Radio
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Radio
Small Broadcasters
Check out the 88 to 91 MHz range of the dial. These stations are licensed by the FCC for non-profit broadcast. This includes not just NPR affiliates and national syndicated religious programming, but local and college broadcasters. If you live near a college or university, be sure to check out their radio facilities. Many are quite large, sporting FM and AM transmitters in the kilowatt range. These stations usually have their own FCC licenses, and are fiercely independent. There are a variety of opportunities, both as music DJ and other programming, and usually are willing to let community members get involved.
Shortwave Radio
In an age of snooping and censorship, Shortwave Radio can be a godsend. International broadcasts can provide different perspectives on a major news event, as well as providing information that may not be available from corporate sources. Some stations, like Radio Habana Cuba and Radio Pyongyang (of North Korea) have a heavy political slant to their reporting, while the far-right conspiracy mongers who buy air time on US commercial stations often drift into the political Twilight Zone.
The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) World Service is a great source of news and info, but in a cost-cutting move, stopped almost all their entertainment programs on the World Service as well as discontinuing beaming signals to North America. They now focus on satellite radio (Sirius and XM) and licensing programs to NPR stations. However, you can pick up the BBC's Asian, African and Caribbean services in many parts of the USA. You can also listen in on the internet for free (http://www.bbcworldservice.com).
When buying a shortwave receiver, get the best you can afford. Cheap radios simply aren't worth it. While the many "wind-up" radios, like the Baygen Freeplay models, are good in an emergency, you'll need a serious radio for serious listening.
If you can, get a radio with continuous tuning (150 to 29999 kc) and a Sideband filter so you can listen to the Hams and Pirates. If there's an Amateur radio swap meet where you are, go there and ask a lot of questions. See if you can get a good deal on a used receiver. If someone mentions a "boat anchor", that's slang for an older style desk top radio. The name comes from the fact that since they use vacuum tubes, they're quite heavy.
A radio is only as good as the antenna, so if you don't have the space or budget for an outdoor antenna, you can use an indoor longwire antenna. Get 48 feet (about 14.6 meters) of insulated, triple-braid copper wire and an alligator clip. Trim off just enough insulation to attach the clip to the wire, and then attach the clip to the telescoping rod antenna on the radio. Either lay the wire flat on the floor or tack it onto the wall (Don't worry if you have to bend it along another wall). Just remember not to attach the wire to any electrical outlet or any electrical appliance other than the radio, and don't drive any staples or thumbtacks through the wire. You don't need to ground the antenna, since you're using the existing ground in the radio.
The closest there is to a "TV Guide" to shortwave is the Passport to World Band Radio, published annually by International Broadcasting Services. There is also the World Radio-Television Handbook, which covers the whole broadcasting industry (AM, FM, TV, Longwave, Shortwave) and is very tech-heavy. Popular Communications (known by techies as "PopCom") is a monthly magazine that covers almost all facets of radio and TV broadcasting from many technical angles. The centerfold always has a listing of shortwave broadcasts and times.
Broadcast times are set by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is also called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and is the local time at 0 degrees longitude. UTC is posted in a 24 hour standard (That is, 2 AM is 0200 and 2 PM is 1400). You can find what UTC is where you are by tuning in time signal stations WWV or WWVH at 2500, 5000, 10000, 15000 and (WWV only) 20000 kc. If you hear a "tick" once a second, wait for a voice announcement saying "At the tone, -- hours, -- minutes, Co-ordinated Universal Time." In Canada, there is CHU, broadcasting at 3330, 7335 and 14670 kc. They broadcast their timechecks in English and French, beginning with "CHU Canada".
Very important: If you are listening at home and using an AC plug for the radio, get a surge protector and use it!
See also Guerrilla Radio
Crystal Radio
If you get bored or cut off from news outside make a simple crystal radio set, all you need is some wire aluminum foil, a telephone handset, antenna and coil wire and a diode (or pencil and razor blade), no battery needed! If you find a wall wart transformer or almost any electronic gadget you are almost set except for the telephone handset speaker (a piezo speaker disk might work but sound will be crap). Take a diode and put it in paralell to your earphone, run one wire to a ground like a water pipe or ground and the other should be strung out as long as you can make the antenna, if a ground is impossible string both ends as long as possible, making a dipole antenna. At the center between the antennas or antenna/ground wire you will place your stacked foil capacitor and a coil of wire around a straw or bottle(anything non-conductive even air). Play with number wraps and allignment layers of foil(with plastic or paper between) this is your tuner/variable capacitor. If you need to join copper wire strands for a longer more effective antenna knot and crush together with a piece of metal if you are unable to solder them. (schematic Wikipedia)
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio_receiver and http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/radio.html
Original Radio
Want to construct your own neighborhood radio station? You can get a carrier-current transmitter designed by a group of brothers and sisters called Radio Free People. No FCC license is required for the range is less than 1/2 mile. The small transistorized units plug into any wall outlet. Write Radio Free People, 133 Mercer St., New York, New York 10012 for more details. For further information see the chapter on Guerrilla Broadcasting later in the book.
