BUSINESS
January 22, 1991 | NANCY RIVERA BROOKS, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Hostilities in the Middle East have created a boom in the sales of shortwave radios as consumers, eager to hear the latest news from the war zone, snap up the gizmos. In this age of high-tech doodads, the venerable shortwave radio long ago fell off the bestseller list for most consumer electronics retailers. That is, until Iraq invaded Kuwait in August. "We're sold out," said Ed Juge, vice president of market planning for Radio Shack. The 7,000-store chain, a division of Ft.
NEWS
October 2, 1991 | BOB POOL, TIMES STAFF WRITER
It was nearly midnight, and the argument between two ham radio hobbyists, Richard and Darin, was heating up faster than a transceiver with a short circuit. "Wait till I see you," yelled Darin, of Watts, accusing Richard, of Orange, of interfering with his radio transmissions. "You're gonna eat your words. . . . You're gonna get a taste of South-Central in your face. I swear to God--you haven't the slightest idea what you're dealing with here. You read about it in the news."
NEWS
July 22, 1989 | ERIC RAIMY
Listening to international broadcasts is more complicated than snapping on your kitchen radio. But any teacher can master the technical details and introduce students to shortwave. "At first, I worried because there was so much I didn't know," says geography teacher Barbara Tanno of Silverdale, Wash. Now her advice to other teachers is, "Don't be afraid. Just do it." Lots of help is available.
ENTERTAINMENT
April 25, 2013 | By Robert Abele
Spycraft has long been associated with the use of numbers stations - shortwave radio outposts sending cryptic numerical messages over the airwaves, often in a female voice. The thriller "The Numbers Station" employs this low-fi, high-enigma gimmick for a story about a disillusioned CIA hit man (John Cusack) assigned to protect a pretty American numbers reader (Malin Akerman) posted in a bunker in the English countryside. When the pair are ambushed in a brazen siege on the station, they try to suss out who their enemies are while overcoming each other's increasing mistrust.
NEWS
May 22, 2001 | DAVID COLKER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
From 1932 until long after the sun set on the British empire, the BBC World Service--with its sonorous and reassuring "This is London" at the top of each hour--was heard around the globe via shortwave radio. June 30 will bring the end of that era in North America when the grand dame of international broadcasting shuts down its shortwave transmitters serving the United States and Canada as well as vast areas of the Pacific.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 13, 1988 | GABE FUENTES, Times Staff Writer
Two artillery shells and the twisted remains of a Soviet-made Katyusha rocket lie on the carpeted floor of George Otis' Northridge office. On the wall is a framed AK-47 assault rifle, captured from a Palestinian terrorist. The tanned, silver-haired Otis wears cowboy boots and pressed khaki. He is at the head of a table, speaking to eight confederates in front of two wall-sized maps dotted with red pins. His coffee mug says, "Expect a Miracle." Otis, 71, is carrying out a mission.