
I enjoy listening to radio, however, there seems to be a dearth of good programming on the conventional frequencies. Somehow, personality-less robo programmed hit music and right wing talk radio just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. Thus, I have taken to listening to the shortwaves. Truth be told, the availability of good programming is dwindling there as well, but good things can still be found. Here is my list of interesting and or entertaining programs found on the shortwave:
- Radio Australia International – 9580 KHz mornings from 6-9am EST (11-1400 UTC). There are a variety of good programs on this station including Asia-Pacific, Saturday Night Country and others. Good to listen to with my morning cup of coffee.
- WBCQ – Several good selections here including Alan Weiner World Wide (Fridays 8-9pm), World of Radio (Glen Hauser, Thursdays 5:30-6pm), Marion’s Attic (Sunday 5-6pm), Le Show (Harry Shearer, Sundays 7-8pm) Amos n’ Andy (Tuesdays 5-5:30pm). New 41 Meter Frequency 7490 KHz is clearer than previous frequency. 5110 KHz is hit or miss in this location, however Area 51 is worth a listen (Saturdays and Sundays 7-11pm) if reception is good. Check their schedule on line as program time change.
- WWCR – 12160 KHz 12-3pm EST (17-2000 UTC) Alex Jones, entertaining if not a bit over the top, tends to rant, makes some good points when calm. Other programs like World Wide Country Radio, The Pat Boone Show, etc are available at various times on various frequencies.
- CBC North – 9625 KHz Continuous Sackville feed of CBC Radio One, mostly in English, occasionally in Inuktitut or French. Good for news from the Great White up.
- CFRX – 6070 KHz shortwave feed of News/Talk CFRB Toronto. Conservative news talk programming Canadian style, some good trivia games and whatnot.
- WEWN – 15610 KHz Catholic Mass (8-9am Sundays) although lately they have been re-runs, which is goddamned annoying.
There are others from overseas, but many of the English broadcasting services are being scaled back or eliminated. A few broadcasts that one is sure to come across when tuning around; The Voice of Russia (bland, predicable, promos sound like they are recorded in the bathroom), Radio Romania (meh), China Radio International (100% propaganda), Radio Havana, Cuba (campy, mildly entertaining in an absurd way), etc.
Pirate Shortwave broadcasters roam around in the 6890-6970 KHz range. They are irregular in schedule, low power and often contain an obscure dialog or some selection of 80’s hair band music. Still, if one has some time, they can be entertaining too.
A good source of information on shortwave broadcasts is Short-wave.info which has a pretty accurate searchable database and a great feature called “Find out what stations are broadcasting on a frequency of (fill in frequency) Now.” That is very helpful for figuring out what a station is without waiting for station ID or if broadcasting in another language.
With winter coming and the sun spot cycle on the upswing, the HF bands should be open for business.