You don't!
It is this way: If You put up the antenna high enough, You might hear
A, B and C. However, You might not hear X,Y and/or Z, or at least
have very poor reception, as the radiating angle is to low for short
skip.
X,Y and/or Z might end up in the "skip zone". If You LOWER the antenna,
the semi-locals turn up, but You lose A,B and C.
So Your dipole CAN not pick up everything simultaneously.

N

Walter wrote:

On the surface, this sounds like a stupid question, but how do I know
my shortwave wire dipole antenna is picking up all it can?

If I live in the St. Louis Missouri Area, is there a list of stations
X, Y, and Z that I should be able to pick up? (thinking shortwave
here, not local stations)

And if so, If I can pick up station A from Egypt, station B from
Japan, and station C from Moscow, then I'm doing really good?

Just wondering.

Thanks..