Playing Devil's Advocate in the Disruptive Orchestra of Change!
Monday, June 11, 2007
End of Analogue Shortwave
This is an old video (one year) showing the demolition of the shortwave transmitter site formerly operated by Radio Free Europe on the beach in Spain. Since then I have been collecting video to document the end of this era. I believe it is happening a lot faster than many broadcasters realize.
What a waste. With actions like the closing of Playa del Pals and Kavala and the sale of Darwin by RA, international broadcasters are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Hardly a week seems to go by that I don't read my friend Kim Elliott lamenting that one or another opportunity to address listeners in need would have been well served by one or another closed and/or demolished transmitter site.
Strange when the analogue technology has become so cheap you can buy a multiband radio in Africa for just 5 bucks. But the audio quality of analogue HF really sucks - along with the vast majority of the programming. There are a few exceptions - but not enough to revitalize the medium I am afraid.
My listening is much more "portable" now that I simply capture audio files and save them to an MP3 player. By comparison, it's somewhat of a pain to capture shortwave audio for later listening if you aren't around to check parallel frequencies, change your radio's bandwidth, tune one sideband vs. the other... it's much easier to right click on a bookmarked website link and "save target as..." an MP3 file.
Somewhat paradoxically, with wider availability on-demand, my listening becomes more predictable...I tend to listen to programming I like, not what might be on the radio at a particular time.
What a waste. With actions like the closing of Playa del Pals and Kavala and the sale of Darwin by RA, international broadcasters are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Hardly a week seems to go by that I don't read my friend Kim Elliott lamenting that one or another opportunity to address listeners in need would have been well served by one or another closed and/or demolished transmitter site.
ReplyDeleteStrange when the analogue technology has become so cheap you can buy a multiband radio in Africa for just 5 bucks. But the audio quality of analogue HF really sucks - along with the vast majority of the programming. There are a few exceptions - but not enough to revitalize the medium I am afraid.
ReplyDeleteMy listening is much more "portable" now that I simply capture audio files and save them to an MP3 player. By comparison, it's somewhat of a pain to capture shortwave audio for later listening if you aren't around to check parallel frequencies, change your radio's bandwidth, tune one sideband vs. the other... it's much easier to right click on a bookmarked website link and "save target as..." an MP3 file.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat paradoxically, with wider availability on-demand, my listening becomes more predictable...I tend to listen to programming I like, not what might be on the radio at a particular time.