Post by Wave Trekker on Jul 12, 2010 15:58:42 GMT -5
Now that it sounds like we have a person or two that is coming close to getting radios, might as well do this ;D
1. First off, you need a shortwave radio or scanner (of course
). Short wave radios are supposed to be the better of the two and can pick up more than scanners can.
2. There really isn't much of a scientific way to describe what best works for a radio unfortunately, other than the words of 'you just have to mess with it': turning your radio in a certain direction, the same with the antenna, etc./whatever applies here. You might want to make notes with whatever works best with whatever station and have that list handy when you decide when it is you want to start listening in.
3. Geography has it's help and hindrances as well: reportedly cable lines running on powerlines block the frequency of shortwave, and if you live in an area with a lot of power lines your signal can also get screwed up. Also living on a coast has it's own perils too, as oceans somehow can fragment the signals.
4. I think having your radio and/or antenna next to a window helps as well.
5. I'm also fairly sure radios/scanners will have certain things on them to help with tuning as well; can't say for sure since I've yet to use a short wave radio. Granted, I'm sure this list will be updated in the future once people start getting radios, start experimenting with them, and pass along some info.
6. Going back to 'you just have to mess with it' in #2, the same goes for external antennas, which you can start out with those for as little as $20-30 at Radio Shack to the full-sized ones that you can put on a balcony or rooftop for $100 or so (more or less) to even a full-sized radio tower. Or I've seen comments on YouTube pages of people telling how they just wrapped aluminum foil around either coathangers or wires and that worked well for them too. Whatever works!
7. Reception usually improves at night.
8. There's good tips here in regards to finding out the universal time and links to standard time stations as well. There are also inexpensive clocks you can buy that adjusts themselves to atomic clocks. This is helpful when you're looking for and/or tuning into numbers stations, due to when they broadcast.
And speaking of which...in regards to numbers stations specifically:
1. Understanding foreign languages helps. You might not even realize you’re listening to a numbers station anyway unless you notice that the voice is speaking in a monotone and isn’t a d. j. or talk show host, as numbers stations are probably using a machine in order to generate the codes.
2. It’s even more important to know of what time it is in another country, since numbers stations, if they’re not broadcasting 24 hours a day (I assume most aren’t but who knows), usually broadcast codes on the hour or half hour. So if you know what time it is in another country known for broadcasting spy codes (Russia, China, and Cuba are a few known countries that do this, among others), and especially if you have notes in regards to what station is a Chinese or Russian station or whatever, the better your chances are of finding a numbers station.
3. Try to confirm that you have a regularly broadcasting spy station and take notes for it until you can; for instance, if you find a spy station broadcasting at, say, 7 p. m. your local time (in my case it’d be Central U. S. time) on a Tuesday, they might not be broadcasting on any other day of the week. If you try back at the same time on the next Tuesday and they’re broadcasting again, it seems like you will indeed have a confirmed numbers station, and that will help with the thread here for it. If you find a station and can’t seem to find it ever again then that might have just been a one-time broadcast. So keep trying!
4. The more information we have to check out, the better our chances are at finding these stations!
1. First off, you need a shortwave radio or scanner (of course
). Short wave radios are supposed to be the better of the two and can pick up more than scanners can.2. There really isn't much of a scientific way to describe what best works for a radio unfortunately, other than the words of 'you just have to mess with it': turning your radio in a certain direction, the same with the antenna, etc./whatever applies here. You might want to make notes with whatever works best with whatever station and have that list handy when you decide when it is you want to start listening in.
3. Geography has it's help and hindrances as well: reportedly cable lines running on powerlines block the frequency of shortwave, and if you live in an area with a lot of power lines your signal can also get screwed up. Also living on a coast has it's own perils too, as oceans somehow can fragment the signals.
4. I think having your radio and/or antenna next to a window helps as well.
5. I'm also fairly sure radios/scanners will have certain things on them to help with tuning as well; can't say for sure since I've yet to use a short wave radio. Granted, I'm sure this list will be updated in the future once people start getting radios, start experimenting with them, and pass along some info.
6. Going back to 'you just have to mess with it' in #2, the same goes for external antennas, which you can start out with those for as little as $20-30 at Radio Shack to the full-sized ones that you can put on a balcony or rooftop for $100 or so (more or less) to even a full-sized radio tower. Or I've seen comments on YouTube pages of people telling how they just wrapped aluminum foil around either coathangers or wires and that worked well for them too. Whatever works!
7. Reception usually improves at night.
8. There's good tips here in regards to finding out the universal time and links to standard time stations as well. There are also inexpensive clocks you can buy that adjusts themselves to atomic clocks. This is helpful when you're looking for and/or tuning into numbers stations, due to when they broadcast.
And speaking of which...in regards to numbers stations specifically:
1. Understanding foreign languages helps. You might not even realize you’re listening to a numbers station anyway unless you notice that the voice is speaking in a monotone and isn’t a d. j. or talk show host, as numbers stations are probably using a machine in order to generate the codes.
2. It’s even more important to know of what time it is in another country, since numbers stations, if they’re not broadcasting 24 hours a day (I assume most aren’t but who knows), usually broadcast codes on the hour or half hour. So if you know what time it is in another country known for broadcasting spy codes (Russia, China, and Cuba are a few known countries that do this, among others), and especially if you have notes in regards to what station is a Chinese or Russian station or whatever, the better your chances are of finding a numbers station.
3. Try to confirm that you have a regularly broadcasting spy station and take notes for it until you can; for instance, if you find a spy station broadcasting at, say, 7 p. m. your local time (in my case it’d be Central U. S. time) on a Tuesday, they might not be broadcasting on any other day of the week. If you try back at the same time on the next Tuesday and they’re broadcasting again, it seems like you will indeed have a confirmed numbers station, and that will help with the thread here for it. If you find a station and can’t seem to find it ever again then that might have just been a one-time broadcast. So keep trying!
4. The more information we have to check out, the better our chances are at finding these stations!
