Shortwave Radio History and it’s Uniqueness in Culture

There are numerous bands and ways you can listen to the radio but one band stands out from the crowd in that this one can travel around the world by thousands of miles. Shortwave radio can be used to listen to stations from countries like England and China where you can hear other languages other than English. The waves travel by bouncing off the Atmosphere which can lead to farther reach than say your AM/FM radio. The history of shortwave dates back to the 1920s when people only used radio for entertainment during the Cold War and World War II when information was key to what was happening in America. In the United States emergency communications were relayed from places where our military forces were based in. The general public has a wide resource with this band unlike other types of radio. Signals can propagate and be transmitted through a conductor and they are more sensitive than the AM band.

In the evening times when the sun is not up you can catch stations from at least 2,000 miles away when the atmosphere allows and that is much more distant than a common AM signal from around the U.S. with a radius of about 300 to 400 miles on a good clear night sky. I have picked up Greenwich England even in the daytime when everything is bright which usually means radio waves travel less due to more interference. Once shortwave became a mainstay in American households people began to create a hobby out of searching for new stations across the world and learning the new languages that were heard on both news and music channels where personalities would practice bilingual on the air so that audience members can relate to each other and are able to call in on topics that are important to our country or something local that is an issue.

Hopefully this next generation gives credit to this band that aids in recieving overseas broadcasts from people trying to get the word out. These broadcasts sometimes consist of someone serving in a foreign country in a ham radio style where someone is having a conversation on the other end like a telephone.

Numerous other things come into play when it comes down to putting on a broadcast that provides international coverage. For instance you could hear about an event in Scotland or another country overseas that serves as a common ritual to the culture of origin.

I have a shortwave radio of my own that is analog and it has a strong antenna that picks up a strong signal during nighttime usually and stations from China have been heard in the past like CRI(China Radio International) that was on the air and did not broadcast 24/7 while shutting off at midnight. There were a lot of shortwave stations that were not on in some areas but broadcasting in other areas because of a change in transmission direction. For instance you could hear one station in one area and not in another region which is common for a worldwide broadcast network. In the 1970s and 1980s this phenomenon most likely occurred more often.

Hopefully we can continue to use this resource for long distance listening even in the years to come. Shortwave still stands today and has personalities that have a great audience.

That's the background behind this radio band and the role it plays in community. Here's to many more years.

-Tristan