Op Ed: “OK, but why shortwave?”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and host of Underground Sounds, Kelsie, who writes:

Why Shortwave?

by Kelsie

A question I’m regularly asked when talking about our radio show, and radio in general, is why choose independent radio rather than publishing a podcast or streaming playlist?
The answer is not a simple one, but I feel that it’s a powerful one.

Streaming services have made it far easier for new and independent artists to publish music, but publishing is only the first step in exposing new music to a potential audience. The age old problem faced by artists and publishers since the commercialization of music, remains – how does an artist or label get their new music heard?

The sad truth is that the vast majority of artists publishing their music on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal, etc., will not get what they’re really looking for, and that’s exposure.

Streaming services present content to their users based on a limited form of mathematical artificial intelligence known as an algorithm. Algorithms work by correlating searches by users with the content of their saved playlists. If users do not know that those new songs exist and have not searched specifically for them, the streaming algorithms will not have enough data on the new releases to suggest them to a wider audience who might like them. As a result of this, people who use streaming services are not exposed to a variety of musical styles and genres, unlike those of us who grew up when terrestrial radio was the dominant format.

While terrestrial radio may still be unencumbered by algorithm-generated playlists, commercial FM and satellite radio have effectively homogenized them over the years, resulting in a similar impact to musical variety. There was a time when radio stations used to allocate time slots for shows hosted by DJ’s that played different genres and styles of music on the same frequency. Since about 2010, the DJ format has become practically extinct.

Most radio stations today play a limited selection of songs and artists based on agreements with the traditional recording industry, resulting in very little variation from station to station at any given time of day. Both frequent listeners of FM or satellite radio can attest that the same songs and artists are played daily, even if they’re played in a different order, and even switching from one station to another during a song will oftentimes result in the listener hearing a different song by the same artist on the other station. This is only getting worse now that the majority of radio stations within the United States are owned by only two major corporations.

 

The lack of musical variety listeners are exposed to on commercial radio and streaming services lead me to the first part of my answer:

Independent radio is not subject to the homogeneity of commercial radio or streaming services.

This is largely due to the fact that instead of playlists or algorithms, independent stations are usually focused on the communities they serve, and tend to still produce individual shows tailored to different genres and interests. Tuning in at different times of the day exposes listeners to music they just wouldn’t have heard on other formats. Not everyone will like the same songs or artists, but there is usually something for everyone and a priceless opportunity to expand one’s musical horizons.

An explanation of this usually leads to the question, “OK, but why shortwave?”, or, “Isn’t shortwave dead?”

Here is where answer is is a little more complicated.

I’m sure, at least for myself, part of the decision to utilize shortwave broadcasting is based in the nostalgia of listening to broadcasts from all around the world as a child at the peak of the Cold War in Europe, hearing songs in languages I did not understand, often in keys and rhythms unfamiliar to a Western ear, and my particularly fond memories of listening to relays of Casey Kasem’s weekly Top 40 show from back home. As a former musician myself, and an avid shortwave listener who likes to restore vintage radio receivers, I still have almost that same level of excitement when I hear musical styles that I haven’t been exposed to before, and I want to share that with anyone in the world with an ear to listen.

This being said, the most important component of my answer comes down to accessibility.

Shortwave broadcasting is accessible. While independent radio may provide the only remaining viable format for exposing listeners to music from outside the corporate mainstream, independent shortwave radio potentially allows listeners from anywhere in the world to listen to music that they might be actively prevented from hearing in their own countries through various means, such as internet censorship or national broadcasters who only play what their governments mandate or allow.

As Geddy Lee from the band Rush used to sing, “One likes to believe in the freedom of music”.

I know that we certainly do, and I’m sure our opinion is shared by many of the fine music broadcasters on shortwave radio right now. From some of the more notable national broadcasters who pepper their broadcasts with music from their countries, to independent broadcasters such as Over The Horizon Radio, Alt Universe Top 40, VORW, Cruisin’ The Decades, Memphis Weirdos, Pop Shop Radio, Laser Hot Hits, This Is A Music Show, Texas Radio Shortwave, and many, many more who play music that terrestrial or satellite radio won’t play.

While shortwave radio is also going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, in large part due to the current dire situation in Eastern Europe, I think it’s more than that. I feel that large part of it is boredom and apathy with mainstream radio and the coldness of streaming services.

Whatever the reason, what better time than now to listen to shortwave stations from around the world, or even to become a part of the music broadcast resurgence yourselves?

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TX Factor Episode 29

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric (WD8RIF), who notes that the 29th episode of TX Factor was recently released. Here’s the show summary:

Welcome to our new episode!

TX Factor Calling – TX date 8th July 2023

We’re beaming (almost) live across the airwaves with microwatts of broadband energy to bring you the long-awaited show 29 of TX Factor. In this programme we increase the power to a few tens of Watts when Bob, Dave and Noel head to the Wiltshire hills with a pair of Icom IC-905 all-mode transceivers to see what can be achieved.

Bob takes the TX Factor cameras to the heart of England to the UK’s last remaining shortwave transmission station and ramps up the power to a staggering 250 kilowatts. Woofferton, near Ludlow, is the home to some venerable Marconi senders from the 1960s still beaming programmes across the globe.

Oh, and there’s a free-to-enter draw – details below.

