Any new shortwave stations?

[atrainradio]

Besides the pirates, I have made known I am getting tired of the lack of programming on the SW BC stations. We all know Bro Scare is on every frequency on every metre band, but what has happened to KUSW? One's that played good music and had interesting stuff to say? If you want to revive the SW, you need to get rid of some of the religious stations, and throw in some  good music. Opinons?

[ka1iic]

I know what you are saying about the religious stuff...  I made the same statement to a rep from one of the commercial SW broadcasters and... of course his reply was...

"we need the money man!" as he choked on a toke...

Don't get me wrong about religion... heck I was a Deacon for a number of years in a Pentecostal Church in an earlier life...  But now that I am old my policy is; "let G-d sort it out"

But broadcasting in general is 'over'  all of it... I expect someone to try to ban all over the air broadcasting for the more 'environmentally friendly' web casting... hate to see that happen but I do expect it to come...  sooner than later.

As Bob Dylan said; "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing"

[Antennae]

To get people's attention the SW broadcast would need to battle on-demand entertainment. Podcasts are enjoyed on-demand. Netflix streaming has killed over the air TV for me. 
So you need something to listen to that will cause you to set aside time every week to enjoy it. 
-I think it should be interactive. 
-It should fill a void.
-Should appeal to a wide audience. 
-Should be wholesome. 
-Probably something basic and not new, but ancient (as our society has grown away from ancient ways). 

For example it would be a show with mystery stories that instill morals, told from the point of view of a stone-age man sitting at a campfire. With an SSTV answer of the solution to the mystery afterwards.  And a weekly song to learn and sing along to the next week. And maybe some riddles. Send the station a reception report for a weekly post card and answer to the riddles and mystery if you didn't get the SSTV. 

I think songs are lacking in our society. I mean singable ballads, not complicated rock and roll stuff.  I heard a National Public Radio show that said singing with others makes you feel good: (the link has the transcript)
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/03/188355968/imperfect-harmony-how-chorale-singing-changes-lives

Somebody on this site noted this. I just found on wikipedia under shortwave broadcasting in US:
"Shortwave stations in the USA are not permitted to operate exclusively for a domestic audience; ..."

[ka1iic]

just like 'nonprofit' LPFM ehhh?  no profit?  as if...

[Fried Chickin']

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

[jFarley]

Atrain;

Hoping to fix something you most likely can't fix - the domestic SW broadcasting scene in the US - is probably futile.  Things have been as they are for quite awhile, and ain't likely to change.  Over the years, very little of what has been aired over the US non-governmental stations has captured my interest, with the possible exception of a few stations such as WRNO and WBCQ.  Given the decreasing global awareness of the existence of SW and shrinking budgets, it is actually surprising that many of these stations are still OTA.

It is what it is.

It was a very different situation when many countries had SW voices; you could tune thru 31 meters on any given evening and find lots of interesting programming, and a variety of new music to hear, many with signals which were easy to catch.  You could follow the terminator across Africa from 0300 to 0700 and hear a couple of dozen countries without breaking a DX sweat, and hear a ton of fascinating music along the way.  There are some stronger stations (CRI, CNR, AIR, RHC, Rebelde, a couple Brasilians, etc) which currently have some programming which interests me from time to time, but the overall trend seems to be towards vapid programing on the easy to hear stuff.

Most of that's gone forever, over a long time ago (sorry Mr Fagen)

But there remains still a good number of fascinating stations on the air, many of them regional or domestic services in other countries, many of them old friends.  They are not 24/7, and hearing them is very possible, but it's not like turning on a spigot.  This is where the interesting listening is, even though you have to put in effort to crack language barriers, and develop band knowledge of what is on and when, and develop tastes for other musical forms.  Going after these stations is very much worth the effort.  This is radio which is not in competition with streaming services, and is very much an active - not a passive - endeavor.  At some point, many people make this transition from being a casual listener to being a DXer.  It's hard to describe the pure adrenalin rush and buzz you get when you hear the weaker stuff, and harder still to describe the little insights you get into other cultures.

