Shortwave radio fans? Anyone? (Great Falls, Bozeman: rentals, condo, house)

[BassPlayer]

Is there anyone up there that is into shortwave listening?

Or even HAM operators?

I am a fan of listening and was wondering how the reception is up there.

I live in a condo here in Arizona.

And I can only pick up a minimum of stuff.

BP

[Rickers]

I was at one time and I was interested in ham radio for a short time. I still have a cheap portable CB but never use it. We also have an old scanner but we got bored with that too.
I don't have a real radio anymore and my interests have shifted to photography and squeezing rent money out of my run down little rentals. I thought about buying some radio equipment but now I'm thinking that when I have a little extra cash I may buy a telescope instead.

[grizzfan]

Ham radio is something that always facinated me although I never really tried to get into it because of the requirement to learn Morse Code, which even in the 50s I thought was antiquated.

The Heathkit company used to market very reliable equipment and one can pick them up on eBay. Maybe I'll give it more thought.

[BassPlayer]

Originally Posted by grizzfan

Ham radio is something that always facinated me although I never really tried to get into it because of the requirement to learn Morse Code, which even in the 50s I thought was antiquated.

The Heathkit company used to market very reliable equipment and one can pick them up on eBay. Maybe I'll give it more thought.

The requirement for Morse Code has been removed. Technician license test dropped it a few years ago.

BP

[Reziac]

If you mean global shortwave stations, when I lived in Montana, I listened every day -- Radio Nederland, BBC World Service, Radio Moscow, Radio Kiev, Radio South Africa, Radio Australia, just to name a few. The reception in MT is the best of anywhere I've been in the west (I used to drag my portable shortwave receiver along when I'd travel) tho I expect it's probably similar along most of the northern plains. It was better in Great Falls than in Bozeman, for sure.

In Great Falls I could sometimes get Radio Nederland's AM band transmissions from the Dutch Antilles (near Venezuela) at 4pm on summer afternoons. Musta been some great skip conditions for that!!

Conversely, when I went west of the Rockies, I found shortwave reception sucked -- poor to nonexistent, and I finally gave up trying.

When I got my 3rd class broadcaster permit back in 1979, the Morse requirement for that had already been dropped. The year after, even the requirement for a 3rd class permit was dropped, if you were just doing DJing or amateur radio.

I think some of these old shortwave stations now have internet radio access available -- I know Radio Nederland does but it doesn't work for me. Haven't checked the other stations.

[Gman2007]

Had a guy knock on my door last summer saying he was trying to get contacts in every county in the U.S. and his last few were in Montana and he was having a hard time trying to find the contacts! I was the only one listed in our county so we had a nice chat on the radio while he was sitting out on the street in his car!

[Timberwolf232]

You can pick up a lot of shortwave stations in some of the higher elevation areas of Montana. I've not been a regular listener, but have heard lots of them scanning on my IC706MK2G. (I love that radio)

I've had pretty decent luck on 6 meters also from my house in Belgrade when the band is open.

Haven't been a real active ham, as I work on public safety and commercial stuff for a living, but every once in a while I get the "bug". =-) I really like satellite stuff, and I'd like to do some UHF moonbounce someday. Also like to listen to the ISS when it passes over on packet.

Foxhunts are fun also. A friend of mine and I set up an antenna on a Cessna 172 to do foxhunts and look for ELT's. The thing that is cool about amateur radio is that there is always something new to explore.