Does any one know any good AM radio stations that we could get the news in English over North Africa that we could get with the HF?? I have an ipod (thank god, there's somthng to be said about 20gigs of music all at once) I want to know what's going on in the world. I'm having 24/7 news station withdrawl. The Sat TV does not get anything in English.
I got an Aussi station but I really want the BBC.
Thanks
Murdoch86
AM on HF over N. Africa
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Cat Driver
- Top Poster
- Posts: 18921
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:31 pm
Murdoch86 :
When not flying I listened to short wave on a small portable in Africa...in the air you are out of luck as far as I know....
When not flying I listened to short wave on a small portable in Africa...in the air you are out of luck as far as I know....
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
You may have already thought of this, but if your internet connection is fast enough you can get the BBC news from the BBC website. Doesn't matter what time you go online, you just can select whatever you listen to from the day (or even the week) before. What country are you in, just out of curiousity?!
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The Old Fogducker
- Rank (9)
- Posts: 1784
- Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:13 pm
Murdoch:
A Google Search for "English language shortwave broadcasts to Africa" turned up 216,000 hits. Assuming your airborne HF is frequency agile as opposed to being one of the ancient channelized "aeronautical freqs only" crystal-controlled units, you will be able to hear stations from all over the world at different times of the day.
You should understand however, we are almost at the bottom of the sunspot cycle and HF communications which depend on the Ionosphere are not "as hot" as they were a few years ago. Signals will likely be subject to fading and static. Due to propagation variations, there may be days at a time when conditions will not support reception and you may have to just give up and try it again later. It won't be like listening to an FM station.
I'm a fairly active ham radio operator and used to talk all over the place until about 10 years ago when they took the HF out of the plane because everyone else said they could never get it to work.
I'd recommend listening to Radio Canada International which is a rebroadcast outlet for the CBC, the BBC World Service, The Voice of America, Radio Netherlands, Radio Deutsch Welle (Germany) and there are dozens of others with high power transmitters.
When I want a real laugh I'll tune into Radio China in the evenings to listen to their slightly modified Chairman Mao "all capitalists are scum" tirades. The saying I always liked was being called "A running dog lackey of the imperialist industrial complex" ... they are still broadcasting just like it was the height of the Cold War in 1963 but now the same message is now smoothly spoken with a British accent and a more highly polished presentation. The Voice of Korea will have you rolling on the floor. I never understood how anyone with 6 inter-connected brain cells could be sucked in by that super-left wing drivel of how ownership of private property was wrong, one man one vote is a flawed system, etc, etc. I'm sure I would be marked for "Political Education Classes" and then worked in some field until I dropped dead.
Selecting the right frequency range for the time of day is the secret to hearing the stations with some degree of reliability. During the evening, the 49, 41 and 31 metre bands are the best. Those broadcast bands are between 6 and 10 Mhz. During daytime going higher in freq is where the signals are and the range around 15 Mhz will be useful.
Here is a link which breaks freqs down into bands so you can tune around a little where there is likely to be some action.
http://www.irkutsk.com/radio/bands.htm
As my estwhile Internet colleague Cat Driver suggested, you might consider a small portable shortwave receiver like the Grundig Yachtboy 400 or similar for listening when you are on the ground. I have a cheap set of small amplified computer audio speakers hooked to mine for travelling and they provide lots of volume when plugged into the headphone jack.
Also a chunk of wire about 20 ft long connected to the portable's whip antenna will assist greatly with hearing more stations. There are dozens of different shortwave receivers on the market of widely varying price and quality but here is a link to give you an idea of what I use when I'm on the road.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ ... /0400.html
Even though I rarely listen to the CBC (Communist Broadcasting Corporation) at home, I admit it sure sounds good to hear Sheila Rogers with Sounds Like Canada, The World At 6, or Rex Murphy on Cross Country Checkup coming out of the speakers when I'm outside the country. It sounds like home.
Otherwise I look at them as being a useless tax burden that are piglets sucking at the teat of big government who spread anti-American drivel under the guise of being pro-Canadian since they seem to lack imagination .... or talk of how corporations are making "obscene profits" ... oh and the almost mandatory evening news story about glue sniffing in Davis Inlet that could be solved if only the govt would pour a few more buckets of money into the community.
Let me know if I can assist further.
Here's a link to get you started. http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/
Regards,
Fog
A Google Search for "English language shortwave broadcasts to Africa" turned up 216,000 hits. Assuming your airborne HF is frequency agile as opposed to being one of the ancient channelized "aeronautical freqs only" crystal-controlled units, you will be able to hear stations from all over the world at different times of the day.
You should understand however, we are almost at the bottom of the sunspot cycle and HF communications which depend on the Ionosphere are not "as hot" as they were a few years ago. Signals will likely be subject to fading and static. Due to propagation variations, there may be days at a time when conditions will not support reception and you may have to just give up and try it again later. It won't be like listening to an FM station.
I'm a fairly active ham radio operator and used to talk all over the place until about 10 years ago when they took the HF out of the plane because everyone else said they could never get it to work.
I'd recommend listening to Radio Canada International which is a rebroadcast outlet for the CBC, the BBC World Service, The Voice of America, Radio Netherlands, Radio Deutsch Welle (Germany) and there are dozens of others with high power transmitters.
When I want a real laugh I'll tune into Radio China in the evenings to listen to their slightly modified Chairman Mao "all capitalists are scum" tirades. The saying I always liked was being called "A running dog lackey of the imperialist industrial complex" ... they are still broadcasting just like it was the height of the Cold War in 1963 but now the same message is now smoothly spoken with a British accent and a more highly polished presentation. The Voice of Korea will have you rolling on the floor. I never understood how anyone with 6 inter-connected brain cells could be sucked in by that super-left wing drivel of how ownership of private property was wrong, one man one vote is a flawed system, etc, etc. I'm sure I would be marked for "Political Education Classes" and then worked in some field until I dropped dead.
Selecting the right frequency range for the time of day is the secret to hearing the stations with some degree of reliability. During the evening, the 49, 41 and 31 metre bands are the best. Those broadcast bands are between 6 and 10 Mhz. During daytime going higher in freq is where the signals are and the range around 15 Mhz will be useful.
Here is a link which breaks freqs down into bands so you can tune around a little where there is likely to be some action.
http://www.irkutsk.com/radio/bands.htm
As my estwhile Internet colleague Cat Driver suggested, you might consider a small portable shortwave receiver like the Grundig Yachtboy 400 or similar for listening when you are on the ground. I have a cheap set of small amplified computer audio speakers hooked to mine for travelling and they provide lots of volume when plugged into the headphone jack.
Also a chunk of wire about 20 ft long connected to the portable's whip antenna will assist greatly with hearing more stations. There are dozens of different shortwave receivers on the market of widely varying price and quality but here is a link to give you an idea of what I use when I'm on the road.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ ... /0400.html
Even though I rarely listen to the CBC (Communist Broadcasting Corporation) at home, I admit it sure sounds good to hear Sheila Rogers with Sounds Like Canada, The World At 6, or Rex Murphy on Cross Country Checkup coming out of the speakers when I'm outside the country. It sounds like home.
Otherwise I look at them as being a useless tax burden that are piglets sucking at the teat of big government who spread anti-American drivel under the guise of being pro-Canadian since they seem to lack imagination .... or talk of how corporations are making "obscene profits" ... oh and the almost mandatory evening news story about glue sniffing in Davis Inlet that could be solved if only the govt would pour a few more buckets of money into the community.
Let me know if I can assist further.
Here's a link to get you started. http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/
Regards,
Fog
