My new shortwave radio

[C91]

So, I was at the mall on Sunday and wandered into Radio Shack.  RS and I have had an on-again/off-again love affair over the years.  I was a frequent visitor in high school and college when I learned that police scanners could pick up most cordless phones (at the time).  Oh the conversations I overheard.  Who needed cable?

But, I wandered out with a new shortwave radio.  A Grundig G5.  This is the third shortwave I've owned.  I asked for my first one back in 8th grade and remember tuning through the dial to hear voices from the BBC, from Radio Moscow, from Kol Israel, Radio Nederlands, and even stations in the US that I never had picked up before.  There were mystery "numbers stations" and stations that broadcast nothing but morse code.

I soon caught the bug and upgraded to a bigger radio that picked up amateur radio frequencies and other hidden gems like CB radio.  A whip antenna attached to the telescopic antenna made the listening even better.

The bug faded away a little, but after seeing the radio on the shelf in Radio Shack, the memories came flooding back.  And besides I'm bored with cable.  So, I took the little set home and put it to work.  And there it was, the world at my fingertips.  Radio New Zealand, Radio Habana Cuba, Radio China International, and dozens of hate-filled preachers out of a station in Nashville.

I know most broadcasters have given up on shortwave because of the internet.  But for some, there's something about fiddling with buttons and knobs to fine tune the news coming from a far away country and hearing their prespective. 

$150 well-spent in my opinion.