Yep, I pinched that title from Rush, but it fits the bill here. I mentioned some six months back that I had acquired a new hobby (like mosquitoes, they keep finding me). After our frantic Spring, things are beginning to calm a bit, and I've had more time for listening to the shortwave radio in the evenings.

With the invaluable aid of the Passport To Worldband Radio, I've enjoyed a number of interesting radio shows from central Europe this week. The stations include: Radio Slovakia, Radio Prague, Radio Tirana (Albania), Radio Vilnius (reminds me of the Vilnius schoolmaster), and Radio Sweden. The National Geographic World Atlas has been getting a workout!

At this point, I'm really only a baby-geek in radio, but enjoy it immensely. My best friend is pushing me to get in involved in the ham side of the hobby, but what would I have to say on the radio? Who'd listen to me prattle on? Heh, the same could be said for the blog...

One benefit of using the Internet is increased interaction with people who share your hobbies or views. You can join any number of mailing lists, discussion forums, and comment on blogs about a million different topics. The shortwave listening hobby is no different; a Google search delivers a wealth of information on the hobby. One valuable resource for the "DX-er" is Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest.

Much like coin collectors or birders, checking off those interesting and hard-to-find items, many find it fun and challenging to capture that distant signal or program out of the air. And when you do, many radio stations offer QSL cards in return for reception reports. I've provide a couple of reception reports this week, and eagerly await the arrival of that postcard, and maybe a sticker or program guide in the mail. These things are small, but tangible tokens of some interaction with people half a world away.

For the interested, I'm using a Sony ICF-SW7600GR with the wind-up single-wire antenna.

Technorati Tag: shortwave