Short Wave Listening On the Amateur Bands, Whilst Enjoying a Pipe or Not.

[MrTom]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

As a lapsed Radio Amateur, I no longer transmit, but listen SWL'ing as the Hams call it. My call sign is G6EQL.
Now I'm abstaining from the pipe due to health reasons, I find SWL relaxing.
I am at the moment listening to a morning Daily net on the VHF repeater in the UK, the Sausage & Scouse net, run by Bill an exsubmariner.
Also I love Internet radio webSDR and I was listening to some rag chewing on 40m from Hack Green. I've still a lot to learn about WebSDR.
I also like to listen to the commercial stations, mainly BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service & BBC Radio 3.
I wonder if any pipe smokers SWL on Amateur Radio or even Commercial stations, especially with internet radio.

 

[scloyd]

There's a few of us shortwave listeners here on the pipe forum. I purchased my first radio a few months ago, a Eton Elite Field radio. I started with a 50' end fed antenna and last week extended it 85'.

The stations I pick up are:

Radio Verdad (Guatemala)
Radio Romania International (Romania)
Voice of Turkey (Turkey)
Helliniki Radiophonia (Greece)
Radio Exterior de Espana (Spain)
Radio Marti (Cuban - Miami)
CFRX 6070 (Toronto)
China Radio International (China)
Radio New Zealand (New Zealand)
and the usual southern USA religious stations.

This is a great hobby...a lot to learn.

 

[MrTom]

There's a few of us shortwave listeners here on the pipe forum. I purchased my first radio a few months ago, a Eton Elite Field radio. I started with a 50' end fed antenna and last week extended it 85'.

The stations I pick up are:

Radio Verdad (Guatemala)
Radio Romania International (Romania)
Voice of Turkey (Turkey)
Helliniki Radiophonia (Greece)
Radio Exterior de Espana (Spain)
Radio Marti (Cuban - Miami)
CFRX 6070 (Toronto)
China Radio International (China)
Radio New Zealand (New Zealand)
and the usual southern USA religious stations.

This is a great hobby...a lot to learn.

It is a great hobby indeed. I started with a RadioShack SWL station, before getting my Radio ham license, must be 40 years ago.. I don't enjoy transmitting, but prefer listening & I don't limit myself to a traditional SWL receiver & antenna, having discovered WebSDR & Internet radio, which give endless possibilities.

 

[davek]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

As a lapsed Radio Amateur, I no longer transmit, but listen SWL'ing as the Hams call it. My call sign is G6EQL.
Now I'm abstaining from the pipe due to health reasons, I find SWL relaxing.
I am at the moment listening to a morning Daily net on the VHF repeater in the UK, the Sausage & Scouse net, run by Bill an exsubmariner.
Also I love Internet radio webSDR and I was listening to some rag chewing on 40m from Hack Green. I've still a lot to learn about WebSDR.
I also like to listen to the commercial stations, mainly BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service & BBC Radio 3.
I wonder if any pipe smokers SWL on Amateur Radio or even Commercial stations, especially with internet radio.

N8LYT here

Ham radio is a niche hobby requiring a moderate amount of study to get into

Just like pipe smoking

 

[mikethompson]

@scloyd, @Bowie, @mawnansmiff, and myself are all SWL.

I have a TECSUN PL660 that I've been very happy with. There's always some fiddling to do with antennas and whatnot, but it is a great hobby.

I've got into collecting QSL cards from shortwave stations as well.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Tom, you are not alone, I occasionally tune into a Cornish repeater on 145.725. As a tester for propagation I tune into Shannon Volmet (Ireland) on 5.450.

I recently purchased a mint JRD NRD545 which is a delight to use. I also have a few valved sets, one of which is a Trio JR60 which I'm slowly bringing back to life.





***Both images 'borrowed' from the internet.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I’ve considered getting a portable HAM for my jeep. I like to do a lot of off-roading, but I don’t know the first thing about HAM, other than it seems far more powerful and versatile than CB. Looks like a fun hobby unto itself.

 

[davek]

I’ve considered getting a portable HAM for my jeep. I like to do a lot of off-roading, but I don’t know the first thing about HAM, other than it seems far more powerful and versatile than CB. Looks like a fun hobby unto itself.

I started out the hobby playing on the "outband" or "freeband"... extra channels you can add to your CB above (and below) the CB frequencies. These are unused frequencies and transmitting on them is illegal, but not a particularly high priority for the FCC. It was long enough ago that the statute of limitations is expired anyway

Anyway, I worked nearly all 50 states from my car with a 100 watt linear on a long commute before I decided to become legal and get my ham license. The only ham radios I still have are an old 3 watt 2 meter radio and that old, trusty CB...now converted to a 10 meter ham radio (CB would be 11 meters).

 

[mikethompson]

Ham radio does sound appealing. But with schools probably closing sooner than later, and other hobbies and everything else I couldn't make time for it.

The community is pretty helpful as well. You should check out radioreference.com

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

Its easy to get your license, honestly its just rote memorization of the question pool. Got my Technician and General license that way....

KK4PHM...

 

[scloyd]

Its easy to get your license, honestly its just rote memorization of the question pool. Got my Technician and General license that way....

KK4PHM...

I plan on getting my Technician's license this coming winter. I wish I would of started this hobby when I was younger. It is a fun way to kill some time.

 

[mikethompson]

I plan on getting my Technician's license this coming winter

I will be listening for you Scott!

Better get some ideas for your custom QSL cards!