Re: Shortwave
By: phigan to Chris Krascek on Tue Mar 10 2026 01:51 pm

Re: Shortwave
By: Chris Krascek to All on Mon Mar 09 2026 11:06 pm

Not quite HAM but.. related. Anyone here also do shortwave?
I'm curious if you had any luck getting any broadcasts. At one point I co

It probably makes a big difference where you are geographically. I'm in Phoenix, and I have the same luck. Once in a while I can find a broadcast or two at certain times.. Faintly, of course. It's usually religion, but someti it's weird foreign music (rarely). And then sometimes, just nothing.
There are some SW schedules online.. They haven't really helped me much, though. It's probably different on the East coast, or maybe further up North

I'm located SW Ontario Canada. I have tried with just the whip and the longwire.. No go. Just static mainly. Its crazy because I did get all kinds of channels then one day not so much. I used the map, indicates shading of your area and what freq to turn to yet nothing. Ive varied the times and tried during the day. It could just be that not a lot of countries are broadcasting.

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Re: Shortwave
By: Chris Krascek to phigan on Mon May 04 2026 21:56:31

It could just be that not a lot of countries are broadcasting.

Oh, they're broadcasting. I listen in via the various SDR networks online. There's always something goin' on.

Thing about the schedules is they become out of date quite frequently. Stations change time, frequency, shut down; then there's the atmo anomalies, like the CMEs that's been hitting us lately which mess up propagation. Another factor is your antennae/radio, your surroundings, etc etc.

I get wanting to use a physical setup, but if you're more interested in the actual broadcasts, then use the SDR networks online and go to where the they're broadcasting.

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Chris Krascek wrote to phigan <=-

I'm located SW Ontario Canada. I have tried with just the whip and the longwire.. No go. Just static mainly. Its crazy because I did get all kinds of channels then one day not so much. I used the map, indicates shading of your area and what freq to turn to yet nothing. Ive varied
the times and tried during the day. It could just be that not a lot of countries are broadcasting.

I wonder how much local interference there is. I used powerline
ethernet adapters, rumor had it that they caused a lot of interference
with shortwave - essentially leaking RF through the powerlines, I
presume.



... Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance
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Re: Shortwave
By: Mortar to Chris Krascek on Tue May 05 2026 09:49 am

Re: Shortwave
By: Chris Krascek to phigan on Mon May 04 2026 21:56:31

It could just be that not a lot of countries are broadcasting.

Oh, they're broadcasting. I listen in via the various SDR networks online. There's always something goin' on.

Thing about the schedules is they become out of date quite frequently. Stations change time, frequency, shut down; then there's the atmo anomalies, like the CMEs that's been hitting us lately which mess up propagation. Anot factor is your antennae/radio, your surroundings, etc etc.

I get wanting to use a physical setup, but if you're more interested in the actual broadcasts, then use the SDR networks online and go to where the they broadcasting.

I will have to look into this SDR network then. Something to be said about using just the radio but if it doesn't yield any success then.. options.
Is there a particular SDR network to go to or recommend?

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Re: Re: Shortwave
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Chris Krascek on Tue May 05 2026 12:25 pm

Chris Krascek wrote to phigan <=-

I'm located SW Ontario Canada. I have tried with just the whip and the longwire.. No go. Just static mainly. Its crazy because I did get all kinds of channels then one day not so much. I used the map, indicates shading of your area and what freq to turn to yet nothing. Ive varied the times and tried during the day. It could just be that not a lot of countries are broadcasting.

I wonder how much local interference there is. I used powerline
ethernet adapters, rumor had it that they caused a lot of interference
with shortwave - essentially leaking RF through the powerlines, I
presume.

... Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance

I suspect it is local interference. I mean everyone in the neighborhood has wifi.. then cell ... noise.. I think the true test might be go out in the countryside but.. I won't do that. I'll do a bit more testing locally, maybe the park and see what I can pick up.

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Re: Shortwave
By: Chris Krascek to Mortar on Tue May 05 2026 22:41:18

Is there a particular SDR network to go to or recommend?

There are four I know of:
o WebSDR - websdr.org
o KiwiSDR - kiwisdr.com/public
o UberSDR - ubersdr.org
o OpenSDR - rx-tx.info/map-sdr-points

They all have access to the same HF spectrum (0-30000 khz) but differ in features, UI and audio quality.

Right now, my favorite is UberSDR. It's the new kid on the block but the audio quality and wide variety of features keeps me coming back. The downside is it glitches occationally, but I'm sure those will get ironed out as it matures.

My least fav is OpenSDR. It's basically a clone of KiwiSDR but much smaller. Nothing there to distinguish itself.

WebSDR and UberSDR have the best audio quality, INO, but KiwiSDR/OpenSDR is perfectly acceptable, they just has a tinnier sound.

KiwiSDR and UberSDR have the widest feature set with regards to audio tools and receive modes.

Well, that should be enough to get you started. Any Qs, just ask.

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