The "Introduction to Shortwave" newsletter is written by Ken Alexander
The Shortwave Tutorial part is written mainly for novice shortwave listeners (SWLs) or for those who are thinking about buying their first receiver and getting into the hobby. However, those of you who have been listening for a while may find some useful tips, so stick around!
Over the course of the Shortwave Tutorial five part series we will talk about what you can hear on the shortwave bands, what you need to hear shortwave stations, where and when to listen. We'll de-mystify a lot of the jargon you may encounter and turn you into a knowledgeable, successful shortwave listener!
Where Are the Shortwave Bands?
The shortwave radio (SW) bands start immediately above the Mediumwave (MW) broadcast band which we're all familiar with. As you may know, the MW broadcast band extends from 530 kilohertz (kHz) to 1700 kHz. (This may come as a bit of a surprise because until recently the MW band only extended to 1600 kHz, but was expanded to add 10 more "channels" from 1610 to 1700 kHz). The SW bands are considered to start at 3000 kHz and extend to 30,000 kHz.
Who Broadcasts on the SW Bands and What Can I Hear There?
3000 kHz to 30,000 kHz is a huge area in which to go looking for stations, in fact it is over 20 times larger than the entire MW broadcast band! The SW broadcast stations we are looking for can be found in several small sections of the band which have been allocated for their use. The remaining parts of the SW band are set aside for other uses, many of which can also be heard with a regular SW receiver. These range from amateur radio operators and military communications, to commercial airlines and Coast Guard ships and aircraft, and we'll talk about them in future editions.
International SW Broadcast Bands
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A Few Words About Frequencies and Wavelengths
As you listen to SW stations, read frequency listings in magazines or even look closely at the frequency readout on your receiver you may notice that frequencies may be given in either kilohertz or megahertz. They may also be listed as being in a certain "metre band". Not to worry, they're giving you the same information in a slightly different way!
To convert from kHz to MHz, all you are required to know is that there are 1000 kHz in 1 MHz. For example, the British Broadcasting Corporation is listed as transmitting on 5975 kHz from their relay transmitter site in Antigua. Since there are 1000 kHz per 1 MHz, this frequency can also be stated as 5.975 MHz. To be consistent throughout the Newsletter series I will use kilohertz.
The conversion to wavelength is a little trickier and is a holdover from earlier days when wavelength instead of frequency was used to denote where on the radio dial a given station could be found. Its use today is mainly as the name of the SW broadcast band, but also for designing antennas
Every frequency has a corresponding wavelength which can be calculated using the following equation: Wavelength (metres) = 300,000 / Frequency (kHz)
Conclusion
That's it for this edition, but don't think you're going to get away without some homework! Print out that list of SW bands and their frequencies, then start listening at different times of the day and night. Start a logbook so you can keep track of what you hear. Record the station's name, and the date, time and frequency when you heard it. Finally, record how well the station was coming in, if they were strong or weak, whether they were fading in and out and whether there was interference from another station or electrical noise. Some patterns should emerge as to the time of day when certain SW bands are better than others, and that's one of the keys to knowing when to listen.
Ken Alexander
Click HERE to continue to part #2
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