Reitz - How to Listen to the World

This book is an introduction to shortwave listening, amateur radio, license-free two-way radio, Free-to-Air satellite TV and radio, AM-FM and HD-Radio, Internet radio and cord-cutting: ending the addiction to cable and satellite-TV.

Much of the material in this book is taken from columns and feature articles Ive written over the last few years for Monitoring Times , a national monthly magazine about all things radio, which ceased publishing with the December, 2013 issue after thirty-three years. I was the features editor and managing editor for Monitoring Times for the last four years the magazine was in publication.

I'm now the publisher and managing editor for The Spectrum Monitor , a new monthly electronic magazine, began as a follow-on publication to Monitoring Times , launched with the January, 2014 issue which became available December, 2013. Subscription details are found at .

Each section of this book has been updated to include the latest information available. Current resources have been added to each section to let the reader pursue his or her own interests. Previously unpublished material has also been added to give a fuller understanding of each topic.

Since 1988 Ive written hundreds of feature articles and columns covering all of these subjects for various national magazines. Ive interviewed many of the top industry leaders and reviewed dozens of new products in this field. Ive also earlier enjoyed a five year career in commercial AM and FM broadcasting and I have been an amateur radio operator for the last 25 years holding an FCC issued Extra Class license under the call sign KS4ZR.

This book is not intended to be a text for studying for your amateur radio license; a how-to book for building circuits; or a book on radio propagation theory; there are many books available that will give you such instruction.

Over the last 25 years I've gained a lot of experience in shortwave listening on all bands; I've explored satellite TV from the early years of the Big Dish in the early 1980s, and I've operated in the amateur radio bands in all modes.

The information included in the section on amateur operations goes beyond what you'll learn from study programs. In addition, I have practical, all-band antenna solutions that will work well for you and are easy to build using simple tools, and inexpensive, readily available parts.

The point is that you shouldn't have to invest a lot of money to get started, but that going cheap doesn't necessarily mean poor performance. For many years I worked the world on a simple, all-band, wire dipole antenna running 50 to 100 watts and you can do it too.

Many longtime amateur radio operators, also referred to as hams, will tell you that they got their start as shortwave listeners and that's what this book hopes to do: get you started in shortwave radio. It just might be that you'll become a ham. And, after all, if you're listening to the world, why not talk to it as well!

But, not all people want to be hams. Some find that their interest in shortwave leads them to other monitoring niches; scanner radio, AM/FM DX (distant listening), Free-to-Air satellite-TV, WiFi radio, to name a few, and that's all part of listening to the world too. Because, while we can still hear the voices of the world through shortwave they're also heard via satellite, WiFi radio and, of course, even your smartphone.

The intention of this book is to introduce the reader to the many aspects of the radio and television related hobbies in a non-technical way that can be understood by anyone. And, while its intended mostly for new-comers, long-time radio and TV enthusiasts may also benefit from much of the information presented here.

This book is divided into six parts and the active table of contents lets you jump from one part to another. If there's a section that doesn't interest you, skip it by simply going back to the table of contents and clicking on the section you want to read next.

Part One: Getting Started is an introduction to the frequencies between 50 kHz (longwave) and 30 MHz (shortwave)

Part Two: Exploring Amateur Radio looks at the various aspect of the hobby and explains how to become licensed.

Part Three: Exploring AM & FM Radio looks at the origins of the two most popular broadcast bands, the state of HD-Radio and the questionable future facing broadcast radio.

Part Four: License-free, Two-way Radio looks at the pros and cons of the main license-free, two-way radio systems available to everyone: MURS, FRS, GMRS and CB radio.

Part Five: Free-to-Air Satellite-TV explores the amazing world of international TV and radio which is available without subscription for as little as $200.

Part Six: Cord-Cutting is about freeing yourself from the clutches of cable and satellite-TV and includes the latest on stand-alone WiFi radios.

Another radio-related book by the same author you might also enjoy is:

Profiles in Amateur Radio