Short-wave radio

-m2-

I always find room for a small short-wave radio--you can probably find one for less than $50. News from BBC World Service, Voice of America, and a lot of other english language programming available 24hrs a day from anywhere in the India or the world. Particularly of interest in times like this.

steven_ber

i took one to southern india (most northern point, bangalore) and did'nt have a lot of success with it, i realy struggled to get any reception, yet i tested it before i went and it seemed fine.

might i have more success in rajasthan/gujarat or might i need to get a better radio, the one i had was quite old but the reception in england on short-wave was very good.

archits

You could buy one in India for the same price or less. I disagree that reception anywhere in India is poor for BBC or Voice of America. The problem is that these blokes come in loud and clear . BBC = "Biased British Corporation".

Having said that - yes, these radio stations help you keep in touch with what is topical in your own countries. Of late Deutsche Welle too has improved its coverage of Asia and one can hear it on medium wave as well.

Write to BBC for their Asia frequencies - they are most helpful.

One receiver ,very popular and very effective is the Sony World Receiver - seven bands. They also have a digital version out. I have personally used this on many occasions.

Yup , if you do bring this Sony World Receiver and enjoy it , you know where you could leave it behind !!!

Happy hearing.

steven_ber

i think i must have had a poor quality radio, thanks for the advice on the sony radio, is it worth investing in a digital radio, do the BBC or others transmit in digital or would i be wasting my money.

re. BBC "biased british corporation"

i totaly agree with you, sometimes it is so anti-british, yet we british have to pay for a licence fee for the privalidge of listening to it, if we dont pay we could be fined or sent to prison, so much for living in a free world.

any advice for making the BBC less anti-british would be welcome.

maybe one day we will have a choice on what we invest in, but not if the BBC have thair way, come back MAGGIE.

-m2-

I used the Sony model for many trips, it finally got a bit unreliable and I replaced it with a less-expensive Grundig model which had the advantages of a bigger speaker and a dual time-zone alarm clock. Both models are better listening to, and easier to tune, with a walkman-type headset which you generally buy separately as they only come with an inadequate single ear-bud. (also headset more friendly to quiet-seeking neighbors).

I don't know about transmitting in digital, but wouldn't pay extra for digital tuning, or relying too much on broadcast frequency schedules. The best bet seems to be using the dial to seek out the best frequency for a particular time of day in your location -- there is generally a different active frequency band for morning and night, mid-day often not so good at all.

I rather enjoy BBC, for both the news and for some of the rather off-beat game shows and entertainment. Seemingly endless lists of football scores and live cricket matches might appeal so some as well.

mike

(edit: added note on using headset -- you might need a little adapter for the Sony so that the monaural source can be heard thru both left and right buds -- my Grundig doesn't need one but my old Sony did and I don't know about newer ones)

archits

Okay guys ..try out some Indian ones too . The Philips brand is very good.

Re the BBC , even we have to put up with so much - if they are so unpopular all round , wonder how they survive !!! since, we are target audience , we do not have to pay a licence fee - that is the saving grace.

Yes, the cricket commentary is superb , so is Top of the Pops - with World News - well everyone has their agenda.

The Sony digital is a digital tuning mechanism , the broadcasts are not digital.

Heraclitus

Oh yeah. Always take a shortwave radio. Am currently using the Grundig E-traveler VII (only available in North America) but have also taken Sony, Panasonic, and Sangean (often marketed by Radio Shack) models along. You do get better sensitivity with more expensive models and the digital models are useful for locking on a frequency. Non-digital models do tend to drift and fade in and out. But even a dirt cheap analog model should work fine for big broadcasters like BBC, VOA, and Deutsche Welle.

Reception is heavily dependent on conditions in the ionosphere and sun spot activity. Reception is almost always best at night. Wherever you are, it is best if you have something beyond the usual built-in whip antennas. While this tends to be impractical for travelers, I can give a modest recommendation to the portable antenna Radio Shack sells. It's a little wind-up bit of wire that you attach to your built in whip antenna. Costs about $10 US and gives a significant improvement in reception. Whatever you do, you will get better reception if you place your radio near a window. This is especially true if you are in a concrete building (the worst possible place to pick up shortwave broadcasts.)

