posted on May, 23 2008 @ 12:27 PM
Shortwave is great for listening! I used to have an old Drake transceiver, complete with vacuum tubes, and my dad helped me put up a very slick
inverted dipole antenna that we had attached to trees on opposite sides of our yard. Man that was so much fun. I only had my novice license, so
transmitting was limited to Morse code, but that just added to the fascination.
I suggest doing as much reading as you can. There are many resources around on the internet that give information on broadcasts and such. Or just
fire up your radio and, with some patience, very slowly make your way through the frequencies and different bands. Try it during different times of
the day, as was mentioned by someone else. Another thing to think about is the weather at the time. My experiences with pulling in distance
transmissions happened most often when the sky was covered with clouds. Thunderstorms can be good too, but the lightening does impact what you
hear.
You might consider buying a notebook and recording information about interesting things you hear, that way you have a reference to come back to if you
want to see if you can find it again.
I'll never forget the night I was experimenting with transmitting with very little power output. I was sending out my CQs (this is what ham operators
say/transmit when they are looking to make contact with anyone that can hear them) for quite some time before a guy in South America responded. It
blew me away. There I was, in my bedroom in Michigan, putting out a signal on just a few watts of power, and someone in South America was able to have
a conversation with me! How cool is that?
So as you comb through the frequencies, be very patient and diligent. If you hear something faint, give it a little time and you may find that the
signal will improve. Sometimes the signals will get weak and then strong over and over again, so keep that in mind as well. Also, as was suggested by
someone else, see if you can put up a nice long antenna. Just a plain wire will do. Make sure it's not cracked at all, and that the insulator
covering it is in good condition, especially if you put it outdoors. And definitely make certain that it can connect cleanly to your radio. All those
things will benefit the quality of the signal.
I should also mention that much of what I did was on frequencies that may not be available on your radio. I worked mostly the 80m and 40m bands.
Nevertheless, the same approach to listening still applies, regardless of which frequencies you can tune into.
That's all I can think of to help you out. At the very least I would create a log book to record the interesting stuff you are able to listen to.
Write down the frequency, date and time you heard it, and some sort of note that will remind you what it was you listened to.
Have fun!
[edit on 23-5-2008 by John_Q_Llama]
[edit on 23-5-2008 by John_Q_Llama]