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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This Year's Shortwave "Bible" is a Bit Short Itself, January 26, 2000
If you have a shortwave radio, you need this book. At only $20, its value to weight ratio is unsurpassed.This is probably the 20th year I've bought a new WRTH, and most of what's in this one is up-to-the-minute. Merging all of the articles (receiver reviews, propagation forecasts, maps, etc.) into one place up front makes the book seem more orderly than past versions. But, the continued split of National and International station listings continues the inconveniece another year. I've never met anyone who likes the "new" split, and I think the Editor should include an article next year justifying why they apparently don't listen to their customers. Granted, each country's broadcasts are in just two places (either National or International) but the split raises a more "hidden" problem. A book like this has two basic purposes: to find a broadcast that you want to listen to, and to find out what a broadcast is that you are listening to. The first use is handled quite well (and always has been) but for the "split" listings, which is unnecessary, but hardly a big problem. But, the second major use, identifying a broadcast, is severly hampered by the omission of National Radio broadcasts from the frequency lisiting we've become accustomed to at the back of the book. With my new book in-hand, I cruised the dial (well, OK, there is no dial on my radio!) and being always on the lookout for something new, I spent some time around 4.8 and 4.9 Mhz. In the Eastern US, that range is chock-full of Central and South American stations just waiting to be QSL'd. Unfortunately, you'll never figure out (without significant effort) what you're listening to; they're not in the frequency listing! To find out what the station is, you'll have to go to the country listings - but which one? If you knew that, you wouldn't need the book. There also seem to be an unacceptable number of errors in the listings. At 1700 GMT, I used the English listing to look for the new station listed, WIBI, but of course, there is no such thing: it's WINB. That same page lists an AWR broadcast from Asia on 12130, but going to the frequency listing for a clue on where it originates from doesn't list the frequency at all. I found quite a few similar omissions. If someone were willing to type all the frequencies in this book into a spreadsheet, then sort them out in order, I'd certainly buy it - but that's what I expected from the WRTH. It's worth buying despite its shortcomings, but a book like this should be more of a help than hinder.
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