David wrote:
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.

What I meant was that the XM-ready nature of the E1, actual XM hardware
costs aside, is what makes this radio so significantly more expensive
than some of the other high-end portables. My research seemed to
indicate that the E1 wouldn't offer significantly better reception on
the SW bands than the YB 400PE, so for a difference of $350+ it's not a
worthwhile investment.

Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I came to undertand.

-P

Progress!

Thanks go to Telamon for posting a timely message. I grabbed my radio
and went out into the park. Not hard to do, as I live essentially in
one. I walked between 50 and 100 yards into the middle of the park,
sat down on a bench and fired up the radio. I tooled around the 49m
band as Telamon suggested and I'm pleased to report that the results
were extremely encouraging. Not sure why I wasn't having better
results the other night when I was miles away from nowhere...

I've recorded the success below, with a small "key" to indicate exactly
what I mean by my terms.

Telamon, you mention the static hiss which you say should go away when
I tune into a sw station. The hiss and static has never in any of my
tests, including this one, gone away. I'm not sure if this is normal
or not, but as some people actually listen to music via sw, I'd have to
say that either it should if the signal is strong enough else those
users have a strong tolerance of poor quality music signals. When
people talk about strong, clear signals and reception, are they in fact
indicating that there is no static?

Okay, here it goes. This was 6:16 to 6:46pm local time (EST), so not
"too" long after sunset.

**********************

TIME: 23:16 to 23:46 UTC

CLEAR = strong voices, no distortion or interference (always some
static)
OKAY = decent, intelligible voices with significant static
BORDERLINE = heavy static, able to ocassionally hear clear voices but
majority is not clear enough to be understood.
NOTHING = complete unintelligible static

FREQ OUTSIDE INSIDE
5950 clear okay
5960 okay nothing
5975 okay borderline to nothing
5990 borderline borderline to nothing
6000 clear okay to borderline
6030 okay to borderline nothing
6055 okay borderline to nothing
6075 borderline nothing
6090 okay to borderline borderline to nothing
6165 clear borderline to nothing

Outside I was using nothing but the whip antenna. Inside, I have a
reel antenna.

I have yet to look up the frequencies to see what I caught. There were
also several frequencies that the auto tuner decided to stop on, though
there was nothing to be heard. I did not record these here.

-P

On 15 Dec 2005 15:15:06 -0800, wrote:


David wrote:
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.

What I meant was that the XM-ready nature of the E1, actual XM hardware
costs aside, is what makes this radio so significantly more expensive
than some of the other high-end portables. My research seemed to
indicate that the E1 wouldn't offer significantly better reception on
the SW bands than the YB 400PE, so for a difference of $350+ it's not a
worthwhile investment.

Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I came to undertand.

-P

You are very mistaken. The YB-400 is a 20 year old design. It lacks
dozens of advanced features found on the E1.

In article .com,
wrote:

Progress!

Thanks go to Telamon for posting a timely message. I grabbed my
radio and went out into the park. Not hard to do, as I live
essentially in one. I walked between 50 and 100 yards into the
middle of the park, sat down on a bench and fired up the radio. I
tooled around the 49m band as Telamon suggested and I'm pleased to
report that the results were extremely encouraging. Not sure why I
wasn't having better results the other night when I was miles away
from nowhere...

I've recorded the success below, with a small "key" to indicate
exactly what I mean by my terms.

Telamon, you mention the static hiss which you say should go away
when I tune into a sw station. The hiss and static has never in any
of my tests, including this one, gone away. I'm not sure if this is
normal or not, but as some people actually listen to music via sw,
I'd have to say that either it should if the signal is strong enough
else those users have a strong tolerance of poor quality music
signals. When people talk about strong, clear signals and reception,
are they in fact indicating that there is no static?

Okay, here it goes. This was 6:16 to 6:46pm local time (EST), so not
"too" long after sunset.

**********************

TIME: 23:16 to 23:46 UTC

CLEAR = strong voices, no distortion or interference (always some
static) OKAY = decent, intelligible voices with significant static
BORDERLINE = heavy static, able to ocassionally hear clear voices but
majority is not clear enough to be understood. NOTHING = complete
unintelligible static

FREQ OUTSIDE INSIDE 5950 clear okay 5960 okay nothing
5975 okay borderline to nothing 5990 borderline borderline to
nothing 6000 clear okay to borderline 6030 okay to borderline
nothing 6055 okay borderline to nothing 6075 borderline nothing
6090 okay to borderline borderline to nothing 6165 clear borderline
to nothing

Outside I was using nothing but the whip antenna. Inside, I have a
reel antenna.

I have yet to look up the frequencies to see what I caught. There
were also several frequencies that the auto tuner decided to stop on,
though there was nothing to be heard. I did not record these here.

