RIP, Radio Moscow/Voice of Russia (1929-2013)

[KeithE4]

Yet another nail in the shortwave coffin. Their last broadcast is December 31 (the exact quote is "The Russian government’s international radio broadcasting service Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia) will stop its shortwave broadcasts from January 1 next year...), which is the evening of 12/31 in the US. They will continue on FM.

Will the last non-ham to shut down shortwave service please turn off the lights.

Link: Voice of Russia

 

[cyberdad]

Joe Adamov is spinning in his grave. "Moscow Mailbag" is empty.

 

[crainbebo]

And THIS is why I don't listen to SW anymore. It's just religious broadcasters, China and Cuba. Nothing else. Even 10 years ago BBC and Netherlands were running with loads of English programming to North America. Nobody really cares anymore. Only HF hams using 20 and 40 meters.

-crainbebo

 

[KeithE4]

And THIS is why I don't listen to SW anymore. It's just religious broadcasters, China and Cuba. Nothing else. Even 10 years ago BBC and Netherlands were running with loads of English programming to North America. Nobody really cares anymore. Only HF hams using 20 and 40 meters.

Outside the poor countries of Africa and Asia, the rest of the world left shortwave behind decades ago. It took most governments a long time to realize that almost nobody was listening anymore. The internet is a far more reliable (but still not perfect) medium for transmitting audio than the ionosphere. Many of the old shortwave stations have also moved to FM in their target areas.

Little need to have a general coverage receiver anymore since close to 3/4 of the shortwave activity is now on the ham bands. The last remaining broadcasters in a few years will be American religious stations, Cuba (and they've cut back already), China, and North Korea. The VOA, BBC, Austrailia, and New Zealand are still going strong, but for how long?

 

[cyberdad]

And THIS is why I don't listen to SW anymore. It's just religious broadcasters, China and Cuba. Nothing else. Even 10 years ago BBC and Netherlands were running with loads of English programming to North America. Nobody really cares anymore. Only HF hams using 20 and 40 meters.

-crainbebo

Pretty much goes for me as well. But the fact is that advances in technology overy the past few decades have pretty much rendered SW obsolete.

 

[crainbebo]

Australia is doing OK - I can hear them most early mornings usually in the 22m band (13630 at 0700 UTC). But many European stations have closed down. There used to be BBC to North America, Netherlands to North America, a Finnish station, Sweden to North America, etc. All of those are GONE. BBC transmits to Africa and Asia, and that's about it. Their 9.740 kHz signal at sunrise is variable from poor to good depending on the conditions - but when it and Netherlands were transmitting to North America, their signals were very strong each night. I remember Netherlands on 9845 and 6165 about 6 years ago - still in English.

-crainbebo

 

[boombox4]

There still is a lot to hear on the shortwaves, but you have to learn to appreciate foreign language broadcasts to enjoy it.

I hear a lot of Mid Eastern music any given evening on the 25, 21, and 19 meter bands (R. Farda, R. Dabanga, R. Cairo, Kuwait, sometimes Iran -- all depending on conditions, of course). Brazil always comes in well, and sometimes the lower powered Brazilians are present. Radio Exterior De Espana broadcasts in Spanish every night to Latin America, and they play a lot of cool music. One night it was nothing but flamenco. Rumania still broadcasts in English to N. Am. from Europe, but their signal here is rather fluttery. When I can hear it, the programming is pretty good.

I hope Russia doesn't yank their Siberian services in Russian, but it looks like they may do just that. They used to blanket the low SW bands in the 70's and 80's, serving Siberian hinterlands, the trawlers at sea as well as naval vessels. Radio Mayak was the loudest one -- it was interesting to listen to, even if I couldn't understand the language.

 

[Tincap]

There still is a lot to hear on the shortwaves, but you have to learn to appreciate foreign language broadcasts to enjoy it.

I hear a lot of Mid Eastern music any given evening on the 25, 21, and 19 meter bands (R. Farda, R. Dabanga, R. Cairo, Kuwait, sometimes Iran -- all depending on conditions, of course). Brazil always comes in well, and sometimes the lower powered Brazilians are present. Radio Exterior De Espana broadcasts in Spanish every night to Latin America, and they play a lot of cool music. One night it was nothing but flamenco. Rumania still broadcasts in English to N. Am. from Europe, but their signal here is rather fluttery. When I can hear it, the programming is pretty good.