To me, it's not about new SW stations; it's all about chasing and enjoying and appreciating those stations that are still around...while they are around.  The clock seems to be running.

[atrainradio]

Yea I agree completely Farley. It's a damn shame I came in to the scene after it was too late. I dream of going back to the 70's and 80's when both music and shortwave were great. Plus the pirate scene!! To be completely honest, if it wasn't for the pirates, I would pretty much give up on SW altogether and sell all my hf radios (around 800-1000 dollars worth) and buy a new guitar. So the moral of the story is...... GOD SAVE THE PIRATES.

[Nella F.]

Like trying for that O N E elusive station to complete a rare QSL collection... Not to be boring but propagation does contribute to the unusual & rare catch. I suppose for old timers (like me) who long for the good old days when country after country beamed their signals & had interesting programing for us, the internet is a four letter word. Actually just today I was thinking it might be fun to return to am dxing, since I recently found a GE Super Radio III @ my local 2nd. hand store for a fiver & it's in like new shape. I still have my am logs begun back on Christmas day 1964 when I got a Zenith 8 transistor radio. Logged 160 + stations. Pining for those good old pre-digital days.  
                                                           "Hey! Wadda You   lookin' at?"

[glimmer twin]

Somebody on this site noted this. I just found on wikipedia under shortwave broadcasting in US:
"Shortwave stations in the USA are not permitted to operate exclusively for a domestic audience; ..."



Is that still the case? I thought they had repealed that part of the law. I remember reading several articles within the last year or so about how VOA can now (and couldn't before) broadcast to the USA. Its a silly & unworkable law anyway, sort of like the 155 mile limit on CB comms.

[atrainradio]

Nella, share your old logs!!! I'd love to see them, plus others on here probably would like to as well. And I do not know the status of the can't broadcast to USA law. However even if it was repelled, I feel it would make little difference seeing as how the SW scene is dwindelling anyway.

[OMCS]

There is a reason this site and others like it exist: commercial radio sucks. Yeah, you can still find the odd, interesting program on public radio and even AM has some cool stuff (not talking about the boring political crap), but for the most part, the radio has become a vacuous wasteland. The shortwave listening scene is still strong in other countries, but nothing like it was and as the old song goes, "money changes everything." The pirate scene is one of the last bastions of relatively anonymous communication left. It sputters on without needing any profit for it is a hobby and hobbies, by their nature, drain money from the hobbiers. (hobbiest? participants...)
)

Pirate radio saves the shortwave listeners from dull religious programming and listening to ham radio operators talking about their latest radio mod. My advice is to find a frequency and do your own thing.

[Nella F.]

Nella, share your old logs!!! I'd love to see them, plus others on here probably would like to as well.

Wish I could. Don't own a computer so can't "scan" stuff & post. As soon as there is a return to "normal" n.w. Washington weather I'll put something together like a short article or something & post that. Stay tuned.

                                                    "Hey! You Lookin' At Me?! 

[ka1iic]

Meanwhile back in 'dreamland'...

Perhaps someone could slip some DMT into Brother S's cocoa...   that might prove to be an evening of great fun entertainment...  but I digress...

<sigh>

[BoomboxDX]

From what I understand, SW stations in the US can't run advertising -- they can't be commercial stations. They do it similar to the way public radio does. You hear them mention products, but they don't run commercials.

Lack of real commercial advertising income helped kill any future for domestic SW radio.

So that leaves us to the religious broadcasters, and the conspiratorial type shows, people with an ideology and agenda for which they desire a broadcast outlet, to reach as much geography as possible. And I think even their days are numbered.

The mass audience is just not there. I don't think it was really there in the 1970's and 1980's when KUSA and WRNO were on the air playing music. Their audience at that time probably didn't match the audience of an FM rock or pop station in a medium sized city. But electricity was cheaper, there were still more SW radio listeners in various parts of the world that they could use as a selling point, and overall, the economy was better than it is now.

[ChrisSmolinski]

I've never heard about any restriction against commercials on SW radio, just the prohibition against broadcasting to listeners in the US, hence all the transmissions to "Canada".   But that prohibition, along with the extremely small audience, probably makes it uneconomical.