DZLPWR

Hey guys, i have a few questions about the numbers stations that broadcast on shortwave that ive been reading about.

Im sure most HAM operators know of these "stations" but if not, read up on "numbers stations" and "conet project".

I have zero experience with radios except tuning my truck am/fm radio, walke talkies, and my radioshack pro-91 scanner (and i even dont know how to fully use that beside just "scanning" ).

Anyways, i want to tune into these stations somehow? Mainly just out of curiosty. Ive heard i can do it with a reg am radio, but not too sure on that. Ive found lots of resources stating UTC times and freq. of stations that commonly broadcast. Shoot i dont even know if i can hear one were im located (richmond, va).

What do yall think?

John Faughn

I think you missed the part where you mentioned "short wave" , that means on short wave range , not on AM .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

DZLPWR

I just thought that because the guy who produced the conet project 1st heard the broadcasts on an am radio, like i said i dont know anything about radio freq. and such.

jrs_dodge_diesel

One of the easiest ways to understand frequency is this: Frequency is the number of cycles in 1 second of time. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz), and before it was called Hertz, is was known as cycles.

A great example is the electricity (AC power) in your house. It operates at a frequency of 60 Hz (60 cycles per second), regardless of circuit voltage.

AM broadcast radio, like what is received in your truck, is in the medium wave frequency band. That band covers 520 kiloHertz (kHz) to 1710 kHz. 1710 kHz , 1,761,000 Hz, could also be written as 1.71 MegaHertz (Mhz).

For picking up broadcast transmissions, you will need a general coverage receiver for long/medium/shortwave (basically the medium and high frequency spectrum) . You do not need a amateur (ham) radio license for receiving signals.

Dodgezilla

I prefer regular old smoked ham over the honeyglazed type. I like bacon more than ham though.....

DZLPWR

Have you heard of the numbers station deal? Have you ever heard one on a radio?

Pentastar

I did not read the links that you posted but basically what you need to know is that most ham traffic that you can listen to with a receiver that can tune to the ham frequencies is either "AM" which means Amplitude modulation or "SSB" which stands for Single Side Band.With SSB the carrier wave is removed at the transmitter and all of the rf energy is used for the modulation and only that portion of the signal is transmitted which provides for much greater "talk power" for a given amount of energy "watts" and the carrier is reinserted at the receiving end with a "VFO" which stands for Variable Frequency Oscillator to make the signal readable again.
You can find the short wave capable radios at tag sales etc for very little money these days as the FCC has just about eliminated most of the old bands that the hams used and the internet has replaced much of the "ham" action with new concepts with their own challenges.Time changes things and we must change or get left behind it seems.Ron G

jrs_dodge_diesel

I have read about them, but I have never heard one on the air. Though, I've never went looking for one either.

MunK

I have heard a few...although it's been many years since I spent much time listening to shortwave radio.

I have a simple Grundig shortwave receiver...it has presented me countless hours of listening enjoyment....I think it was like $70 at radio shack...much cheaper than the amateur gear I own.

NoRM

DZLPWR

So, i could prob pick one of those up and do some scanning? Ive found a whole lotta info listing freq. They all seem to be 4 and 5 digit freq. around 3000-15000 w/ no decimals. Is this short wave?

DZLPWR

Well i picked up a radio, SW freq. is from 3200kHz to 28000kHz. Wide narrow bd switch, sw RF gain ****, SW LPF, att jacks too. Dig readout analog tuning **** with fine tune. No scanning option though, not sure if not having that option is common, and hope it doesnt hurt me in trying to find numbers stations. It sure takes a while to scan and listen carefully to wierd noises Cool to listen too, never heard an SW radio before.

Pentastar

Here are some links for you.
http://www.k5kj.net/swl.htm
http://shortwave.hfradio.org/
http://www.arrl.org/
Have fun.Ron G

DZLPWR

Nice links Thanks!