{"id":3882,"date":"2012-07-05T15:29:33","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T19:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2012-07-05T15:31:04","modified_gmt":"2012-07-05T19:31:04","slug":"the-economist-taking-a-look-at-shortwave-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/the-economist-taking-a-look-at-shortwave-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"The Economist: taking a look at shortwave radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Though\u00a0concise, this is one of the best summaries of shortwave radio that I’ve seen in major press. The full article<\/a>, remarkably, addresses the recent RCI cuts<\/a>, DRM, the expansion of China Radio\u00a0International\u00a0and other innovations that could happen via the shortwaves:<\/p>\n

(Source: The Economist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

TWIDDLE the dial of a short-wave radio and you never know what you will get. Through the hiss of static you may hear Cuban propaganda, football from Brazil or Chinese opera. Unlike other radio broadcasts, short-wave transmissions, bouncing off the ionosphere, can connect any two points on earth. One hazard is physics: signals wane and wax during the day. Another is governments. In the cold war communist regimes jammed Western stations. Now the threat is budget cuts.<\/p>\n

…[S]hort-wave remains a good way of reaching remote areas and poor people (a basic receiver costs as little as $10). Graham Mytton, who used to run the BBC\u2019s audience research, says it is cheap, easy to use and the only medium that gets through everywhere. A natural disaster, he notes, can take local transmitters off air and bring down the internet, but a battery-powered radio will still work.<\/p>\n

China is expanding its short-wave broadcasts\u2014both to reach listeners abroad and (some say) to disrupt transmissions from unwelcome foreigners, such as the Voice of America (VOA). The largest remaining short-wave broadcaster, VOA says it has no plans to junk its transmitters: its short-wave audience has actually grown over the past decade in countries like Myanmar (where it claims a quarter of the adult population listens, and three-quarters in rural areas).<\/p>\n

Digital short-wave broadcasts would be clearer and could carry bits of text too.[…]<\/p>\n

[…]Globe Wireless, an American firm, has long used short-wave for maritime e-mail service to thousands of ships. Although the data speeds (at only 2,400 bps) are not as zippy as a satellite link, the service is cheaper\u2014and keeps going if solar flares or space debris hit satellites, says the firm\u2019s boss, David Kagan. The short-wave voice may be old and hoarse. But it still dependably carries a message.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks to\u00a0Alokesh Gupta<\/a>\u00a0for the tip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though\u00a0concise, this is one of the best summaries of shortwave radio that I’ve seen in major press. The full article, remarkably, addresses the recent RCI cuts, DRM, the expansion of China Radio\u00a0International\u00a0and other innovations that could happen via the shortwaves: (Source: The Economist) TWIDDLE the dial of a short-wave radio and you never know what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-10C","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2271,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/mario-monti\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":0},"title":"Berlusconi chased women, Monti chased DX","author":"Thomas","date":"November 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Kim Elliott via ABC) Italy's Mario Monti, the sober economist nominated to replace the larger-than-life Silvio Berlusconi, is a former European commissioner who is markedly different from the outgoing premier. [...]Asked about any acts of rebellion in his youth, he conceded that there really were none and said he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/mario-monti-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9125,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/radio-caroline-shortwave-special-fridaysaturday-via-irrs\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":1},"title":"Radio Caroline shortwave special Friday\/Saturday via IRRS","author":"Thomas","date":"March 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Andrea Borgnino (@aborgnino) for this tip\u00a0via IW0HK: This is the schedule of 16 Gwendoline Street and its special sixty minute program on Radio Caroline\u2019s on the air on March 28-29, 2014 on IRRS-Shortwave and Medium Wave frequencies: Fri March 28, 2014: 19:00 UTC \/ 20:00 UTC on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(Source: RadioCaroline.co.uk)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/mvcaroline.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22285,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/wwii-thru-the-radio-a-hobart-radio-international-special-broadcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":2},"title":"WWII Thru The Radio: A Hobart Radio International special broadcast","author":"Thomas","date":"November 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Hobart Radio International) This fortnight we're airing a special documentary over shortwave radio and FM: WW2: Thru The Radio In this special show we\u2019re looking at listener\u2019s perspective of WW2 through the radio; featuring Medium Wave, Long Wave and Short Wave recordings. We include famous speeches aired by Chamberlain,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"documentryww2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DocumentryWW2-136x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51044,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/wave-farms-short-waves-long-distance-open-call-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":3},"title":"Wave Farm’s Short Waves \/ Long Distance Open Call 2022","author":"Thomas","date":"December 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Wave Farm via David Goren) Short Waves \/ Long Distance Open Call 2022 Wave Farm, Montez Press Radio, and The North American Shortwave Association are pleased to announce \u201cShort Waves \/ Long Distance,\u201d an open call for works exploring the sonics of the shortwave radio spectrum (2-30 mHz), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SWLD_Graphic-e1638541932615.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SWLD_Graphic-e1638541932615.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SWLD_Graphic-e1638541932615.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SWLD_Graphic-e1638541932615.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36688,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/a-shorten-government-will-bring-short-wave-radio-back-to-the-northern-territory\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":4},"title":"“A Shorten Government will bring short-wave radio back to the Northern Territory”","author":"Thomas","date":"March 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: RadioInfo via Michael Bird) The Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Clare O\u2019Neil, has told ABC Radio Darwin that a Shorten Government will bring short-wave radio back to the Northern Territory, after it was disbanded by the ABC in 2017, saying restoring the service \u201cis actually crucially important for safety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Digitech-AR1780-Front-Angle-SW-AM-mode-1024x702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Digitech-AR1780-Front-Angle-SW-AM-mode-1024x702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Digitech-AR1780-Front-Angle-SW-AM-mode-1024x702.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42171,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/shortwave-shindig-live-stream-tonight-via-the-wave-farm\/","url_meta":{"origin":3882,"position":5},"title":"Shortwave Shindig live stream tonight via the Wave Farm","author":"Thomas","date":"February 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Goren, who notes that the Winter SWL Fest Shortwave Shindig will stream live via the Wave Farm this evening. The Shortwave Shindig will begin on February 28, 2020 at 9:15 pm EST (or February, 29 at 2:15 UTC). The stream link will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Winterfest-Shindig.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}