Tuning in the shortwave radio

Roberto Carlos Alvarez-galloso
30 September 2007, Sunday

Before the advent of computers, shortwave radios were
the electronic tools for information. Even in today's
day and age, the Shortwave Radio has uses that the
computer does not. Some events of 1989 tell you the
reason.
SHORTWAVE RECEPTION was from good to poor in the late
1980's, depending on the radio stations that the person
was listening to and the amount of interference. I will
concentrate on the shortwave reception in 1989 during
certain historical moments.
During the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan,
I managed to hear Radio Moscow, Radio Tashkent, Radio
Vilnius, Radio Yerevan and Radio Afghanistan on my
Panasonic RF B60 shortwave radio. The reception from the
radio stations inside what was then the USSR were
excellent compared to the poor reception from Radio
Afghanistan.
During the China incident, Radio Peking was transmitting
clearly. Of course, my shortwave radio was next to the
window and the antenna had been pushed out in the open.
During the events that lead to the collapse of Communism,
I was able to have a front row seat, while listening to
Radio Berlin International, BBC Radio, Radio Netherlands,
Radio Bucharest, Radio Budapest, Radio Polonia, Radio
Vilnius, Radio Moscow, Radio Prague, Deutsche Welle,
and Radio Prague.
Inspite of interference from Radio Habana Cuba and the
Voice of America, these stations were heard clearly.
To hear the contemporary history unfold before your
ears was pleasant.
Radio Bucharest was the station I was listening to when
eaucescu fell. I could still remember turning on the
shortwave radio and hearing Ceaucescu speak, while the
people were laughing at him. Afterwards, the station
interrupted Ceaucescu's speech to play music composed
by Bach. Radio Bucharest then resumed broadcasting the
news that Ceaucescu had fallen and that there was a
new Romanian radio station.
All in all, I was able to enjoy the quality and
quantity of my shortwave radio broadcasts with
minimum interference.

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