If you asked most people if you could get English language broadcasts over the airwaves in foreign countries like China most people would be probably be slightly skeptical.
While in china I armed with my Tecsun 9700 DX, and set about scanning the airwaves for broadcasts. Having listened to a huge array of broadcasts on my first radio, a diminutive lightweight pocket radio (also made by Tecsun) this radio marked a greater investment (about £15) as a more serious attempt to receive broadcasts. However, not all people who learned of my new found hobby was convinced.
"Why don't you just listen to the radio via the internet?"
Undeterred by the lack of faith from my compatriots, and the fact that reception in my apartment for Short Wave was non-existent. I set aside some time to take a walk every now and again in the University grounds to randomly search for stations and tune in to what was being transmitted over the airwaves - after all it is of much benefit to people such as myself that these transmissions are being aired in the first place. Surely it would be a shame to let these transmissions to go undetected.
A lovely spot for tuning into English radio broadcasts
"radio broadens your mind"
Of the many broadcasts I listened to at my little secluded reception point, before leaving China, the last major broadcast I can remember was from the BBC on World Service. Breaking news at the time just prior to me leaving China was the Israeli's boarding of the aid ship in the Gaza strip.
Impartial as ever, the BBC waited and waited for accurate information to come in from trusted sources. On the third day, eye witness accounts came in from the Israeli soldiers. Suddenly the soldier's aggression towards innocent aid-workers was put into perspective, and their side was told. Without my world band radio - none of this would have been known to me, so for that I felt informed and valued as a listener.
"Not always unbiased"
Anyone searching the airwaves regularly in the Far-East will undoubtedly have come across "Voice of Korea" - DPRK radio.
Never more apparent, when you listen to broadcasts from the countries in the news themselves, is the plight of the people. Through the language that is used, the subjects repeated and emphasized, it becomes clear what the government or broadcaster believes or wants you to believe.
"Using words such as "thieves" when the Russians described the Ukranian position in the oil standoff, leave the listener under no illusion as to the position of the Russian government."
No big deal you might think, but the Voice of Russia is unobtainable via the internet in China, and the Korean station is most likely unobtainable also. Skeptical as to the motives of all - especially the Korean and Russian stations, for me, learning about their culture through their words and understanding their values is food for the imagination.
FM too mind you
At the end of the day, the radio is equally at home with FM broadcasts. Late at night, as I plug in the radio to my desktop speaker system (via the headphone socket) I listen to Nanjing's "Its my radio" to help me relax and unwind. The little Tecsun 9700 DX combined with the speakers provide a wonderful quality of sound.
"With quality easily better than any flat and compressed sounding internet radio station. My digital response is a predicable one. Executed with the middle finger! "
The discusson on this particular technological object is interesting, if true.
As a boy I was given the proverbial small blue pocket "tranny". Most of the time was spent twiddling the side wheel to pick up a station, any station.
Standing within the shadow of the Telecommunications Tower, which was located in the center of the city, I couldn't even pick up the national radio signal. My mother could do that without even trying using two knitting pins. After one week of rotating the tuning-wheel, micron by micron, I thought I heard, at one point, and for a brief millisecond, some kind of static.
Ever since that day, when I even think about a radio, it makes me think of a total wasted week of my life: it also makes me think of rotating, micron by micron, that awful blue tuning wheel. But it seems, by reading this blog, that things have improved.
Posted by: sally | 09/14/2010 at 02:20 AM
Its all true Rob,
Most young people I met in China never listen to the radio. Today its all MP3 files, reading (mostly half baked) articles from the internet - and watching dogs farting. Although those of you listening to Chris Evans or Johnathan Ross in the mid 90's will have found yourself already there.
The advantages radio brings to me; well the first one has to be the randomness of it all. On the internet you have an idea of what your favourite sites are and you can find yourself with a narrow set of interests. Randomly searching the airwaves almost always throws up subjects you wouldn't otherwise consider.
The second advantage has to be ease of use. However like you - I also find myself wondering around trying to find the perfect spot for reception.
Like your little blue radio, the Tecsun 9700 DX has an analogue tuner. I have also an old style walkman (tape / radio combination) with a digital tuner - the advantage being that you can store the channels and skip through them at the touch of a button. Back in the UK the subject of a later review will be the Yamaha TX-761 DAB (digital audio broadcast) / FM / MW hi-fi separate.
Thanks Rob for your first comments to my blog - I genuinely hope that this will form the basis of discussion and debate for a long time to come.
Posted by: ,Administrator | 09/14/2010 at 08:31 PM