I’ve had access to a shortwave radio for as long as I can remember, starting with my grandparents’ old Philco (see the very first entry in this blog). If you don’t have one, but still want to listen to shortwave radio, you now access several shortwave receivers over the Internet.
One of the options is dxtuners.com. This site offers access to quite a few receivers all over the world, including Australia, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. When you access one of the receivers, a very slick little Java applet loads that includes a digital frequency display, analog S-meter, a tuning knob, and other assorted controls that makes controlling the receiver just like tuning a radio.
There’s one catch: If you want access to all the receivers, you have to sign up for $40/year or $15/3 months.
A second option is N2JEU’s Web Controlled Icom IC-R75. To control this radio, you fill in a text form. While not as slick as the dxtuners.com interface, it does work well, and the audio sounds great.
You can find more online receivers at:
- Radio OnLine, a page maintained by OE3MZC.
- DXZone.com Online Receivers
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