Alan D

On our last three to India I have taken along a small Sony 12 band-9 short wave bands. As we spend a lot of time in the mountains, where normal reception is difficult, it has been very useful and pulls in BBC,VOA and AIR for news and music. It keeps us up to date with what's happening when we are beyond the reach of the excellent Indian English language press. Also evening ragas just before we go to sleep.
Think I will consider upgrading it to a digital tuning model though as it tends to drift off station.

Midnite Toker

Ten dollars for a wind-up bit of wire? Hmmm, I think someone is being "had" here.
Go to any radio shop in India and get ten metres of hook-up wire (tell them that you want the stuff people wire doorbells with, but get the flexible sort, not solid-core) and two small crocodile clips.
Make it so the croc. clips are electrically connected with the inner core (ie: strip off the plastic and wind it around the metal of the clip) and bingo! One extension antenna for less than fifty cents.
Note that a decent radio will pull in stations from Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Holland, Germany, South Africa... with its own aerial in most places. An extension lets you do some serious DX (long-distance) listening. If it is poor quality the addition of an extension to the radio will just increase the co-channel interference.
The same as with computers; start with the best device you can and then feed it good material...

BTW, a must for me when I'm away is the programme, "Just A Minute" on the BBC.

archits

you sound like a ham radio operator with dx terminollogy. did you do ham radio in india ?

Heraclitus

[quote]Originally posted by Midnite Toker
[b]Ten dollars for a wind-up bit of wire? Hmmm, I think someone is being "had" here.

Yeah, OK. I AM being "had." It's 23 feet of insulated wire on a wind-up reel with direct connection (if your receiver has an input hole for an external antenna) and/or an adjustable wrap-around grip to slide over your whip antenna if you don't. Your ten meters of wire with crocodile clips will, of course, work just fine. Still, I like the convenience of the Radio Shack antenna, even with the outrageous price markup. I suggested it precisely because it was a quick, no-hassle solution for shortwave "newbies." Also, in its plastic wind-up case it is less likely to get the "evil eye" from airport security personnel who have been going crazy of late -- confiscating anything that looks even remotely suspicious. ("Hey! Why are you carrying around that wire?")

Different strokes for different folks and all that. . .

Midnite Toker

Archits - yes, you sprung me. I had an amateur radio licence from when I was sixteen, and fiddled with what was then the height of the technology - whacking great "tubes" in a chassis as big as your kitchen table. It was fun for a while, but I was always more interested in music than nattering about the newest Yagi.
It is appealing to think of working from a small mobile station at around 5000m in the Himalaya somewhere (the range would be enormous), but I think it would be a nightmare getting such equipment through customs, especially today. Otherwise never done any amateur radio stuff from within India. Contacted plenty of Indian amateurs, though.

Heraclitus, I didn't want to trash your idea of the ready-made extension (and indeed, something that looks bought is less of an attention-grabber at airport security as you say). I'm always a cheapskate when it comes to things I know I can fix up myself.

archits

well midnite toker - a small base station will get by no problems. you need to carry with you your licence from your country. With the war you may have problems of a suscpicious kind ,though.

Get a reciprocal licence and yes, i think operating should be just fine.

If you are suspicious of customs ,buy second hand in india. you can also always borrow a hand held or something. Maybe a 2m base station too.

Antennas you seem to have cracked. So there is some experimentation there.

Midnite Toker

Archits - yeah, buying a transceiver in India seems a somewhat better idea in view of worldwide suspicion over anything slightly more exotic than a walkman. I'll put it on the "one day, one way" list. Perhaps some QRP (low power) distance trial...
Are you an amateur yourself?
And what's with the All India Radio streaming audio on the Web? Every time I go to the site of AIR they say that the facility is "temporarily withdrawn." Would love to hear the station on better than my little Sony portable.

Cheers!

archits

yes , i did it for some time. no longer.

all india radio does not work , the website , however, their regular reception is great.

what do you want to hear on all india radi ? if it is music there are many indian music websites to hear streaming audio.

Regards