Shortwave Radio and The PC

An anonymous reader writes "Ars Technica has an indepth guide on the Ten Tec RX-320, a shortwave radio receiver that connects to the PC and is controlled by software (both Linux and Windows). The article goes into depth on different high frequency modes, broadcast shortwave, and even a bit on ham radio and new digital modes."

Comments

Re:The Point?

[mactov]

Whether the PC causes RF problems with reception depends on the PC. I was using a Mac alongside a ICOM receiver between 1989 and 2001 with no problem whatsoever -- from the Mac. The neighbor's microwave oven was another matter entirely. I always knew when they were defrosting stuff. I don't know about other PC's -- maybe someone else can comment on that?

Internet radio taking over shortwave, maybe, in some ways. They really are two different media, though, with different strengths. And there are still places in the world where not that many people have access to a computer or an ISP, but they still may have an old SW set to listen to the BBC.

(And for the romanticist, there's nothing like listening to a cricket match between Fiji and the Solomon Islands teams over Solomon Islands radio, commented in Pidgin English, by the glow of shimmering tubes!)

SW is not Dead! (Yet)

[Vollernurd]

To all those who thought that SW went out with Churchill and Franklin D.: SW is not dead.

In some countries like Africa, SW radio is the only medium that a population that might not be able to read can rely on for information/education. See hoe the success of the Clockwork radios depended on Charitable organisations using them in continents where electricity supplies were rare.

SW radio is still the only way you can listen to radio in some places, simply because of the durability of the signal over long distances, and the relatively low cost of equipment.

Hang on, then why the hell would I want to attach one to a PC? Surely even the pleasure of DXing doesn't get augmented with use of the PC.

Now where's my morse-button...?

Digital SW

[Anonymous Coward]

A new digital standard for SW/LW/MW will officially launch this time next week, DRM is based upon COFDM (as per DTV in Europe, 802.11a/g etc) and uses the AAC codec at around 30kbps, it doesn't sound much but it's an amazing improvement upon analogue shortwave and will really bring it back to life again, instead of being the preserve of nutters living in huts in Montana.

Anyway, checkout the samples, not bad for a signal that has travelled to and from the extreme of Europe.

LinRadio

[Tandoori Haggis]

Thanks to Hemos for the TenTec info. Check out the following sites for info on PC controlled receivers that do not suffer from internally generated noise. These guys have done a great job. http://www.linradio.com/ and http://www.winradio.com/ The g303i is the receiver to go for if you just want HF reception. Other units go to 4GHz! Some receivers are external and some internal ie they mount in your PC! http://www.winradio.com/home/g303i.htm You may recognise some of their kit from the Paris Safe House in The Bourne Identity. Note the open software development unlike better known oriental brands.

Packet and TCP/IP

[Andy Dodd]

TCP/IP can be routed over packet.

Of course, the issue is "Would you want to" on HF. (aka shortwave)

The answer is No, unless you're on some remote island in the South Pacific where there are no phone lines and satellite connections are multiple $$$ per minute, in which case a 1200 (or slower) bps connection is a godsend.

The legal limit on channel bandwidth in most HF bands is on the order of 3-6 kHz (Enough for SSB voice). Since there's lots of noise on HF, advanced modulation schemes that allow you to stick more than 1 bps per Hertz usually don't work. Most HF data connections are 2400 bps or less. (300 bps is quite common, and currently the most popular digital mode is PSK31 at 31 bps, due to its bandwidth being narrower than Morse and having superior noise immunity to any faster data mode.)

Forget computer-controlled radios, go SDR!

[per unit analyzer]

Why settle for an HF radio that's merely computer-controlled when you can make the computer the radio. Gerald Youngblood's SDR-1000 is a full-blown Software Defined Radio (SDR) that blows away most ham rigs. The demo Gerald did at Dayton was very impressive. The best part is that if you want your radio to have a new feature, all you have to do is write the code to do it...

--zawada

RE: All the threads about SW radio Internet Router

[Little Brother]

OK, first of all let's define SW. For the sake of this post I'll consider SW to include the 6 Meter HAM band (about 50 MHz) and lower. Yes, it would be possible to reallocate the frequency plans so that a few, high-bandwidth (for this I'm only saying a couple of Mbps) internet routers would exist. However this would tie up so much of the available radio spectrum that most other SW would be unable to function. As I personaly think being to communicate world events to third world contries is more important than giving a single third world contriy e-mail. It probably isn't feasable.

However, if you use the UHF, VHF, and microwave bands. (WiFi btw is basicly just what we're already talking about on the microwave bands) then a lot more spectrum opens up. The problem with these bands is they do not skip the way the SW bands do so cannot cross long distances. Your maximum range is about 10% beyond the horizon. However, if you stratigicly placed routers/repeaters over a country, you might be able to give that entire country a wireless computer network, just don't do peer-to-peer filesharing or other high bandwidth tasks on it please. Interfearence could be partial overcome by using many, many different bands so that traffic could be spread out over 20-50 different frequencies or so.

73
KG4WWN