Faster, better…

I enjoy logging shortwave, AM, FM, and listening to scanners. Since I was five years old I have listened to AM radio at night before falling asleep. Radio completely took over my life exp0erience in many ways. Some of you in Calvert County may have met me as “Scannerman” when I managed the RadioShack in Dunkirk. Radio has been a hobby and a job for many years.

Well I never tire of radio listening. The world however is a different story. Today I read this month’s copy of Monitoring Times to discover one of the greatest short wave broadcasters of all time has given up on the United States of America. Radio Netherlands (Radio Nederland) in Hilversum Holland has will cease broadcasts in English to North American effective November 1, 2008. Radio Nederland was one of the first broadcasters I ever heard on short wave. I remember at age 13 having my name mentioned on Jerry and Dody Cowan’s mailbag show one afternoon after school. I learned so much much about the world just listening to radio stations from other countries. Well apparently we have all switched to the Internet. One of the world’s greatest radio stations has stopped sending broadcasts to our country.

I’m an older hold out I suppose. I still think the radio hobbies have something to offer everybody. One thing I still do is keep a radio log of local scanner channels, AM/FM radio stations I hear. At one time I published it on a CD that customers of the store I managed could purchase. Now the file is free. I encourage local radio hobbyists to share their loggings and support the few radio hobbyists magazines left. Monitoring Times and Popular Communications come to mind.

The file I have updated since moving to Southern Maryland in 2001 is this simple excel file I call the Regional Frequency Log. It is not completely up to date but I do update it as I have time. Since I find myself unemployed at the moment I am taking time to enjoy my radio hobby and make changes to the file in between interviews.

I encourage everyone to become scanner or SW, or radio listening hobbyist. You just never know what you are going to hear or experience. You can even listen while you surf the Internet. I enjoy hearing from local hobbyists. My PopularWireless.com website has a local scanner buff message area on the bulletin board or you can reply to this blog article.

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