Dear Ms. Amy,

In my opinion the best source for "how to listen to shortwave" is the
book PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO by Larry Magne; it is available very
inexpensively from Amazon.com as well as other dealers. It is published
yearly in October so you might want to wait for the next edition unless
the money involved (less than $20.00) is not a deterrent. I buy it
every year.

Another most useful book which I also buy yearly is the WORLD RADIO-TV
HANDBOOK, also available from Amazon.com and other places. This is
particularly useful for station information, both Medium Wave (the
regular AM band) and Short Wave (and FM and TV to boot).

The most convenient and up-to-date sources for station schedules are on
the web: PrimeTimeShortwave, the ILG, Eibi, and a few others.
RadioIntel.com is an extremely useful site which, among many other
things, has lots of links to useful radio sites.

I do not know where in Canada you are located, but the Sony
ICF-SW7600GR is particularly sensitive on the Medium Wave band. If it
is necessary to "enhance" its MW reception, I have found that a
Select-A-Tenna (available from C. Crane Company and other dealers) is
quite useful, especially if the radio and the Select-A-Tenna are put on
a "lazy susan." This allows the "directional" characteristics of the
radio and the antenna to be maximized. You should be able to hear the
stronger NY radio stations if you live in the east of Canada or its
mid-west.

Radio France (in English) is an easy "catch" though generally only in
the daytime or in the middle of the night.

If you like music, there is no end to it, especially exotic music on
the "tropical bands" (4750 - 5025 kHz) and from some of the African
countries.

I think that, with this radio and the FM transmitter I mentioned to
send the signals to your stereo, you will find an abundance of
stimulating and thought-provoking broadcasts.

I wish you the very best of luck.

Joe