Shortwave listening is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts. Shortwave listeners, or SWLs, do not transmit, in contrast to radio amateurs.

For many listeners, the goal is to receive as many stations from as many countries as possible. Receiving stations from distant countries is also known as DXing. Others listen to specialized shortwave utility, or "ute", transmissions such as maritime, naval, aviation, or military signals. Others focus on intelligence signals (numbers stations). Yet others prefer listening to programs from favorite stations.

The latter may listen to specific programs, or they may listen to many programs from a few stations. Most, though, listen to shortwave broadcast stations for news and information programming.

Listeners can obtain QSL cards from broadcasters or utility stations as trophies of the hobby. Traditionally, listeners would send letters to the station with reception reports and requests for schedules. Many stations now accept E-mails or provide reception report forms on their Web sites.

Reception reports give valuable information about propagation and interference to a station's engineers. Special books with frequencies and timetables for each station, such as the annual publications World Radio TV Handbook and Passport to World Band Radio, were vital for an SWL. Today a lot of this information is available on the Internet, though the annual publications and hobbyist magazines such as Monitoring Times and Popular Communications provide many useful clues.

In addition to these traditional sources of information, hobbyists also listen to radio programs dedicated to shortwave listening, such as the U.S. based World of Radio. Many international broadcaster have hosted programs for DXers, but recently these programs have been curtailed or dropped by many international broadcasters.

Serious hobbyists may use expensive communications receivers and outdoor antennas. However, many hobbyists use less-expensive portable receivers with good results.

See also: International broadcasting

Literature

• World Radio TV Handbook WRTH, ISBN 3-8746-3356-X.