New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

Joe,

Extremely helpful advice, as is all the other discussion in this
thread! Unfortunately I was out for most of the evening and didn't
have an opportunity to test this. I will be at the window during these
times tomorrow though.

On a seperate note, I should mention that each time that I've tested
all of these myriad frequencies I have been thorough insofar as I have
tested with every combination of antenna (built-in, reel and none) and
also on both power from the wall as well as battery power - and yes,
they were fresh.

The advice that I'm seeing here, though my problems are not yet
resolved (many, many variables to test) is priceless and my thanks go
to you all. I hope that others may be able to gain information from
these messages as well.

-O

New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

I dont know how much money that Yachboy radio cost and I think somebody
said Amazon sells the Sony 7800 GR radios for about $129.00,a good price
for a very good radio.What I would do is send the Yachboy radio back to
the store for a refund and buy a Sony 7600 GR radio.(whenever you buy
something like that,always save the box and packing materials and of
course your sales receipt for at least a month or two in case the
product might be defective and you might need to send it back for a
refund) Then you would have a much better radio.Only my opinion.
cuhulin

Hi Pete:
The previously mentioned suggestion of taking the radio outside for a walk is an excellent tip. This is how I achieve the best reception.

What exactly are you hearing when you step through the 49m or 31m bands at night? Any faint voices? What kind of noise?

A good test signal for you since you're in the USA is the WWV (http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html) broadcasts on 2.5 mhz, 5 mhz, 10 mhz, 15 mhz, and 20 mhz. 5 mhz is the most reliable for me in the evening (over here in northern California). Use the daytime/nighttime recommendations in your radio manual to determine which frequency is best at any given time.

For very up-to-date shortwave frequency listings, give www.primetimeshortwave.com a try. You'll have to learn how to convert local time to coordinated universal time (aka UTC). Search for listings labeled "NA" (North America), although reception of stations broadcasting to other regions is possible.

One of my favorite broadcasts is Radio Havana Cuba:
0500-0700 UTC: 6 mhz, 6.06 mhz, 9.55 mhz, 9.82 mhz, 11.76 mhz

New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

The previously mentioned suggestion of taking the radio outside for a
walk is an excellent tip. This is how I achieve the best reception.

Thanks for the tip. I did indeed take it outdoors - out on a pier into
the lake - and the change in reception was hardly noticeable. Then for
safe keeping I drove quite a distance outside of town to the
middle-of-nowhere VT - no mountians, no woods, just a big open field -
with the same results.

What exactly are you hearing when you step through the 49m or 31m bands
at night? Any faint voices? What kind of noise?

31m - nothing. 49m - occasional extremely static-filled voices.
Absolutely nothing that would be considered intelligible.

A good test signal for you since you're in the USA is the WWV
(http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html) broadcasts on 2.5 mhz,
5 mhz, 10 mhz, 15 mhz, and 20 mhz. 5 mhz is the most reliable for me
in the evening (over here in northern California).

Historically I don't receive any of them, though this afternoon I just
barely received the 20mhz broadcast - but again, completely filled with
static and almost unable to be heard.

I do get the 3330 time broadcast from Canada, but it too is not exactly
well received.

One of my favorite broadcasts is Radio Havana Cuba:
0500-0700 UTC: 6 mhz, 6.06 mhz, 9.55 mhz, 9.82 mhz, 11.76 mhz

I suspect that would be one of my favorites as well. ;-) Unfortunately
I have tried and tried - those seem to be common hours for me to be
trying - and have not been able to get it.

Spoke with Grundig tech support today and they didn't have too much too
offer. Very nice people, to their credit, but because of all the
variables involved they were unable to say if it sounds more like a
receiver hardware problem or just general reception issues. I'm going
to continue testing this evening.

Due to the return policy of the company it was ordered from (universal
radio) I need to decide quickly if I'll be returning/exchanging it.
The question that comes up is that, if I do exchange it, would I be
better off upgrading to a different radio? Aesthetic appeal aside, the
Eton E1 seems to have good reviews everywhere. But is the difference
in sensitivity enough to justify the extra money?

I'm also interested in, eventually, tracking down some of the SSB
traffic around my area. I have an international airport down the road,
coast guard virtually next door and a city full of people. The YB
isn't picking up anything there either when in SSB mode, but then, it
got poor reviews on that aspect. Would the E1 be any better?

-P

New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

Regarding the international airport, your interest would be in
international air traffic control, which does use HF. You can google
around for MWARA frequencies. I have them for the left coast. I haven't
tune them in ages, but will do so tonight for the hell of it. It's like
air traffic control, but the pace is much slower since there isn't that
much traffic.

I have the older Sony 7600. It works fine on shortwave broadcast. The
VFO resolution isn't fine enough for sideband, though it does have a
analog control to tweak it in (clarifier).

If you expect to do sideband, you need a radio with two filter
bandwidths (at the very least). Using the wide filter for AM lets too
much noise through on sideband.


wrote:
The previously mentioned suggestion of taking the radio outside for a
walk is an excellent tip. This is how I achieve the best reception.

Thanks for the tip. I did indeed take it outdoors - out on a pier into
the lake - and the change in reception was hardly noticeable. Then for
safe keeping I drove quite a distance outside of town to the
middle-of-nowhere VT - no mountians, no woods, just a big open field -
with the same results.

