shortwave

A fascinating but, unfortunately it seems, moribund form of radio broadcasting that utilizes radio frequencies from about 1,800 kHz to 30,000 kHz. Some say that the Internet is totally to blame for shortwave's demise, but in fact there are many other reasons: poor propagation conditions (e.g. coronal flares on the Sun that can block radio reception for many days), mismanagement and bad frequency allocation by the stations themselves, transmitters in disrepair, lack of funding for the stations, radio frequency interference caused by various appliances that create walls of noise when one is listening for stations, etc. On shortwave, one can often hear interesting cultural programs and music produced by the host country, and some shortwave listeners have created a hobby-within-a-hobby of collecting "QSL" (verification of reception) cards, pennants, CDs, books, etc.