Non-motoring > Shortwave listening Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Rudedog Replies: 20
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 12:19 
 Shortwave listening - Rudedog
Does anyone on here have experience of this?

I just want to listen on a very basic level at the very cheapest option.

I've been looking at secondhand portable radios on eBay but really want to make sure it works, the cheapest new ones seem to be around £35 with a digital tuner.

Not sure if charity shops still sell electrical items anymore?

Looked at phone/laptop apps but they have varying reviews and some say they can't be used without a licence.




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New Tue 27 Dec 22 12:34 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Zero has probably forgotten more about this than I ever knew but I've dabbled a bit.

Is it just broadcast you want to listen to?

I'm not aware of anything receive only that would need a licence in the UK
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 27 Dec 22 at 12:36
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 12:42 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Previous thread which touched on the subject matter:

www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=18169&v=f
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 17:17 
 Shortwave listening - Biggles aka B_i_G
Maybe a Russian sleeper has been activated by a coded message in the Times engagement announcements but the basic training in radio operation has been forgotten.
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 18:32 
 Shortwave listening - Rudedog
Funny you should say that.... got a recommendation on YT to watch a great series of videos on shortwave stations in the UK and all about the past and current (reduced number) of number stations still broadcasting.... just wanted to see (hear) what was out there without spending a lot of cash.
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 22:39 
 Shortwave listening - Zero
Ah Numbers stations, You must have been on Lewis's M3HHY you tube channel. Remember listening to them on my old mans Grundig Ocean boy in the early to mid 70s.

For shortwave, (we call it HF) you need to remember most of the band is EMF noise, you are going to need to chuck an aerial outside (length of wire out the window is good) and you are going to need to get a set that does SSB (upper and lower). Start off with an SDR dongle plugged into your PC with an SDR programme. (around your 35 quid target) (I'll say again, till you have a length of wire out the window you are wasting your time)

You are going to need to invest a lot of time to acquire the twiddling finger and ear, initially it can be very frustrating.
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New Wed 28 Dec 22 07:20 
 Shortwave listening - Rudedog
Good spot on the YT channel considering I gave no clues, once I started watching I couldn't stop.

As you've said I think I might fall down on being able to rig up a long enough aerial.... I sort of had visions of buying one of the cheap worldwide 9 band portable radios and tuning into some of the frequencies mentioned in his videos for current number transmissions... just sparked an interest in something I have from another angle as I'm really into anything to do with post-war Germany and the setting up of West Germany.... I collect items with West Germany stamped on them which seems to be quite rare now.


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New Wed 28 Dec 22 09:28 
 Shortwave listening - Zero
>> Good spot on the YT channel considering I gave no clues, once I started watching
>> I couldn't stop.

I know Lewis relatively well, (tho we have never met face to face) I provided him with a fair bit of material when he did his sequence about 2mFM repeater jammers and pirates in the early 80s.
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New Sun 15 Jan 23 15:10 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Example of a travel sized SW receiver here:

moonrakeronline.com/steepletone-sab2019-compact-14-band-receiver

I suspect it'll only/mostly pick up broadcast stations. Without SSB as mentioned by Zero it certainly won't pick up Amateurs or Oceanic Air Traffic control.

The Dongle or a more purpose built SDR like SDR Play RSDP will give you a lot more bang for your buck albeit the cheapest SDR play is quite a few more bucks than you propose.
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 22:42 
 Shortwave listening - Zero

>> I'm not aware of anything receive only that would need a licence in the UK

license not required or available to receive. Essentially an archaic old law says that you break the law if you receive anything not on the public broadcast bands. No-one gives a fig tho.
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New Tue 27 Dec 22 23:38 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
>> license not required or available to receive. Essentially an archaic old law says that you
>> break the law if you receive anything not on the public broadcast bands. No-one gives
>> a fig tho.

Air Traffic Control comes under that heading.

I've been listening to ATC since the mid seventies.

The airport police at Leeds Bradford used to insist we turned off the then universal Sharp pocket receivers while in the internal viewing deck. But that was more to do with a rule banning ALL radios from the terminal building. Seem to remember being told that some receivers (super regenerative?) could produce spurious signals and we were right under the tower so maybe an excess of caution.

But go to any airshow now, or way back then old Queens Building viewing area at Heathrow or on the piers at Manchester, and there were dozens of people with radios.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 27 Dec 22 at 23:40
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New Wed 22 Mar 23 14:24 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Just ordered on of these from Waters and Stanton for £20 as a bargain price 'B grade' item:

moonrakeronline.com/black-box-mkii-airband-monitor-new

Anybody else tried or used one?

