Music on Short-Wave?

Picture this. The DX session has gone on through dawn and you are sitting there in the early bright with a well-earned cup of coffee. The logbook needs updating and you must QSL that Peruvian rare DX who was running three watts into a dummy load when you heard him…

Can you find a little light music for background to the task? The idea of listening to music on short-wave with it’s fade and phase is not such a good idea. Or is it? The new generation of synchronous detectors in the AOR AR7030 not only tune the radio for you but cancel out the worst effects of the ionosphere. What you hear is what was transmitted.

Out of Morocco, try Medi One on 9575 where East meets West in a blend of Eurotrash and Moroccan Roll. Germany gave us SWF 3 on 7265 during the day. Listen for the RDS pulses that switch a million car radios to SWF for traffic updates in a mix of music we don’t get over here. And we miss it...

Out of Africa, test the north-south path around midday with Africa #1 from Gabon on 17630. Another interesting propagation indicator is All India Radio. Evenings on 7410, daytime on 11620 and check if the 10MHz Ham Band is open by checking for the Domestic Service on 10330. Listen for the evening ragas - long improvised sitar pieces. I can’t afford a full-size instrument, mine’s a baby sitar…