# Radio Woes (re: solderpunk) // 18-10-06

[solderpunk] writes about the appalling discovery that a simple AM radio
may be completely useless these days in northern Europe, due to lack of
transmitting stations.

I can very much relate to this: since years I mourn the disappearance of
most of useful Morse code transmissions on the air, and in a parallel
vein the reduction of short-wave broadcasting.  The latter may not be
that obvious, as there are still plenty of stations audible any time
of day (at least, again, in Europe), but e.g Switzerland has completely
abandoned any presence on the short- wave bands, and SWR3, a station in
southern Germany, has stopped their short-wave program some years ago
as well (which I was often listening to when being on vacation in Italy).

But the Morse code transmission landscape really has become a desert.
When I began learning Morse code, I often listened to Italian and Greek
coastal stations transmitting weather situations and forecasts, and
even news for seafarers.  During the Nineties, when I was learning and
enjoying sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, listening to weather forecasts
by Morse code while crossing the waves was really fun (although sometimes
also exhausting, when there was a lot of swell) and definitely useful.
I guess nowadays you need to have some computerized setup to receive
data transmissions -- or simply a satellite phone with internet access,
if you're on the high seas.

That's the motivation behind my years old [AMBroS] project, which should
help getting interesting stuff on air in Morse code.  I just do need to
continue with it...

PS: Just stumbled over [Whitemesa]( gopher://whitemesa.net ) while digging
around -- recommended, if you're interested in telegraphy, slide rules etc!

.:.

[solderpunk]: gopher://circumlunar.space:70/0/~solderpunk/phlog/crystal-radio-in-2018.txt
[AMBroS]: https://github.com/hb9kns/ambros