What exactly are you hearing when you step through the 49m or 31m bands
at night? Any faint voices? What kind of noise?

31m - nothing. 49m - occasional extremely static-filled voices.
Absolutely nothing that would be considered intelligible.

A good test signal for you since you're in the USA is the WWV
(http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html) broadcasts on 2.5 mhz,
5 mhz, 10 mhz, 15 mhz, and 20 mhz. 5 mhz is the most reliable for me
in the evening (over here in northern California).

Historically I don't receive any of them, though this afternoon I just
barely received the 20mhz broadcast - but again, completely filled with
static and almost unable to be heard.

I do get the 3330 time broadcast from Canada, but it too is not exactly
well received.

One of my favorite broadcasts is Radio Havana Cuba:
0500-0700 UTC: 6 mhz, 6.06 mhz, 9.55 mhz, 9.82 mhz, 11.76 mhz

I suspect that would be one of my favorites as well. ;-) Unfortunately
I have tried and tried - those seem to be common hours for me to be
trying - and have not been able to get it.

Spoke with Grundig tech support today and they didn't have too much too
offer. Very nice people, to their credit, but because of all the
variables involved they were unable to say if it sounds more like a
receiver hardware problem or just general reception issues. I'm going
to continue testing this evening.

Due to the return policy of the company it was ordered from (universal
radio) I need to decide quickly if I'll be returning/exchanging it.
The question that comes up is that, if I do exchange it, would I be
better off upgrading to a different radio? Aesthetic appeal aside, the
Eton E1 seems to have good reviews everywhere. But is the difference
in sensitivity enough to justify the extra money?

I'm also interested in, eventually, tracking down some of the SSB
traffic around my area. I have an international airport down the road,
coast guard virtually next door and a city full of people. The YB
isn't picking up anything there either when in SSB mode, but then, it
got poor reviews on that aspect. Would the E1 be any better?

-P

New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

Well, looks like, after speaking with some folks on the phone and
reading more online, that the E1 wouldn't necessarily be any better.
Looks pretty, of course, but seems like the extra cost is due to the XM
capability.

Still testing the YB.

- kaito-an-03l-shortwave-antenna.jpg (0/1) (yEnc) New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

In article . com,
wrote:

Though I'm not a non-technical person, my area of expertise - or even
moderate knowledge - does not rest in the realm of shortwave radios.
However, I've always had an interest in pursuing the subject, and
towards that end my wife was kind enough to buy me a Grundig Yacht Boy
400PE for the holidays.

My problem is this. After reading the entire manual, reading the
Passport text and taking the plunge into the world of sw radio, I'm
having trouble getting reception for stations that I would expect to
get.

I live in the northeast United States (northern New England). My condo
is on the third (top) floor of a 15 unit building. My living room
window looks out onto a massive lake with no building in the way
through an 8 foot by 8 foot window. I have placed the receiver in this
window and even covered the window in an X pattern with the external
reel antenna.

Nevertheless, I can't get even a single station that Passport
recommends in the "First Tries: Ten Easy Catches" section. I've been
listening at night and the band that Grundig recommends as "Good all
night everywhere" in the 400PE manual - the 31m band - doesn't have a
single frequency that comes in for me. Neither does the 41m band -
also recommended as good all night in Northeastern America. The best
I've been able to manage are two frequencies in the 49m band - one of
which appears to be China Radio International on 5950. Neither of
these are terribly clear at that, and the best reception that I've been
able to get is with WWCR.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Being new to this, I don't know
what I should reasonably expect. Should I expect to be able to pick up
a variety of things with moderate clarity. I know that this is all
variable on many conditions, but realistically, what should I be
expecting here?

Thanks for your help.


Try a descent antenna ... probably a clip-on wire antenna would work
well enough until your skill improves and you graduate to something
more sophisticated.

http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/short...03l-shortwave-
antenna.aspx


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New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

On 15 Dec 2005 14:22:46 -0800, wrote:

Well, looks like, after speaking with some folks on the phone and
reading more online, that the E1 wouldn't necessarily be any better.
Looks pretty, of course, but seems like the extra cost is due to the XM
capability.

Still testing the YB.

The XM capability only adds a few dollars (less than 5) to the cost of
the radio. The XM smart antenna option for $50 has the actual
satellite receiver on it. The E1 itself is just the human interface.

New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

In article . com,
wrote:

Snip

What exactly are you hearing when you step through the 49m or 31m bands
at night? Any faint voices? What kind of noise?

31m - nothing. 49m - occasional extremely static-filled voices.
Absolutely nothing that would be considered intelligible.

Snip

If you are outside away from big buildings as an example in a park tune
in a local AM broadcast station and set the radio to a reasonable
listening level. Around sunset your time switch to a SW band 49 meters,
which is 5900 kHz to 6200 kHz. The radio should have a low volume
static hiss unless you are on a SW station. Tune through that frequency
range and you should get at least several stations clearly. This band
at this time of day usually has the strongest stations you are likely
to receive. Conditions are good today so you should pick a number of
stations up. If not the radio may have a problem.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

- kaito-an-03l-shortwave-antenna.jpg (1/1) (yEnc) New User - New Receiver - Reception Questions
 

In article ,
third0f3 wrote:

Snip

This is a text based news group. Do not post other types of files here
like HTML or jpg images. I'm surprised you were able to do that.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California