shortwave.hfradio.orgShortwave Radio Listening (SWL and High Frequency Radio)

Amateur Radio at HFRadio.org :: Main News Center :: Facebook Propagation Center :: SWL Frequency Search :: English SW Frequencies Prefix Lookup :: About NW7US :: Support :: Bookstore Award-Winning Space Weather and Propagation Education Course [ get current propagation information ] Welcome to the Shortwave Radio Listening Resource Center of NW7US Last Updated on March 15, 2016 by Tomas Hood . This site has been running since June, 1999. Do you tweet? Twitter @hfradiospacewx for latest space weather reports, and @NW7US to follow me... Please follow me on Twitter: Follow @NW7US For space weather: Follow @HFRadioSpaceWX Tweet What is it that we hear on shortwave radio? Check It Out: An Intimate View of the Sun, Every Day of 2015 (Year 6 of SDO) See highlights of the last five years of the Sun, as seen by SDO Shortwave Radio Listening -- listen to the World on a radio, wherever you might be. Shortwave Radio is similar to the local AM Broadcast Band on Mediumwave (MW) that you can hear on a regular "AM Radio" receiver, except that shortwave signals travel globally, depending on the time of day, time of year, and space weather conditions. The International Shortwave Broadcasters transmit their signals in various bands of shortwave radio spectrum, found in the 2.3 MHz to 30.0 MHz range. You might think that you need expensive equipment to receive these international broadcasts, but you don't! Unlike new Satellite services, Shortwave Radio (which has been around since the beginning of the radio era) can work anywhere with very affordable radio equipment. All that you need to hear these signals from around the World is a radio which can receive frequencies in the shortwave bands. Such radios can be very affordable. Of course, you get what you pay for; if you find that this hobby sparks your interest, you might consider more advanced radio equipment. But you would be surprised by how much you can hear with entry-level shortwave receivers. (You'll see some of these radios on this page). You do not need a special antenna, though the better the antenna used, the better you can hear weaker stations. You can use the telescopic antenna found on many of the portable shortwave radios now available. However, for reception of more exotic international broadcasts, you should attach a length of wire to your radio's antenna or antenna jack. This website guides you to resources for further exploration of the Shortwave Radio Listening hobby. Quick lookup: Find out who is transmitting on an HF frequency, right now: Enter Frequency (in kHz): Please 'Like' this page - and leave a comment, too! Subscribe to my Space WX RSS Feed: ( RSS Feed / Generic ) ( Opera 9.x ): + Find out what International Broadcast is on right now in English + What's the Optimal Frequency (FOT) in your area? The following articles are very informative and are a must read : * De-mystifying HF radio propagation . * Is HF Propagation Reciprocal? More information: ACE-HF propagation software Version 2.05: THIS IS THE VERY LATEST in radio propagation forecasting and modeling for Ham Operators as well as for Shortwave Radio Listening (SWL) operators ! CHECK IT OUT TODAY! + Shop for Shortwave Radios at my on-line shop . If you have suggestions for what you are looking for, and wish to see here, please send me a message . Read about our Award Winning Space Weather and Radio Propagation Education Course - something serious Shortwave Radio and Amateur Radio hobbyists should consider taking. Frequencies used in Shortwave Broadcasts - the Meter Bands Band Frequency 120 meters 2300 -- 2495 kHz 90 meters 3200 -- 3400 kHz 75 meters 3900 -- 4000 kHz 60 meters 4750 -- 5060 kHz 49 meters 5900 -- 6200 kHz 41 meters 7100 -- 7350 kHz 31 meters 9400 -- 9900 kHz Band Frequency 25 meters 11600 -- 12100 kHz 22 meters 13570 -- 13870 kHz 19 meters 15100 -- 15800 kHz 16 meters 17480 -- 17900 kHz 15 meters 18900 -- 19020 kHz 13 meters 21450 -- 21850 kHz 11 meters 25600 -- 26100 kHz Who am I? Read more about me and my activities with this hobby . NW7US is the Amateur Radio call-sign issued by the Federal Communications Commission to my Ham Radio Station , conferring the right to operate this equipment under certain privileges. This call-sign is assigned to me as both an identification of my Amateur Radio station, as well as a reference to those privileges I have been granted after having passed both a series of written examinations which cover rules, procedures, technical theory, and related knowledge, and a series of morse code (cw) proficiency tests. I'm Tomas Hood. I am an Amateur Radio Operator. I also own a computer service shop and store, called, 'Sapphire Website and Computers Services', in Stevensville, Montana. I have been in the computer industry since 1983. One of my computer 'hats' is 'programmer'. I can program in Perl, PHP, XML, WAP/WML, HTML, C/C++, VBA, SQL, and so forth. I design web sites and applications. I am also a musician - Thank you for listening! You may leave me a comment about the music . You may purchase my CD (Beginnings EP 2009) or the downloadable MP3 versions of the songs from my new EP , here: Tomas David Hood Music . Introduction to Shortwave Radio Listening From a purely technical point of view, shortwave radio refers to those frequencies between 3 and 30 MHz. Their main characteristic is their ability to "propagate" for long distances, making possible such worldwide communications as international broadcasting and coordination of long-distance shipping. From a social point of view, shortwave radio is a way to find out what the rest of the world thinks is important. Many countries broadcast to the world in English, making it easy to find out what a given country's position is on those things it finds important. Shortwave radio can also provide a way to eavesdrop on the everyday workings of international politics and commerce. I am Tomas Hood, NW7US (that is my Amateur Radio Callsign ). I am most interested in Space Weather and Radio Signal Propagation . I have been enjoying the hobby of shortwave radio since about 1973. I discovered my parents' Sony portable 4-band radio, which had AM, FM, LW, and SW. I loved the SW band. I heard all sorts of exotic sounds. And, best of all, I heard radio stations from all over the world. It was like traveling the world, without leaving home. I was like an explorer. I caught the bug of shortwave radio, and AM Radio DXing . Many years later, I am now not only enjoying shortwave listening, but I talk with Ham Radio operators around the world. I am the editor of the propagation columns for Popular Communications , CQ Magazine , CQ VHF Magazine . Occassionally, I also write article in Monitoring Times . I also provide a propagation resource center , with live information. You can read more about me . To view the best working frequency by time, check out: Current Optimal Frequencies for this month If you are using software utilities such as Ace-HF, that require a "smoothed" sunspot number, or flux index, check out the Predicted SMOOTHED Sunspot Number And Radio Flux Values with Expected Ranges , and the tables of expected Critical Frequencies from region to region. Hot Picks by Tomas (NW7US): + Regional and International Broadcasting Database Search . Search by frequency for shortwave radio broadcasters. + List current English transmissions . What is currently on in English on Shortwave? (Which stations are scheduled to transmit English language broadcasts right now?) + Shortwave Listeners Program Guide . Comprehensive Listings of Worldwide Shortwave Broadcasts in English and Other Languages. + The Listener's Guide - Bob Ellis . This is a MOST EXCELLENT website. Explore it. Enjoy it. + On-line Shortwave Receiver (Live) . + Military Air Communications This website has a strong emphasis on MilAir information and frequencies, as well as Military HF information, Pirate, and Utility communications. In addition, information, schedules and frequencies of SWL Broadcasters of i...