Hey everyone,

I first got into shortwave a few years back by buying a Grundig 400 and
really enjoyed it. By attaching a little roll-up external antenna to it and
throwing the antenna up on my roof I got good reception for a handheld SW.
Listening to hams using SSB was neat!
So I wanted to take things to the next level, not to the Drake level,
but something more powerful. So I decided to get a Yaesu FRG100. I heard
good things about it and bid on one on EBay and won. I was really excited.
When it came I bought an external antenna (Radio Shack basic one, maybe part
of the problem here) and had a corageous friend run the thing from my roof
up to a pretty tall Spruce tree. Now I like the Yaesu but I don't notice
much difference between it and my little Grundig. Maybe its slightly better
but overall I've been pretty disappointed in it. Maybe this is just the
nature of shortwave but I thought a portable should noticably outperform a
handheld. Now here's my questions:

1) I haven't grounded the thing, should I? Will it make a much more
noticable improvement? (I'm still learning this shortwave stuff)

2) I know you can buy notch filters for it but are they worth it? They are
expensive and may not make much of a difference.

3) To be honest, I don't know how to properly use the thing. It didn't come
with instructions. I have the basics down but playing with the attenuators
and such didn't seem to make a whole heck of a lot of difference in clarity.
Does anyone know where I can get instructions for this thing? (Its still
pretty decent in USB and LSB)

4) Any tips for better performance? I live in the so-so Pacific NW, however.

Maybe my expectations are way too high. Maybe I don't know how to properly
use the thing. Maybe I don't have the antenna set up correctly. I know, lots
of maybes. I want to try some other things but if things don't improve I may
end up selling the thing and just going with my little Grundig for now and
save up money for a really big boy.
Thanks for your help.

Brian