Need Suggestions - Setting up a Shortwave Radio??

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


I had a one of those super CB radios with SSB and an antron and talked to England and California like they were standing in the room. Ran it off a Radio Shack 12 volt transformer.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Wow...great advice!!

I'm getting North Korea now on 90m (which is cool). I've move my antenna couple times (changed the polarization), and the lobes are different. I first had a low angle to the SE,....now I'm picking up some of Europe.

As the sun sets, the reception is getting WAY better!!

It's 0113 UTC and about 1913L here...so there's not long to wait for some good comms!!

Only a matter of time now...serious comms!!

It's good to see that you're actually excited by your two-way endeavors. I'm big on two-way communications and have been trying to get a group going for a while now. Really it's more of a DIYS plan rather than an actual group, but I've been posting information on this forum.

MCBRN Forum

It's geared more toward unlicensed radio use by average people in a communications black out, but the fundamentals are the same. It covers two-ways, broadcast radio, WiFi mesh-nets, licensed HAM and any form of communications in a blackout/crisis. Have a look, it would be great to have another member contributing on that forum esp. as you are learning by experience.

Although I'm not into HAM because of the license and the information the government has on you when you apply, you can listen to anything you want without a license. I monitor VHS and UHF on a two-way and SW on a cheap portable receiver radio that covers FM, AM and 10 SW bands. IMO, the cheapness and availability of unlicensed radios makes them a good choice for the average person to use for personal local communications in an emergency where the normal lines are down.

I had downloaded some PDF files related to grounding a two-way system, it's far more complex than I imagined after looking those files over (when is anything simple and cheap to do these days?).

ARRL National Association for Amateur Radio

The above link should help you out.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Thanks for the info!

That's great stuff!!