{"id":21797,"date":"2016-10-15T08:01:06","date_gmt":"2016-10-15T12:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=21797"},"modified":"2016-10-15T08:01:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-15T12:01:06","slug":"guest-post-troy-takes-us-on-a-tour-of-his-listening-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/guest-post-troy-takes-us-on-a-tour-of-his-listening-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Troy takes us on a tour of his listening post"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DoxyTronics<\/a>

DoxyTronics 8020CA Antenna<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Troy Riedel<\/a>, who writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have a \u201cshack\u201d, but I wanted to take the time to share with you my \u201clistening post\u201d. But first, let me start from the beginning. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d call myself an amateur astronomer first \u2013 and a Shortwave Listener (SWL\u2019er) second (I have never been a Ham Operator). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I started my astronomy hobby as a young kid who was enthralled by the Apollo Missions. \u00a0I was also fascinated by weather & I learned how to make short-term 12-36 hour forecasts by making cloud observations, following the barometric pressure trend & noting changes in wind direction. \u00a0I am still an amateur astronomer (a very expensive endeavor). \u00a0I was able to pursue my childhood interest in weather and I became an Aviation Weather Forecaster in the military (I also instructed synoptic meteorology in the military at the schoolhouse). \u00a0I promoted myself out of meteorological jobs in my Service but I was able to transition to a deployable job that allowed me to visit 50 countries. \u00a0I retired with slightly over 30-years served.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a kid, a buddy had a shortwave radio but we could never hear anything (we had no clue). \u00a0I had an Electro-Brand EB2100 5-band radio that had AM\/FM, Police, Fire, Aviation & NOAA (if I recall). \u00a0We heard transmissions on that EB2100! \u00a0I didn\u2019t truly discover shortwave until the early 1990s. \u00a0My first shortwave radio was a Panda 2006 (I challenge readers to look-up that model in the 1994 Passport to World Band Radio). \u00a0I liked shortwave so much, I sold the Panda to help finance my next radio. \u00a0I pre-ordered & subsequently received one of the first Gru?ndig Yacht Boy 400s released in the U.S. (I still have the radio & the receipt).<\/span><\/p>\n

I think, for a SWL\u2019er, I have a decent collection of shortwave radios & antennae:<\/p>\n