Anyone listening to shortwave in Atlanta?

[jsquared]

I just started listening to shortwave on a portable receiver a few weeks ago and have found it very interesting so far. Anyone else DXing anything interesting in or around metro Atlanta? Not the best area for it by far but I have heard a few interesting stations. CRI (China Radio International) comes in loud and clear on 9.570 MHz, sure to be a good source of propaganda in the future Also have heard quite a few interesting stations in the amateur radio range and around 7 MHz. Going to start cataloging stations soon, once I get an external antenna set up.

 

[Moonpie]

With the sun spot cycle improving it should become easier and you should also be able to hear more.

 

[Shotgun Joe]

This would be very interesting, and communications is not a part of my prep yet...but I know Intel is vital, would any of you guys be kind enough so shoot me some links to a getting started forum and maybe some ebay links to some cheap but good gear? I'd appreciate it!

 

[mm30004]

I picked up two ICOM 75 watt mobiles on Ebay LNIB for $175 each...one even had free shipping! I like to listen when storms are in the area! Good way to stay informed! In a SHTF situation, these will be an excellant means of communication & will operate on a 12 volt car battery!

 

[jsquared]

This would be very interesting, and communications is not a part of my prep yet...but I know Intel is vital, would any of you guys be kind enough so shoot me some links to a getting started forum and maybe some ebay links to some cheap but good gear? I'd appreciate it!

I can give you a bit of advice but am a complete novice myself so don't know how much help I would be. I got turned onto shortwave after reading an article on EMP that was posted here not too long ago. It prompted me to pick up a new, pocket-sized SW radio for my kit, and gave a suggestion for what model to buy. After looking at the available options under $100 I went with what the article suggested, a Grundig G6.

One thing I don't like about it is that it has single side band (useful for listening to HAM comms and amateur radio), but it doesnt differentiate between upper side band and lower side band. When you flip the SSB switch you have to fine tune the signal 1KHz at a time which will cycle through lower and upper side band. Its a bit more work and supposedly works OK, it would have been nice to have a dedicated USB/LSB button though.

It also has aviation band, which is used by some radio towers at airports. Its useful if youre close to an airport and want to hear tower traffic, but its not very interesting to me. And if the SHTF how many airplanes do you think are going to be flying around talking to towers? So yeah, interesting maybe but not very useful.

The thing I like most about it is the small size and weight (its smaller than a DVD case and about twice as thick), AA battery operation, ability to charge NMH rechargeable batteries via the AC jack (while listening too), external antenna jack, simple controls, 700 station presets, super fine tuning, the auto scan options, and the reviews other people gave on the ability to receive weaker signals (for a small unit). Like I said I am complete novice but found it easy to use after reading (most) of the manual and looking at a few websites.

As far as listening goes, there are tons of sites that list different stations you can try to tune it to, and you can scan the frequencies to find new stations also. I am just messing around at this point, sorry I cant be more help.

 

[Chris Mac]

We're buying the old tube short wave receivers along with extra sets of tubes. No EMP risk, and easy to maintain. YOu have to be careful to get ahold of models in good shape or rebuilt due to worn cords and power supplies, and dual power models carry a premium.

I look a SW as a great source of information. Our media is extremely liberal or has an agenda, and that doesn't help my family to make good decisions. SW has very few "big sponsors" and the info is generally not sanitized.

We'll eventually get into getting licensed for transmitting - not there yet. Just moved in to GA and still settling down.

 

[jsquared]

I went with small size/easily shielded vs. a tube receiver. Since Im already stocking AA batteries it made more sense to me.

 

[Chris Mac]

Are you using a farady cage for shielding? How do you shield your electronics?

 

[jsquared]

Im not doing much at the moment besides researching, but from the research I have done, a simple nested faraday cage is pretty easy and cheap to make. Im talking something about the size of a shoe box or a little larger, big enough for a few two-way radios, a pocket shortwave receiver, a few flashlights, and maybe 100-200 batteries. Since it is so small it wouldnt even need to be grounded from what I understand, but again Im not an expert.

My goal is to have a nested faraday box no bigger than 1'x1'x2' that can sit in the back of a closet, containing dedicated electronics and batteries/power supplies that I wont need to mess with at all. That means never going in that box to use anything inside; if I need or want to use something, consider it missing and buy another one (except batteries of course, those would get rotated as needed). Not a perfect plan by any means, but better than the next guy most likely. And if my stuff makes it through, win

 

[jcountry]

Here is an interesting podcast I listen to sometimes:

http://twit.tv/hn

These guys talk ham, and they explain a lot of stuff.
(Bob Heil is a neat guy. He is an 8th grade dropout who went on to come up with a lot of cool sound effects for some bands back in the day. He came up with the "talk box" for Frampton-and he is the first manufacturer in the Rock&Roll hall of fame.) He credits ham radio experimentation for all his technical expertise.