# Good shortwave radio stations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 30, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588 "2019-12-30T14:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/1 "2019-12-30T14:14:37Z")
I used to listen a while back but it seems like now stations are off the air or I cannot pick them up. I think a lot of stuff moved to the web. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/2 "2019-12-30T15:41:29Z")
How long ago is “a while back”? I know BBC World Service pretty much shut down its broadcasts to North America (6175 kHz, I think) over a decade ago, claiming that it was already readily available through (what is now) SiriusXM and a number of cable companies (where you could hook up the coax to a receiver’s FM antenna input). Also, [Radio Australia pretty much shut down three years ago](https://swling.com/blog/2017/01/radio-australias-final-day-broadcasting-on-shortwave/). There’s not much need for shortwave any more; pretty much anything you could get from shortwave radio, you can get directly online now. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/3 "2019-12-30T15:52:47Z")
around 20 years ago. Some US stations rented time to militia/anti-government /racist groups and I read that after 9/11 those people got kicked off the air . Some got kicked off earlier after the OK city bombing in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/4 "2019-12-30T16:18:32Z")
A few decades ago with marginal equipment you could pick up stations like the BBC and Radio Netherlands. But as stated these services targeted toward the U.S. have ended. So now I think you would need to get serious equipment if you want to hear much shortwave–much of which would be targeted to other countries (or use the web as mentioned above). I think various religious broadcasters are still available. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/5 "2019-12-30T16:22:49Z")
[Here is a list of shortwave stations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shortwave_radio_broadcasters), both past and current. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/6 "2019-12-30T16:30:28Z")
we have a local classical music station that used to rebroadcast BBC news via shortwave . I assume now they just use a web feed. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/7 "2019-12-30T16:33:05Z")
Here’s a Wikipedia quote about the demise of the Radio Netherlands shortwave service that seems to cover the global “demise” of shortwave radio: _“The English-language shortwave broadcasts to North America were discontinued on 26 October 2008, due to a survey that claimed that more listeners listened to RNW podcasts than listened on shortwave radio.”_ Another one, about the Voice of Russia’s (formerly Radio Moscow) termination of its shortwave service: _“We will stop using obsolete radio broadcasting models, when the signal is transmitted without any control and when it is impossible to calculate who listens to it and where.”_ Pretty much the only thing I listen to on shortwave today is WWV - and with more and more devices having their clocks set from WWVB, who knows how long the shortwave service will last. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-shortwave-radio-stations/845588/8 "2019-12-31T16:27:05Z")
About a year ago, I bought a pocket radio that can receive AM, FM, and short wave stations. I was all excited, thinking about all the awesome short wave stations I’d be able to pick up. It turns out that the only short wave station I can get is some fucking Christian talk station. :mad: