SHORT WAVE HEAVEN
Short Wave radio has been around for a long time. It is a wonderfully reassuring feeling when far from home to listen to a familiar voice on a Short Wave radio.
Sadly, Short Wave reception is increasingly difficult for people touring France, Germany and the rest of Europe. BBC World Service signals are now aimed only at Africa, Middle East and Asia.
But - if the skies are merciful - you can still hear the BBC bouncing off the ionosphere from somewhere distant. And China Radio International gives you a powerful signal, proudly telling listeners "we will never give up on Short Wave."
The Russians, Romanians and the Vatican are the next most enthusiastic on international radio broadcasting. So don't ditch the Short Wave radio, polish it off and get tuning! Radio Spain ended weekday analogue broadcasts to Europe in November 2012, but continues every day in digital short wave and carries sport on analogue at weekends.
It can be difficult to know what to look for. But these charts make listening quick and easy. This tells you everything heard in North West Europe in English in January 2013:
Listening in English on Short Wave in North West Europe
The BBC World Service cut its English Short Wave service by 60 per cent on 31st March 2013. The Cyprus Short Wave relay station, which had been in use for 50 years, has now been closed. But the remaining frequencies would appear to be safe for another decade, as that is the length of the BBC contract with the firm, Babcock, which distributes its programmes. BBC Arabic is no longer available on Short Wave, except in Sudan. BBC Arabic radio is generally now only available if Arab governments choose to let their people hear the BBC on FM or online. Here are the remaining BBC World Service Short Wave frequencies from 31st March until 26 October 2013:
BBC Frequencies by area Summer 2013
This chart gives you details of BBC World Service programmes on shortwave for the winter 2012/13 schedule.
BBC World Service English schedule
Summer 2012 saw the disappearance of Radio Netherlands in Europe, while Vatican Radio ended its information programmes to western Europe. But there are still many stations on the air and these 4 charts take you on a tour of what you can hear as you wander up and down the short wave bands in winter 2013 schedule:
Daytime listening in NW Europe on
Short Wave 13-6MHz
Daytime listening in NW Europe on Short Wave 21-15MHz
After dark listening in NW Europe on Short Wave 21-7MHz
After dark listening in NW Europe on Short Wave 9-3MHz
These charts are not exhaustive, so go to these sites for more detail-
Shortwave
listening news, interviews, reviews and more:
http://swling.com/blog/
Glenn Hauser's World of Radio: http://www.worldofradio.com/
The official broadcasters' site, but some countries don't take part: http://www.hfcc.org/data/
This one has some nice maps: http://short-wave.info/index.php
The best guide to public radio stations available online is:
www.publicradiofan.com
The blog of Chrissy Brand, the general editor of the BDXC British DX Club, for up to date opinion on what's worth listening to:
And for up to date gossip and news, check out:
http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.co.uk/
http://tradingaswdr.blogspot.co.uk/
If you have comments or suggestions or content for this site please email editor@shortwavetimes.com.