Monthly Archives: June 2019

RSPDuo Running over Network on RSP_TCP

What’s Left To Do On ShortWave

Ahhhh Shortwave radio. If you’re my age you probably remember it fondly in the 70’s and 80’s. Every home probably had at least one World Band radio. If you are my kids age you may not even know it exists or if you do ………… what exactly it is.

Everyone knows what AM radio is. What most don’t know is AM Radio is actually called Medium Wave (MW). The frequencies BELOW AM are called LONGWAVE. So it stands to reason the frequencies on the other side of AM are called “SHORTWAVE”.

Shortwave kind of fell out of popularity mostly due to the big old orange ball in the sky firing solar storms at us. The sun works in cycles and sometimes shortwave listening is really really good and sometimes it is really really pointless to try.

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XHDATA D-808 Put Through Some Paces

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I’ve had this radio for a few months and have used it sporadically and feel like I’m getting a good grip on its strengths and idiosyncrasies.

It’s a good strong radio with lots of features. When I got this radio it was pretty much unobtanium except through AliExpress and eBay. I got mine from eBay but paid a few extra dollars for it.

The XHDATA D-808 is about the same size and weight and has most of the normal features found on the other shortwave radios in its class and then some. Of particular delight to me is an external antenna connector. I know a lot of people judge radios on their stand alone merit but I like pushing the envelope. I seldom use a shortwave radio without an external antenna of some kind.
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Alinco DX-R8T Review

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First of all let me say that I own just about 25 portable shortwave radios and probably almost as many SDR radios. I absolutely love shortwave listening. I also love the various modes on shortwave such as DRM, WeFAX, Numbers Stations, etc. Also you never know what you are going to hear.

Somewhere along the line I decided I wanted to get a dedicated tabletop receiver. Some of the old military grade stuff really intrigues me. Some of that stuff costs big bucks. The government seems to have pretty high standards for HF radios and that type of radio is highly desirable.