Shortwave Listening - History

History

The precursor of shortwave listening was long distance listening in the medium wave band, where broadcasting first developed. Frank Conrad of Westinghouse, who developed the first medium wave broadcast station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, also set up the first shortwave broadcasts, as early as 1921. In 1924, the General Electric and Crosley companies started shortwave transmissions.

In the 1930s, shortwave broadcasters from the United States consisted of several private stations. The idea was to use popular American radio programs to attract audiences overseas, and thus to bring advertising revenue. But foreign audiences were difficult to measure, and were not always relevant to U.S. advertisers. During this decade, new receivers appeared on the market as well as popular shortwave magazines and clubs. Shortwave stations often offered unique QSL cards for DXers.

In Europe, shortwave broadcasts from Britain and the Netherlands began in 1927 (Phillips Radio's PCJJ), and U.S. shortwave listeners could hear the well-organized international broadcasting efforts from Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, Britain, and many other countries. Various well-known shortwave broadcasters became established. The BBC began as the "BBC Empire Service" in 1932 as a shortwave service. Its broadcasts were aimed principally at English speakers. Radio Moscow was broadcasting on shortwave in English, French, German, Italian and Arabic by 1939. The Voice of America (or VOA) began broadcasting in 1942 as a result of the United States entry into World War II and was introduced with the Yankee Doodle theme that is still familiar to shortwave listeners.

Shortwave listening remained as an organized hobby during World War II, although in a reduced form with so many DXers in the military service or working late hours in defense industries. Most shortwave receiver manufacturers shifted to the war effort, but Zenith began its popular multiband Trans-Oceanic series in 1942. In some other countries, during the war, listening to foreign stations was a criminal offense. Established in 1939, 35-kilowatt Chinese shortwave station XGOY broadcast programming aimed at Japan, where such listening restrictions were in place. The station suffered persistent bombing that destroyed its antennas and studios.

During the war, short messages from prisoners of war were often read by studio announcers at stations in Germany, Japan, and other Axis powers countries. Shortwave listeners copied the prisoner names and addresses and notified families by mail or telephone. Although the Allied government provided similar services, the families usually heard from shortwave listeners first, sometimes as many as 100 at a time. Listeners in other countries monitored POW messages as well, and the practice was resumed by New Zealanders during the Korean War when the voices of POWs themselves were often broadcast over Radio Peking.

In the 1950s and 60s, shortwave DX columns in US magazines such as Popular Electronics "Tuning the Short Wave Bands" and Electronics Illustrated "The Listener" became news sources for serious radio listeners. Popular Electronics' "WPE Monitor Registration" program begun in 1959 even offered callsign-like identifiers to hobbyists. A number of specialty radio clubs such as the Newark News Radio Club also arose during these decades and provided hobbyists with an exchange of DX news and information. When Popular Electronics and similar magazines expanded coverage of new electronics topics in the 1970s, this led to the cancellation of several longtime shortwave listening columns.

Starting with Sweden Calling DXers on Radio Sweden in 1948 (there was a slightly earlier short-lived program from Radio Australia), many shortwave radio stations began programs providing news for shortwave radio listeners or DXers. Some of the other prominent DX programs were Radio Netherlands' DX Jukebox (which became Media Network), the SWL Digest on Radio Canada International, and the Swiss Shortwave Merry-go-round on Swiss Radio International.

An example of notable shortwave programming was the Happy Station Show, popularly called the “world’s longest-running shortwave radio program”. The show originated on Phillips Radio's PCJJ shortwave station in 1928 continuing until 1940. After World War II Radio Netherlands broadcast the show from 1946 until it terminated in 1995. Producer and presenter Keith Perron “resurrected” Happy Station on March 12, 2009. Although no longer associated with Radio Netherlands, the new effort proclaims itself as “transmitted globally via shortwave, podcasting and Internet streaming radio”.

During the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s, many Americans tuned into foreign news broadcasts on shortwave. Some electronics retailers even reported a "run" on portable shortwave receivers due to the increased interest at the time.