fees; or 'contracts', it simply requires a shortwave receiver and many cheap to expensive models are easily avaliable. Shortwave is not just for the rich, in many regions like Africa, South America and Asia (China mostly) shortwave is used for domestic broadcasting and for many is the only means to hear local content.

It doesn't matter if you are poor or rich, even people in poverty have shortwave radios often given to communities by charities. Christian organizations are by far the more prominent charity to do this, mostly as it's linked to their shortwave programming to that area. But no matter if you are rich or poor all can access this medium. (A simple sw receiver still only costs about $15) Shortwave has a vast array of stations, English being less prominent in the last few years. Spanish and Asian languages cover the bands with various other languages in between.

An antenna can be as simple as a piece of wire stringed up in a living room, a reel-up (yo-yo) antenna or just the telescopic whip. Because of shortwave being so cheap it is by no surprise that it is such a phenomenon. Each day the bands are full, in fact so full they at night interfere with each other.

The most exciting reason we like shortwave is that reception is unpredictable and sometimes stations from afar can audible and booming in that never have before. We can listen first hand to jammers from other countries and suddenly you realize your shortwave radio is the world at your fingertips.

If you happen to have SSB suddenly even more options are available. New "sub-hobbies" occur, some are obsessed with decoding utility stations, others Amateur Stations and some Air Traffic Control.

Despite many negative news that shortwave is dead, there are thousands if not even millions globally who listen to shortwave. In Western Countries many people take it up as a hobby and as far as I've seen it has only been growing. With DRM ready to be the forefront of broadcasting in the future and with satellite being unreliable inside and touchy to set up it makes perfect sense to invest and spread the word that shortwave lives. I feel like I am preaching 'Jesus lives' and although that might be so 'Shortwave lives!' despite HD radio, DAB and DAB+ and the internet. Please tell your friends and show them what they're missing.


Robb Wise
Hobart, Australia
Re-posted with permission. Thank you for such a well-written article, Robb. Cheers mate!