My Short Wave Radio Story

A super quick primer on how I got back into short wave radio.

I was a typical 60’s and 70’s kid.  I loved CB radio and Short Wave radio even more.  After leaving home for the loving arms of the United States Navy I drifted away from my radio hobby.

Fast forward to the mid 2000’s and I am now working for the US Gov’t and living in Iwakuni Japan.  I was sent to MCAS Cherry Point in Havelock, NC.  And oddly enough, I live in this area now.  While I was driving around one day I had the AM radio on scan and it landed on a station that had minimal power and could only be received in parts of Havelock.  I have no clue what the station was.

RBN

What caught my attention is WHAT they were playing.  It was actually pretty shocking.  I guess I’d call it a “Patriot” radio station. It turned out to be Republic Broadcasting Network. Additionally, they were saying some shocking things.  First was that Hitler was misunderstood.  Poland attacked him.  He had no choice.  Finally, it was Guns, gold, water purification, and the Jews were responsible for all the bad in the world.  This was nuts.

Conversely, I did not agree with anything that I heard.  It was like listening to a train wreck. After doing a little research I discovered RBN was on several short wave radio stations.

Quickly, To Radio Shack

Havelock had a Radio Shack at that time and I soon had a Grundig S350.

Grundig S350

I had to use a stock image as I sold the radio a few years back.

That’s My Short Wave Radio Story

A ridiculous radio station re-invigorated my descent back into radio madness.  I actually still listen to RBN every once in a while these days.  They’ve toned it down a lot but it still will probably get you on some watch list.

If you spin that dial slowly there is no telling what you’ll discover.  Short Wave Radio always has been a fun hobby.