I agree. There's also the domestics from Central/South America, China, Malaysia & South Africa (RSG). AIR carries both international and domestic broadcasts. Greece (of all places) is still hanging in there. Though not enough to invest into expensive equipment for, IMHO, there's still interesting stuff to be found out there.

~BG

 

[Icangelp]

I appreciate the continued interest in shortwave expressed by some posters, however my reason for listening came from my fascination with geography and exotic places, or should I say exotic for a Mid-Western boy like me. That's gone now.

When I started listening in the early 1960's, travel by air (for pleasure) was still out of reach for the average American, so even the Caribbean and dare I say, parts of Canada, were remote. The shortwave broadcasts in English from places like Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Liberia, South Africa, Switzerland the U K and other European countries a compelled our group of SWL'ers to listen.

Interval signals were also a very big part of the shortwave experience, each one unique. Add to all that, the fading and variable signal strengths associated with shortwave that added to the feeling of far-off and remote, well, I must admit I miss it.

 

[KeithE4]

I agree. There's also the domestics from Central/South America, China, Malaysia & South Africa (RSG). AIR carries both international and domestic broadcasts. Greece (of all places) is still hanging in there. Though not enough to invest into expensive equipment for, IMHO, there's still interesting stuff to be found out there.

The Latin American domestics are almost gone now - less than a couple dozen left, IIRC, and I think most of those are in Brazil (David Eduardo would know better than I). Most moved to FM years ago.

The Voice of Greece is still around, but no longer broadcasts in any language other than Greek. But each transmission is several hours a day, not the 30-90 minute broadcasts that were typical of most European broadcasters (other than the BBC) in the past. This is becoming more common - fewer broadcasters, but those that are still around stay on the air longer on a given frequency.

 

[davideduardo]

The Latin American domestics are almost gone now - less than a couple dozen left, IIRC, and I think most of those are in Brazil (David Eduardo would know better than I). Most moved to FM years ago.

Brazil still has quite a few, and many with decent power in the 5 to 10 kw range. A few are left in Venezuela, Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia where there is still a rural population with neither local radio nor phone service. But the number of them is declining as there is no solid economic model for shortwave any more, even for the religious stations.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Brazil still has quite a few, and many with decent power in the 5 to 10 kw range. A few are left in Venezuela, Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia where there is still a rural population with neither local radio nor phone service.

A "slightly related" observation. In last Sunday's sermon my minister reminded us that over a BILLION (with a B ) people in this world live without electricity. I can't confirm the accuracy of his statement but he has a pretty good track record.

A goal in our country is to make sure EVERY HOME has high-speed Internet. Looking at the big picture, the world, it's pretty hard to put Internet or Video or even Radio into the lives of people who don't have electricity.

A.M. including short wave can go beyond the power lines with solar panels at minimum cost.

 

[KeithE4]

A.M. including short wave can go beyond the power lines with solar panels at minimum cost.

So can FM, and I think that's where things are going in the developing world. Shortwave is still prevalent in Africa and Asia (and popular I would think, given that's where most broadcasts are directed), but everywhere else, it's obsolete.

 

[boombox4]

I appreciate the continued interest in shortwave expressed by some posters, however my reason for listening came from my fascination with geography and exotic places, or should I say exotic for a Mid-Western boy like me. That's gone now.

When I started listening in the early 1960's, travel by air (for pleasure) was still out of reach for the average American, so even the Caribbean and dare I say, parts of Canada, were remote. The shortwave broadcasts in English from places like Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Liberia, South Africa, Switzerland the U K and other European countries a compelled our group of SWL'ers to listen.

Interval signals were also a very big part of the shortwave experience, each one unique. Add to all that, the fading and variable signal strengths associated with shortwave that added to the feeling of far-off and remote, well, I must admit I miss it.

I still "travel" that way, and hearing the foreign languages is part of the experience. If anything, it makes DXing more exotic. I've also found it a fun way to brush up on my Spanish and learn some words and phrases in Portuguese.

I also "travel" to other areas of the country or region through AM. During the winter when it's freezing here in the NW, it's always kind of cool to hear a station from California, for example. Or a Canadian station giving a weather report of blizzards, drifting snow across the major highways, and temps in the Minus degrees C, when here in W. WA the rain just gets colder....