The good news is you made a step in the right direction and you are
picking some stations up.

The bad news is that you listened at a time and band that should have
provided the strongest signals you can encounter and the result was
kind of weak. Conditions have been good tonight so I expected that you
should have done better.

You have probably become aware by now that listening to SW takes a
little more effort and that it can be inconsistent as signals reflect
or refract off the ionosphere above and that is affected by the time of
day because of the sun lights ionizing effect, which then also varies
according to the season just like the amount of daylight hours varies.
In addition SW broadcasters only transmit to where you live at certain
times. You can listen to signals beamed to other areas of the world but
they are generally weaker.

Portable SW radios generally do well with only the strongest signals
and you need to help them to do better. I believe that the YB-400 comes
with an external plug-in antenna. If not you will need to get one.
Sitting in the park if you tune to a marginal signal then plugging in
the external wire should improve it. You will have to work with your
listening situation a little more to get better results.

Assessing your results so far I don't know what you were listening to
on 5950 as I don't see a strong signal to your area at that time. In
Passport. That does not mean that things have not changed but you need
to listen long enough to identify the station as local strong AM
broadcast stations can over load your radio and show up in the SW
bands.

The fact that 5960 has nothing means you found a locally electrically
quiet place to listen.

5975 should have had the BBC on it and it should have been good
reception.

6160 if you had waited a little longer 6160 should have had a good
signal from radio Netherlands.

One tip here is that your radio has a sensitivity switch on the side.
For SW you will probably want that switch to be in the "DX" position.
If that switch is in the local position that will cause the radio to be
insensitive and you will not hear much on it.

Well, you need to make another try at this.

1. Try for the "10 easy catches" again in passport.

2. Listen for a station that the guide indicates is strong or easy.

3. Pay attention that this signal you are listening for is beamed to
your area of the world.

4. The frequency of the signal.

5. The time of the signal.

6. Time to try is around sun set or later time paying attention to the
time and frequency of the guide. The band would be 49 or 31 meter.

7. Your location is in the park again.

8. Use the external plug-in antenna. String this antenna off the ground
by hanging the end off a tree or bush near a bench.

9. Make sure the switches on the sides of the radio are set to "DX" not
local and the switch next to it is "wide." On the other side of the
radio the SSB switch should be "OFF."

Once you have picked up a station well and listened long enough to it
so you can identify it as being the right station then you can
experiment a little. Lets say you listen to 6165 from 00:00 to 01:00
UTC. You should get radio Netherlands in english.

Lets say that you are getting a SW station clearly and it does not have
static noise in the background. Flipping the switch to local position
may make it disappear or make it noisy. Disconnecting the external
antenna may do the same thing. In any event once you tune in some
stations successfully you can try the radio controls in order to
understand their effect on reception. Once you are successful in the
park then you can try your apartment again with the external antenna
across a window. Chance are you will get more local noise than in the
park and it will be harder to hear a SW signal as well as in the park.

Basically if you can get a AM broadcast station well in your apartment
then the chance of getting a SW station well in your apartment improve.

Most stations ID around the hour and half hour times. They will usually
tell you what other frequencies they are on and the time. Hopefully you
will be able to ID them and again in your apartment you can then try
disconnecting the external antenna wire and see what a difference than
makes. You can also try flipping the switch on the side to local and
hear the difference than makes.

Generally you need to pay attention to the guide where it indicates
that the signal is beamed to your area at what frequency and time. This
guide is written for the world so you need to pay attention to the time
and frequency for where you live.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

David wrote:

You are very mistaken. The YB-400 is a 20 year old design. It lacks
dozens of advanced features found on the E1.

David, I understand that there may be many "features" that the E1 has
that the YB-400 is lacking, but are you saying that at the very core of
the reception issue, the E1 would outperform the YB-400. Out of the
box, if I were to put an E1 next to my YB-400 with the same reel
antenna or a 30ft long wire, would the E1 grab more signals and grab
them more clearly?

As you have undoubtedly read, I don't get even the strongest BBC
signals in the park away from all interference on a good night with the
current YB-400. Do you think I would with the E1?

-P

Telamon wrote:

The good news is you made a step in the right direction and you are
picking some stations up.

It was very encouraging, but now I'm back on the fence of the radio
problem vs. reception problem issue. I was beginning to swing towards
the radio problem side of things seeing as how I haven't been able to
get even the strongest signals.

The bad news is that you listened at a time and band that should have
provided the strongest signals you can encounter and the result was
kind of weak. Conditions have been good tonight so I expected that you
should have done better.

And likewise, I too was hoping that it would have been better. There
are simply too many variables to easily pinpoint the issue.

