I loved listening to shortwave during the 1970s-80s. Those were Cold War years, and the bands were full of strong broadcasts from all sides. Radio Moscow’s signal would “break your windows” as the CBers would say, the BBC and Deutsche Welle were at their best, and even stations like Radio Nederlands and Radio RSA (the Voice of South Africa) were fun to listen too. I could list plenty of others too; even poor Eastern Bloc nations were in on it.
VOA was strutting its stuff, too, in about 100 languages.
Now, the bands seem empty, even at night; much of the programming, at least in English, is of the evangelical Christian persuasion, and the signals are weak. Internet radio may be the next best thing; it’s big in Europe, and the reception is always great, so long as your WiFi is good.
All that is very true, but I dont think Shortwave is dead yet.
I heard North Korea the other night. They are transmitting now.
But where's the sport in that?
For me, shortwave was my fishing, nothing like getting that "catch" of that rare station.
I remember when i was just a kid about 50 years ago my blessed but poor dad got me a little crystal set. No battery, just a crystal, and you would move the “pin” onto different parts of crystal. I though it remarkable that i could pick up stations from AM to Radio Moscow on it. Now kinds get bored with expensive video games. I could also tell you about the model steam engine he later bought for me (and himself!). Thank God for good dads and little things to remember times with.
I do have a radio shack portable shortwave now, but do not use it much now.
Today, a lot of the foreign broadcasters are easier to find on the Internet.
Wrn.org is a good place to start.
They have links to various national broadcasters and also repackage them for their own Internet feeds in different languages.