New shortwave radio, some questions
 

I bought this SW radio on sharperimage.com, and it was delivered just
now,
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/ca...uct/sku__CT800

and have a question about tunning. It won't go past 26.10MHz. When I
try to enter in a number bigger than that I get an error. How can I
get it to display the KHz stations. When I hold the radio a certain
way I can see it says KHz, but it won't actually display KHz, only MHz.
It also shows a decimal point, but the book says to ignore it when
entering a station. Also I can see AIR, LW and MARINE when
I hold the radio a certain way. All that I know it gets is AM/FM/SW/TV
and weather bands, the book says nothing about MARINE bands. Also it
says in the book,
A ferrite rod AM antennais located inside the unit. Position the unit
to recieve the best AM reception.
AM: 10kHz
FM: 200KhZ
SW: 5kHz
TV: CH 1
WX: 25kHz
What does this mean? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to
figure all this out.

Thanks, Justin

New shortwave radio, some questions
 

Dear Justin,

You have a lot of "basic" questions, all of which can be answered by a
"basic" reference book. I strongly recommend that you go to your
nearest large bookstore (or even a small local bookstore if they will
special-order books for you) and purchase the new 2007 edition of
PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO. (You can also buy it online direct from
the publisher at http://www.passband.com . They will ship it to you
- free shipping - via Priority Mail so you would have it in just a
couple of days.)

This book, which is very useful not only to beginners but also to
experienced shortwave listeners, is invaluable for its wealth of
information regarding the basics of shortwave listening as well as
advanced information. (I buy each new edition every year.)

And just to get you started with it, go he
http://www.passband.com/pdf_files/GettingStarted.pdf .

The questions you ask are indeed basic and if someone here were to try
to answer in detail all you ask this time, it would only raise even
more questions and confusion on your part.

I'm sorry to answer you in this way and please believe me when I tell
you that I show you no disrespect whatsoever. I was once in your shoes
myself! The hobby of shortwave listening is a fascinating one and, as
any "veteran" listener will tell you, requires a considerable effort on
the listener's part to learn the "ins and outs" of it. (Just like ANY
worthwhile hobby!) Shortwave listening just isn't like tuning in your
regular AM/FM radio and hearing your local stations. That's a
"no-brainer." It takes time and experience to learn how to listen on
the shortwaves properly and remember - there is no way to compress time
and experience!

However, believe me, it is well-worth the effort, at least in my
opinion.

Should you decide that you really do like the hobby, there are some
other publications I will recommend: the annual WORLD RADIO-TV
HANDBOOK, and the two hobby magazines POPULAR COMMUNICATIONS and
MONITORING TIMES.

A good (free) source on the web is PrimeTimeShortwave and you will find
many others sources as well, especially RadioIntel.com.

I wish you the very best of luck and many, many hours of interesting
entertainment and enlightenment from your shortwave listening.

Joe

wrote:
I bought this SW radio on sharperimage.com, and it was delivered just
now,
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/ca...uct/sku__CT800

and have a question about tunning. It won't go past 26.10MHz. When I
try to enter in a number bigger than that I get an error. How can I
get it to display the KHz stations. When I hold the radio a certain
way I can see it says KHz, but it won't actually display KHz, only MHz.
It also shows a decimal point, but the book says to ignore it when
entering a station. Also I can see AIR, LW and MARINE when
I hold the radio a certain way. All that I know it gets is AM/FM/SW/TV
and weather bands, the book says nothing about MARINE bands. Also it
says in the book,
A ferrite rod AM antennais located inside the unit. Position the unit
to recieve the best AM reception.
AM: 10kHz
FM: 200KhZ
SW: 5kHz
TV: CH 1
WX: 25kHz
What does this mean? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to
figure all this out.

Thanks, Justin

New shortwave radio, some questions
 

Hi Justin,

I am not familiar with your particular radio, so some of this is guess
work.

Some radios do not cover all of the shortwave frequencies, which end at
30 MHz. My guess is that yours does not have coverage above 26.1 MHz.
All you are missing really are the CB channels and one ham radio band.


Probably when you listen to the AM band, the kHz will display instead
of MHz. When you listen to shortwave (SW) or FM, then MHz will
display. Don't worry about this. By the way, 1000 kHz (kilohertz) is
the same thing as 1.000 MHz (megahertz) Just math.

The display in your radio is probably a "generic" one that is used by
the manufacturer for many different radios. Your particular one doesnt
cover AIR, LW or MARINE - so you never see that "light up" in your
display. Other radios may include these bands. Sounds like an
all-purpose display and those things that are "activated/designed" into
your radio will light up the appropriate segments of the display.

Nearly all radios with AM band coverage have a small loop antenna
inside, known as a ferrite rod. WHen listening to AM, move your radio
around until you get the best reception (you are aiming the little
internal ferrite rod antenna). All of the other bands, use the whip
antenna...so you don't need to rotate the radio on SW, FM. WX, TV.

AM: 10kHz
FM: 200KhZ
SW: 5kHz
TV: CH 1
WX: 25kHz

These numbers above are references to the tuning steps in your radio
for each of the bands. So on AM, you tune in 10 kHz steps. Example,
600 kHz, 610 kHz and so on. Shortwave is increments of 5 kHz, which is
fine for listening to international broadcast stations. TV, WX
(weather) and FM have the normal tuning increments you would find
standard.

As a starting point, listen to shortwave stations between 5.0 and 10.0
MHz. You will hear most of them in that range.

Welcome to shortwave radio. It's fun.


wrote:
I bought this SW radio on sharperimage.com, and it was delivered just
now,
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/ca...uct/sku__CT800

and have a question about tunning. It won't go past 26.10MHz. When I
try to enter in a number bigger than that I get an error. How can I
get it to display the KHz stations. When I hold the radio a certain
way I can see it says KHz, but it won't actually display KHz, only MHz.
It also shows a decimal point, but the book says to ignore it when
entering a station. Also I can see AIR, LW and MARINE when
I hold the radio a certain way. All that I know it gets is AM/FM/SW/TV
and weather bands, the book says nothing about MARINE bands. Also it
says in the book,
A ferrite rod AM antennais located inside the unit. Position the unit
to recieve the best AM reception.
AM: 10kHz
FM: 200KhZ
SW: 5kHz
TV: CH 1
WX: 25kHz
What does this mean? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to
figure all this out.

Thanks, Justin

New shortwave radio, some questions
 

HI from Ken in the UK,

Great answer Joe, well done............cheers all, happy listening, Ken,
G4KIR.

"Joe Analssandrini" wrote in message
ps.com...
Dear Justin,

You have a lot of "basic" questions, all of which can be answered by a
"basic" reference book.