What is shortwave radio?
Showrwave radio refers to the listening of radio stations transmitting between
3 and 30 MHz. The main characteristic of the transmissions occurring in that
range of frequencies is the propagation for long distances, making possible
communications such as international shortwave broadcasting, amateur radio
and coordination of long-distance shipping.
What is shortwave listening?
Shortwave listening (SWL) can be defined as the activity of listening to
international shortwave broadcasting stations in a comprehensive language
and appreciating their programmes, such as news, sports, music, among others.
The shortwave listener (SWLer) sometimes writes to the stations by commenting
and making suggestions, as a form of feedback. Many stations also welcome
reception reports
from listeners and their acknowledgement with a so-called
QSL card.
What is DX?
Most shortwave listeners are satisfied in listening only the strongest stations.
However, some listeners are interested also in technical aspect of this hobby,
such as propagation conditions and experiments with antennas. This activity is
termed "DXing" (or simply "DX"),
where the letter "D" means "distance"
and the letter "X" means "unknown" (as in Mathematics).
Then the term "DXing" can be taken as "listening to radio
stations from an unknown distance". For the "DXers" (those
that practise "DXing") this means scanning the shortwave bands
looking for new stations, though often their signals are so weak that can
be very difficult to hear the station. Most of these radio stations aren't
interested in transmitting to a foreign audience, usually are low-power
stations that use the shortwave band to achieve far audiences in its own
country in the same way that local stations use the medium wave or FM.
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