THE LISTENING POST

e reported in March that Radio Australia’s decision in 2017 to shut down its shortwave service had become a campaign issue in this year’s national elections, and that the opposition Labor Party had pledged to restore shortwave is reporting that private broadcasters are already filling the breach, with two stations already on the air and several others in the wings. The challenge for DXers in North America: Low power, low frequencies and wire antennas. They are essentially glorified ham stations (one is even using ham equipment) but as any lowband ham DXer can tell you, working Australia on the low shortwave frequencies is challenging but far from impossible. According to the article, the stations generally are running one kilowatt into wire antennas (frequently an inverted-V) on the 120-, 90- and/or 60-meter shortwave bands. Their programming and their signals are aimed mostly at residents of remote areas of Australia, which often rely on shortwave as a primary means of getting news and other information.