Hi All:

I recently purchased a short-wave receiver (Radio Shack DX-398) to maximize my information sources on the off-chance things might get a little strange next year ;). My problem now is that I havent a clue what to do with the damn thing. While some general search instructions came with the unit, theyre a far cry from truly useful. So my question is, can anyone out there provide a source for a list of frequencies that may be useful to folks like us come rollover?

Thanks.

-- Hardly Sparky (not@right.now), November 04, 1999

Answers

Go to a book store, or maybe radio shack, there are several books that give worldwide listings of all short wave stations, and when they broadcast. All listings are in UTC time, so you will have to adjust to your time zone.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), November 04, 1999.

use any search program such as webcrawler... type in "frequency allocations"

many people advise using arrl data... this normally applies only to amateur frequency allocations. you need to know all allocations within the grasp of your receiver.

-- clayton (ratchetass@hotmail.com), November 04, 1999.

For basic listening enjoyment, go to www.wwcr.com You'll find their broadcast frequencies there, and links to other sites with more info.

Also, in event of TEOTWAWKI, you'll want to know how to scan for channels using your radio. That should be clearly covered in your manual. You may want to experiement with an external antenna. Most radios (costing as much as yours) have an external antenna jack. Search the 'net for specifics on antennas.

-- Anonymous999 (Anonymous999@Anonymous999.xxx), November 04, 1999.

Hardly,

A couple of suggestions:

1. The international telephone system, and therefore the Internet, are likely to be a mess over the rollover. I expect that your shortwave radio is going to be a very useful source of information.

2. I would focus on the countries that are ahead of your timezone, especially those with a *free* press. If you are in the US, that means Radio Japan, which broadcasts in English on a number of frequencies (21670 MHz, 17825, 6110, 6120, 9505, 13630, etc at various times of the day); and the BBC (6175, 9571,15220). You can also try Radio China International (9560, 9730, 11840, etc.), for a bit of propaganda; and the Voice of Russia (9580; 5930, 7105) for more propaganda. The national radio services of Switzerland and Germany might also be worth a try.

3. For more information, you can contact the American Radio Relay League (www.arrl.com). They also produce an annual handbook which is a great source of information about amateur radio, basic electronics, etc.

4. As someone mentioned in a previous post, a good antenna is critical. Even with an inexpensive radio, a simple (e.g. a length of wire hung out a window) but well installed antenna can make a huge difference.

5. Don't forget extra batteries!

Hope that this helps...

-- Midas (midas_mulligan_2000@yahoo.com), November 04, 1999.

Sparky,

Here's something that Radio Shack offers - do you have this already?

SWL STATION GUIDE

Worldwide shortwave listening guide. Comprehensive listing of world wide shortwave broadcasts. Programs are listed by UTC time, station, days, target, type and frequencies.

62-1335 Sale $9.99 (Reg $15.99)

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), November 04, 1999.

An excelent Publication with an updated frequency list in UTC and converstions to local time is published in Monitoring Times = http://www.grove-ent.com.

They feature freqencies which have been monitored recently and are usually recievable in the target areas. I have used this guide extensively and find it almost as good as TV-Guide for finding programs on the radio.

I recommend you get the December Issue as that will have the latest catches prior to the Roll over.

(I am just a happy subscriber, I have no links to these guys, and the one email I sent them took two months for a form letter reply.)

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), November 04, 1999.

Try a search on Rocky Mountain Survial Group, catagory communications.

-- something-something (no-name@no-way.no-how), November 04, 1999.

Hope you got a shortwave radio with single sideband. It is much more reliable..(same thing the military forces use) For starters try 5.085 evenings, 5.o70 , 6.890. 12.127, 12.126. Good luck.

-- Betty Alice (Barn266@aol.com), November 04, 1999.

Some of the URLs I have for SW stuff:

http://pw2.netcom.com/~tofull/shortwave.htm http://www.ac6v.com/pagefreq.html http://www.anarc.org/naswa/swlguide/ http://www.brsmedia.com/ http://www.netside/com/~lcoble/dir9/shortwa2.txt http://www.angelfire.com/wi/worldbandradio/time.html http://pirateradio.about.com/ http://itre.ncsu.edu/radio/RadioCatalogSW.html http://www.blackcatsystems.com/radio/shortwave.html http://www3.damien.edu/students/mskim/shortwave.html#Anchor4 http://www.phoaks.com/phoaks2/newsgroups/misc/survivalism/index.html

Good Luck.

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), November 04, 1999.

I bought a Baygen sw-am-fm radio and I have been trying to find some signs of life on it. It has 3.3-12 MHz, and it appears that I would have to be multi-lingual to have it do me any good. Several French-speaking stations, several spanish, a German, an asian-sounding station, and a hell of a lot of static. (oh, and the BBC.)

I got a clip-on antenna because there is no external jack, but it seems to make no difference.

Any other Baygen owners out there?

-- semper paratus (what@was_I.thinking?), November 04, 1999.