A few years back I got a portable HF shortwave radio receiver that takes 4 AA batteries. Mine is a Sangean but there are many different makes & models.
I extend the whip antenna and use alligator clips to attach it to a 100' wire I ran perpendicular to my house. That's it.
From just before dusk to several hours after dusk, I can pick up broadcast stations worldwide. I have listened to english broadcasts coming out of asia & europe. Cuba broadcasts all day long on some bands. I've kept a log book of frequencies and times, for later reference.
In addition to these worldwide broadcasts, ham radio operators sometimes talk to each other directly in a modulation called "SSB" - think of it like a trucker CB type of person-to-person communication, but can reach potentially from Florida to Alaska. More commonly you'll find conversations between people in a state or a few states over. With the right ham radio, you can listen to global broadcasts in HF as well as flip to single sideband (SSB) mode and listen for these individual communications.
Transmitting / talking at these frequencies requires a license. However anyone can pick up a receive-only radio and listen.
So a ham radio provides access to a global network of what are essentially AM radio stations, as well as ability to listen in on individual or group person to person SSB communications.
Moreover, many ham radio operators are registered to assist in the event of an emergency. So while the other ham operators are responding to the emergency, I'll have exactly the right equipment to listen to all the information & chatter firsthand, without it being filtered through other sources.
In a grid or internet down situation, it is access to regional or worldwide information without any infrastructure required except some easy to charge batteries and a 100 foot wire.
A few years back I got a portable HF shortwave radio receiver that takes 4 AA batteries. Mine is a Sangean but there are many different makes & models.
I extend the whip antenna and use alligator clips to attach it to a 100' wire I ran perpendicular to my house. That's it.
From just before dusk to several hours after dusk, I can pick up broadcast stations worldwide. I have listened to english broadcasts coming out of asia & europe. Cuba broadcasts all day long on some bands. I've kept a log book of frequencies and times, for later reference.
In addition to these worldwide broadcasts, ham radio operators sometimes talk to each other directly in a modulation called "SSB" - think of it like a trucker CB type of person-to-person communication, but can reach potentially from Florida to Alaska. More commonly you'll find conversations between people in a state or a few states over. With the right ham radio, you can listen to global broadcasts in HF as well as flip to single sideband (SSB) mode and listen for these individual communications.
Transmitting / talking at these frequencies requires a license. However anyone can pick up a receive-only radio and listen.
So a ham radio provides access to a global network of what are essentially AM radio stations, as well as ability to listen in on individual or group person to person SSB communications.
Moreover, many ham radio operators are registered to assist in the event of an emergency. So while the other ham operators are responding to the emergency, I'll have exactly the right equipment to listen to all the information & chatter firsthand, without it being filtered through other sources.
In a grid or internet down situation, it is access to regional or worldwide information without any infrastructure required except some easy to charge batteries and a 100 foot wire.
(post is archived)