War Revives Shortwave Radio’s Appeal : Communications: Many consumers, eager for news from the Persian Gulf, are snapping up machines that fell out of fashion long ago.

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. Worth-based Tandy Corp., put its shortwave radios on sale before Christmas and was virtually cleaned out. New shipments won’t arrive for another three or four months.

“We know pretty much what a sale like that would produce and we expected to sell a good number, but we absolutely didn’t expect to sell out,” Juge said.

Shortwave radios, which range in price from about $50 to $5,000, can pick up a variety of foreign broadcasts depending on atmospheric conditions and the sophistication of the unit. Many foreign broadcasters transmit in English at certain hours. Some shortwave radios also can monitor the transmissions of ham radio operators.

“The response that we’ve gotten on shortwave radios has been phenomenal since the war. Business has been bang-up,” said Les Fields, manager of the Affordable Portables store in Sherman Oaks.

On Saturday alone, the store sold more than a dozen radios, at least double its normal sales, Fields said. Before the Persian Gulf War began, most shortwave radio buyers were older people who have trouble sleeping and are looking for a middle-of-the-night diversion, he said.

The store, one of five in the Irvine-based chain, also has enjoyed increased sales of tiny television sets and portable radios, Fields said. “People want to keep in touch with the world,” he explained.

At Henry Radio in West Los Angeles, shortwave radio sales have jumped to “a couple dozen a day,” a five- or six-fold increase from prewar sales, manager Ted Shannon said. Suppliers have warned the store that they are running out, he added.

Michael Patz, a consumer electronics salesman at Adray CBS Premiums in Orange, said one recent customer wanted a shortwave radio for a trip to Tel Aviv.

“Some people have family over there,” he said. “They want to pick up their own information from the Middle East.”

Patz said Monday afternoon that six customers were in the store asking about shortwave radios. “Usually, and this is a guess, we have an inquiry every two or three months.”

Shortwave radios do not work exactly like the typical AM radio with which consumers are familiar, warned Shannon of Henry Radio.

“Everyone thinks they’re going to be able to tune right in to Radio Baghdad,” he said. “It’s more like tuning in and hearing what you can hear.”