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How to Learn Short Wave Radio

Shortwave radio is a special collection of frequencies within the radio communications frequency spectrum which has extraordinarily long-range communications attributes. Short wave signals have a long range and naturally travel beyond international boundaries. To truly learn how to be a skilled "Short Wave Listener" (SWL), you also must have an understanding of the properties which affect communications. Some bands come in stronger at night after sundown, while others are stronger during the daylight hours. A license must be obtained in order to transmit within the shortwave bands.

Things You'll Need

Shortwave Radio
Ham Radio License (if you desire to transmit)

Instructions

- 1
  Familiarize yourself with the short wave bands and the frequencies in each one. Radio waves have what are termed "electrical wave lengths" and groups of frequencies belong to carefully categorized "bands". Bands are collections of frequencies which are regulated by varying weather, solar and atmospheric conditions. All frequencies affected by any one, or several, of these variations are categorized within "band allocations".
- 2
  Familiarize yourself with the "band condition" indexes. As mentioned previously, some bands are good for evening and night communications, while others are good for daytime communications. You will need to know the times of day when each band is operational in order to know how to tune your short wave radio for listening in to international programs.
- 3
  Learn international Morse code. Many communicators are still using old international Morse code for their conversations. Each letter, number, and punctuation mark is made up of a unique series of short "dots" and "dashes", known as "dits" and "dahs" within the ham radio community. You can listen to many more communications if you understand Morse code.
- 4
  Purchase and install a high-quality shortwave multi-band antenna so you are able to have the strongest possible reception in all of the various short wave bands and frequencies. An outdoor antenna is the best for this application.

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