The kids have quieted down, the day’s chores are completed, the fire curls lazily, the TV is boring and the night is yet young. What a great time for a little armchair adventuring! You might meet up again with Uri who taught you how to pronounce Severd Sibirskaya Nizmennost, and sent you to your atlas to find out exactly where that is. Maybe you’ll chat again with Will who is building a bootstrap business charter-flying his Cessna out of Dillingham, Alaska. Or you and Carlos might be able to continue that conversation you had going about the South American way to coax a better grape harvest out of a few vines like yours. Carlos fives in Chile’s bountiful fruit basket. Most of the grapes consumed in the U.S. offseason come from there. You didn’t know that until you ran into Carlos on the airwaves.

Every one of the above examples shows how hooking up so casually with such interesting people can be a rewarding bonus of the self-reliant lifestyle once you’ve discovered amateur radio. And once you’re hooked, you’ll find the rewards gained from obtaining an amateur radio license can be about as limitless as are the imaginations and innovations of the 534,503 Americans and several million worldwide who enjoy the hobby today. But why would a busy homesteader go to the time and trouble of studying for a radio license and buying more electronic stuff? Because just like this magazine, amateur radio is a resource for people who value personal independence and self sufficiency,  Amateur radio is a way to network— wherever you live, wherever you travel— and link up with people who might have experience, educational background or contacts from which you can learn and benefit.

Tags: Alternative, Radio
Filed under: Communication, Education, Radio, Technology

Now that you’ve decided that you want to tune in the world, which radio do you want to buy? A good quality portable radio can do double duty, serving as your AM-FM receiver to receive regular commercial radio broadcasts, as well as picking up shortwave broadcasts. The small portable set which I have does just that. I listen to shortwave broadcasts from around the world in the evening, and the radio wakes me up to the local stereo FM country station in the morning.

Select a radio that covers the portion of the radio spectrum in which you are interested. Fortunately, this is not as difficult as it sounds. Most portable DX radios on the market today include the standard AM-FM broadcast bands. Some may also offer some combination of bands to tune in aircraft, TV, weather, or police. I recommend picking up a copy of the current Passport To World Band Radio, even prior to purchasing your radio. Not only will the book provide information on tuning in practically every international shortwave station in the world, it also contains information on most of the popular shortwave receivers available, all “star” rated by the editors. This book helped me to decide on the model which I purchased to replace my old radio.

Another attractive feature of this guide is the hour-by-hour guide to what you can find across the bands. Another book which you will find useful is the World Radio & TV Handbook. This guide offers information such as location maps, addresses of many broadcast stations, including standard AM-FM stations. As suggested by the title, it also provides information on television broadcasters throughout the world and satellite broadcasts.

Since most of us are not dripping with money, price will likely be an important factor in selecting your radio. However, quality enters into the equation, too. You do not need to sink a fortune into your new radio, but you will want to stay away from the really cheap ones.

For a world-band receiver, $50 to $75 is not going to buy much of a radio. You will be able to pick up most of the big power broadcasters, but anything beyond that will be more difficult and unpredictable. These less expensive radios lack the tuning sensitivity and frequency select ability that higher quality models have. A decent portable world-band receiver can be purchased for between $175 and $400. With the higher prices, you might expect more and better features, and in most cases this is true. The Grundig YB-400 I have costs around $200 and is doing a very nice job. It has many features of larger and more expensive radios. As I occasionally travel in my work, its compact size permits me to take it along to use for entertainment, information, and wake-up duty.

One feature you should definitely look for in a radio is digital tuning. These sets are much more sensitive and accurate than the older analog or “slide rule” type tuners. It is simply much easier to tune in a station with one of these sets. Sangean, Sony, Radio Shack, and Grundig are among the more popular manufacturers of compact receivers. They have models for just about any budget.

Tags: AM, Antena, FM, Radion, TV
Filed under: Communication, Education, Technology