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Dub and trumpets

Hi all SWLing post readers. This weekend on Imaginary Stations via WRMI will be a KDUB v Radio Clarion special. We’ll be playing some dub, some trumpets and maybe some dub with trumpets. The transmission will be on air on 9395 kHz from 2200 UTC on Sunday 9th July 2023. First-time listeners are also more than welcome to send reception reports to [email protected]
Tune in for some blazing horns! Fastradioburst23 

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The new Sangean MMR-99 series emergency radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mangosman, who writes:

Thomas,

I saw the Radio World review of the Sangean MMR-99 (page 16).

As I usually do I go to the source which in this case is the Sangean website to find

    • Sangean MMR-99 FCC AM/FM and in the USA version Weather radio band.
    • Sangean MMR-99 which is the UK version which is AM in the MF band for 9/10 kHz channel spacing No Low Frequency (LW) band.
    • Sangean MMR-99 DAB which is interesting because it is typically DAB+/FM no AM or Weather Band.

Your posters around the world may wish to review this radio which is available on line and in retailers.

Thank you for the tip! Impressive that MMR-99 is IP55 rated and ruggedized. I like the fact they’ve also made regional variants of this radio even including DAB.

The US version of the Sangean MMR-99 is available on Amazon.com (affiliate link) for $89.76 shipped

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Spaceweather.com: “Radio Amateurs Hack a NASA Spacecraft” and Sunspot High for Cycle 25

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Troy Riedel and Jock Elliott, who share the following news items from Spaceweather.com:

RADIO AMATEURS HACK A NASA SPACECRAFT: Ham radio operators are picking up a strong signal from space. It’s NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft returning home after 17 years.

“I’m having fun with STEREO-A,” reports Scott Tilley (VE7TIL) of Roberts Creek, British Columbia. “The spacecraft is coming close to Earth this summer, and I can now receive its signal using a small 26-inch dish in my backyard.” Here is what he picked up on July 2nd:

“We caught an X-flare in progress,” Tilley says. “Naked-eye sunspot AR3354 was really crackling.”

STEREO-A left Earth on Oct. 26, 2006, launched from Cape Canaveral with its sister ship STEREO-B. Both spacecraft were on a mission to the far side of the sun. Over the years, they would circle behind behind the sun, beaming images back to Earth so scientists could make 3D models of solar activity. In 2014, STEREO-B failed and was not heard from again. STEREO-A kept going, and now it is on its way back. [Continue reading at Spaceweather.com…]

Also…

SUNSPOT COUNTS HIT A 21-YEAR HIGH: The sun is partying like it’s 2002. That’s the last time sunspot counts were as high as they are now. The monthly average sunspot number for June 2023 was 163, according to the Royal Observatory of Belgium’s Solar Influences Data Analysis Center. This eclipses every month since Sept. 2022:

Solar Cycle 25 wasn’t expected to be this strong. When it began in Dec. 2019, forecasters believed it would be a weak cycle akin to its immediate predecessor Solar Cycle 24. If that forecast had panned out, Solar Cycle 25 would be one of the weakest solar cycles in a century.

Instead, Solar Cycle 25 has shot past Solar Cycle 24 and may be on pace to rival some of the stronger cycles of the 20th century. The last time sunspot numbers were this high, the sun was on the verge of launching the Great Halloween Storms of 2003, which included the strongest X-ray solar flare ever recorded (X45), auroras as far south as Texas, and a CME so powerful it was ultimately detected by the Voyager spacecraft at the edge of the solar system.

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Special transmissions in German from RTI Tamsui

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald (DL1AX), who shares the following announcement (translated) from Radio Taiwan International: 

Dear listeners of RTI,

Once again this year, RTI will broadcast German-language programming directly from the Tamsui, Taiwan transmitter on several days.

Broadcast dates and frequencies July 2023:
1700-1800 UTC 11995 kHz
1800-1900 UTC 9545 kHz

1) 07.07. Friday
2) 08.07. Saturday
3) 09.07. Sunday
4) 14.07. Friday
5) 15.07. Saturday
6) 16.07. Sunday
7) 21.07. Friday
8) 22.07. Saturday
9) 23.07. Sunday
10) 28.07. Friday
11) 29.07. Saturday
12) 30.07. Sunday

Reception reports will be confirmed again with a special QSL card.
Reception reports can be sent by e-mail to [email protected].
via the online form https://de.rti.org.tw/index/content/id/8
or by mail to: Radio Taiwan International, German Service, P.O. Box 123-199, Taipei 11199, Taiwan

We look forward to receiving your reception reports!
Your RTI editorial staff
https://de.rti.org.tw/
[email protected]

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X-Raydio transmitting to Europe

Hi all, Fastradioburst23 here letting you know about a transmission on the shortwaves from the Imaginary Stations Crew via Shortwave Gold from Germany this Sunday 9th July 2023 at 2000 utc on 6160 khz.

X-Raydio will explore audio from unusual musical formats and will feature a piece on Bone Music by Stephen Coates from The Real Tuesday Weld (who hosts a great radio show called The Bureau of Lost Culture on Soho Radio, London) and also a flexi disc mix by Shane Quentin (from the excellent The Garden of the Earthly Delights show on CRMK). Tune in your shortwave radio (or an online SDR) to X-Raydio this Sunday for something a little bit different!

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