Reviews etc suggest that a lot of people don't understand it's a passive non tuneable device only capable if picking up stuff nearby.
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New Thu 23 Mar 23 09:37 
 Shortwave listening - Zero
Essentially its just a filtered EMF amplifier. Its a technique particularly suited (limited) to AM broadcasts. If you had an AM broadcast TX at home, you could do the same with a tuned length of wire and your home wifi amp.

In fact hams have to work hard to stop it happening to their neighbours!!! (High power AM morse & voice is a real pain to work with interference wise)
As you say, its limitations (selectability & range) have to be understood, if you are to work with it, but it has the advantage of receiving everything without fiddling with it.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 23 Mar 23 at 09:40
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New Sat 1 Aug 26 15:59 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Thread reboot.

One of my 2 old Sony World Band receivers, an ICF SW7600G I picked up second hand at a Picket's Lock Amateur Radio show in the mid nineties is at death's door. Keypad buttons/controls have given up the ghost. Can't set the time and since the EXE key is kaput can't directly key stations.

The more recent 7600GR bought new from Berry's just after Y2K is still fine.

A bit of window shopping and watching reviews on You Tube led me to a Tecsun PL330. Tiny and incredibly lightweight bit of kit covering the VHF and AM broadcast bands and HF to 30mhz with SSB and Synchronous Detection. £66 from Moonraker down in MK.

Toss up between that and a similarly priced XH Data D808 in the same price range. That was only available on Amazon unlike the Tecsun models sold through Moonraker, ML&S etc.

Very impressed with it. Only really played about with Volmet stations but SSB resolution is top notch with no messing to fine tune as is the case with the Sony.

Lot of RF mush around the house though.

Off to the Lakes in the van next week so hopefully can get it away from switched power supplies, screens, LED bulbs etc.

Will report back.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 1 Aug 26 at 15:59
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New Sat 1 Aug 26 17:45 
 Shortwave listening - Zero
I have the Tecsun PL660, nice piece of kit, its my caravan radio. Very easy to use
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 1 Aug 26 at 17:45
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New Sat 1 Aug 26 22:15 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
>> I have the Tecsun PL660, nice piece of kit, its my caravan radio. Very easy
>> to use

I'd have had that or the 680 as adding airband would align with my interests but it's no longer available.

Reality is I've other means of accessing airband.
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New Sun 2 Aug 26 21:24 
 Shortwave listening - Dave_
>> Not sure if charity shops still sell electrical items anymore?

They do, my son PAT tests them for our local EACH charity shop. It's mostly DAB radios now though.

My work's 2015 Sprinter van offers SW on the radio alongside LW, MW and FM; there's never anything broadcasting on SW though!
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New Sat 22 Aug 26 16:50 
 Shortwave listening - Bromptonaut
Been listening to Shanwick (long range ATC over the Eastern Atlantic) in last few days. Still very busy on various frequencies.

When I last caught it a lot of space was taken with Lat/Long position reports, estimates for next 10 degrees east or west plus wind and temperature. Now they check in on HF at the Shanwick boundary, get information on secondary frequency and told frequency to contact Gander at 30 west. A selcal check follows and then just maintain listening watch.

Rest of stuff seems to be done by digital data system called CPDLC.

Searching suggests that is a subset of ACARS and can be intercepted with an audio cable of some sort or, on SDR Play, a plug in.

Project for autumn nights after we're back from forthcoming 'van trip to France is to have a dabble.

Anyone else got any advice?
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New Sat 22 Aug 26 20:24 
 Shortwave listening - Zero
The easy (and for a dabbler the only way) is an SDR dongle or box, a good SDR program that has plenty of apps to sideload decoder modules and add ons. You really dont want to go audio passthrough cable route, it gets messy. ACARS is digital, keep it that way

I use a fork of SDR sharp on a macbook. The metal case cuts down a lot of RF interference you get from plastic laptops.

decoded a local very strong pager system t'other day. Yes they are still around.
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New Sat 22 Aug 26 22:14 
 Shortwave listening - Biggles aka B_i_G
The Lebanon is pretty much pager-free nowadays.
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New Sun 23 Aug 26 09:57 
 Shortwave listening - Rudedog
I ended up using a website that hosts a SDR - lets me tune in and scan around.

websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901

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