SW Radio

[eyg2181]

how much shit would you get into for pirating a sw station? and where could you get a transmitter?


not that i have intention of doing it.......

 

[Aljr]

Most of them run modified ham transceivers in Satan's Side Band.(You haven't lived until you've heard Rush in sideband. Sounds like a bag full of cats.) The better ones either use old Ham transmitters built for AM phone in the 50's/60's or roll their own AM mode tx'es.

The fines really jumped in the late 90's. I think a first offense is 11k and equipment confiscation these days?

The Free Radio Network is the best place for info on 'em. www.frn.net The region around 6925 khz. is their hangout.

 

[eyg2181]

would the fcc even bother tracking it down? i mean, its not like it would be hurting anything like it would on am or fm... not that i think shortwave is bad...i think its neat...

but do you think the fcc would even bother tracking it as long as theres no un-cut music on it?

 

[Aljr]

As there hasn't been a major SW pirate bust in nearly 10 years,I'd say the FCC may have put SW on the back burner? The handful that have been popped are the types that want a confrontation with FCC/Government or stray on to mil-com or air-com frequencies.

On another post I said that SW pirates tend to be the most careful. They tend to research frequencies and keep their broadcasts to a couple of hours a week. Some of them have been active for 20 plus years.

You can't beat SW for coverage. 20+ watts into a dipole and you can go transcontinental.

I like listening to them,some funny and strange stuff going on out there.

 

[eyg2181]

now, these sw transmitters.....where could i get one. and would i easily get a few miles... at least the whole levittown area

 

[eyg2181]

now, these sw transmitters.....where could i get one. and would i easily get a few miles... at least the whole levittown area

Ebay, man. It has everything ;D

8) Thanx!

if i could get on for a decent price, i may be tempted to use it for a few hours a week...

 

[RicoGregg]

Just wondering: are the shortwave towers near Delano, Ca. still standing and operational?

 

[tomservo]

Just wondering: are the shortwave towers near Delano, Ca. still standing and operational?

I think they are still used by some internation broadcasters, but the VOA quit using them in October, IIRC.

The tower site is easily viewable on Google Earth, just search for "Delano Relay Station". ;D

 

[RicoGregg]

Zach, thanks for the good info.

 

[Aljr]

It seems to me I read in Monitoring Times the Delano towers are scheduled to come down soon.

Obviously there's a need for more strip malls.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Just this week, there was a news item where the BBC announced its intention to discontinue its SW english language broadcasts to Eruope, accelerating the already strong trend of major international broadcasters abandoning SW in droves.

Kind of sad that there's really precious little to listen to on the bands these days other than WBCQ, and I even have trouble getting reliable reception of that.

If the 'powers that be' over on the AM band don't DO something, and quickly, to turn things around, AM will end up a ghost-town like SW is today, haunted by the likes of Brother R.G. Stair, Pastor Peter J. Peters, Harold Camping, and Alex Jones.

The ONE thing some of AM's big players HAVE tried so far...HD...just doesn't seem to work well enough to be of any real help.

Sorry to be painting such a bleak picture......It's just how things seem to look at the moment.

 

[RicoGregg]

2 questions:

1) Where exactly are the towers for Radio Havana? I would assume that they're not actually within Havana itself.

2) Are the Radio Havana towers used as a relay for North Korean shortwave?

That about covers what's left of the Cold War.

 

[gr8oldies]

Been years since I listened to RHC. During the Vietnam war they used to "relay" The Voice of Vietnam (Radio hanoi?). They did this by reading a script that was telexed somehow from Hanoi. It was RHC's announcers and usually took the last 20 minutes of all their English language broadcasts.

No idea where the RHC transmitters are. I had read that they were Russian..wonder how they even get parts anymore.

 

[Aljr]

I've got no idea where the antennas are. As they won't even announce the temps in Havana during broadcasts as it may aid a Yankee plot,I figure it's a semi-state secret?

Rico they used to relay RNK stuff,but I think all North Korean programming comes from in country these days?

What makes me think it is so is it's propagation seems to reflect the reception of Chinese regionals here ie; good in the couple of months around the equinoxes,so-so the rest of the year.

Cuba cut relays to the bone after the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of those subsidies. R.Rebelde,Cuba's domestic shortwave outlet on 5025 khz. ran just 10 kW for a good 12-13 years post '89. It went back to 50 kW a few years ago.

If they can't afford to run their domestic station at full power,how are they going to give a flat broke country like N.Korea a free ride?

gr8oldies,Svetlana still makes tubes for those old East European transmitters. I figure the Cubans cannibalize MW xmitters as their sticks get blown down for good in hurricane season for spare parts,and use some hard cash for the final tubes for the RHC transmitters when needed.

Arnie Coro,the director of RHC is tight with Fidel Castro. Keeping the shortwave service going was seen as a matter of national pride under Fidel. It will be interesting to see if it continues under Raul.

 

[kenglish]

It seems to me I read in Monitoring Times the Delano towers are scheduled to come down soon.
Obviously there's a need for more strip malls.

I read, somewhere, that there was oil under Delano.

Now, if I could just hook up my receiver to those babys for a week or so, before they come down ;D .
(I almost got to do that with an old 5-tower directional in SLC once.)

 

[RicoGregg]

If they can't afford to run their domestic station at full power,how are they going to give a flat broke country like N.Korea a free ride?

The country of North Korea may be broke, but Dear Leader isn't. He cares sooo much about his people, that he's saving them the trouble of that evil capitalist system, and he's doing all the worrying for them.