You have probably become aware by now that listening to SW takes a
little more effort

No doubt, though I suspected that. I must confess that it's been fun
trying to ascertain the problem, but it would be oh so more delightful
if I new that I wasn't dealing with a defective radio - both the
manufacturer and the retailer are unwilling to make a call one way or
another. I would have infinitely more energy in trying to hunt down
stations and hatch elaborate antenna plans if I new that there was
definately a possibility of a positive outcome. As it stands, I may be
trying to start a car with no engine - all the while worrying about the
path I'm going to travel.

Assessing your results so far I don't know what you were listening to
on 5950 as I don't see a strong signal to your area at that time. In
Passport. That does not mean that things have not changed but you need
to listen long enough to identify the station as local strong AM
broadcast stations can over load your radio and show up in the SW
bands.

I couldn't find anything either, be it in Passport or on the web, and
that left me a bit confused. Your suggestion that it's an AM station
sounds like a strong possibility, as it consistently gives me better
signal than anything else.

5975 should have had the BBC on it and it should have been good
reception.

Argh! You see, this is what is starting to rub me the wrong way. I'm
having trouble with even the biggies. How could I possibly hope to
find anything more exotic...

6160 if you had waited a little longer 6160 should have had a good
signal from radio Netherlands.

I should have checked the schedule. :-(

One tip here is that your radio has a sensitivity switch on the side.
For SW you will probably want that switch to be in the "DX" position.
If that switch is in the local position that will cause the radio to be
insensitive and you will not hear much on it.

All of the switches - DX/LOCAL, WIDE/NARROW and SSB On or Off are set
as they should be. DX, WIDE and OFF.

Well, you need to make another try at this.

Indeed. And I will be taking your 9 point checklist with me. I'm not
going to sleep - and that's probably meant literally - until this is
solved.

Basically if you can get a AM broadcast station well in your apartment
then the chance of getting a SW station well in your apartment improve.

That's just it, the AM stations do in fact come in well in the
apartment. I've just retested to be certain, and even without the reel
antenna there are a million of them that come in strong and crystal
clear - as I would hope that some sw stations would eventually come in.
Is this indicative of anything?

The work continues. And thank you for your help in all of this.

-P

It's like fishing for signals.
cuhulin

I suggest you buy another YB-400 from a store that will let you return
it for a full refund. Use a credit card so you don't have to pay for it
immediately. When you get the second YB-400, compare it to the one you
have now. This will give you a definate answer to the shortwave
reception problems.

Pete...

Send the radio to Universal, tell them you believe the radio is defective
and have it checked or just exchange it. If you exchange it, ask them if
they will test the new unit before they send it to you. I don't know if
they'll test a new one out of the box like I suggested but they should.
Universal will exchange the radio for you if it is defective I believe
within 30 days with no penalty. A Sony 7600 may be available from them for
about the same money and even though I have not played with one, I've heard
a lot of good things about it. It also has a sync detector on it which will
help with AM broadcasts.

Keep in mind that the best radio in the world won't make up for a bad
reception area or a bad antenna. The worst radio with the best antenna will
be better than the best radio with the worst antenna. Think of it like
this.... What will a $4000 stereo receiver sound like with $50 speakers?
Maybe I'm elaborating too much but my point is that the antenna is the key.

Just for kicks I picked up my Yaesu VX 5
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/1795.html
(a very small handheld radio/transmitter) which tunes basically from the AM
broadcast band up through the shortwave bands and well beyond the UHF band.
It is also a transmitter. The antenna that I have on it currently is about a
1.5 foot long whip cut for roughly 146 megahertz. It is "electrically" way,
way, way too short for shortwave listening. However, tuning through it now I
pick up some far away stations in Europe and parts unknown. I hear this as I
sit surrounded by all sorts of interference generating devices in my second
story bedroom. This is less ideal than any scenario you have described thus
far and it is for this reason that I believe you may have a bad radio. It
happens sometimes. Again, I'm not sure what city you live in but maybe there
is someone that is on here that lives nearby that could assist you. I would
be more than happy to but I am in Texas and it's just a little bit too far
away from me.

Another suggestion is to see if there are any ham radio stores in the area
you could take the radio by and have them give it a look. Personally I would
contact Universal Radio before your time runs out.

Please don't give up!


"HFguy" wrote in message
news:qZsof.2940$0z.2246@trndny02...
I suggest you buy another YB-400 from a store that will let you return
it for a full refund. Use a credit card so you don't have to pay for it
immediately. When you get the second YB-400, compare it to the one you
have now. This will give you a definate answer to the shortwave
reception problems.

On 15 Dec 2005 21:03:44 -0800, wrote:

David wrote:

You are very mistaken. The YB-400 is a 20 year old design. It lacks
dozens of advanced features found on the E1.

David, I understand that there may be many "features" that the E1 has
that the YB-400 is lacking, but are you saying that at the very core of
the reception issue, the E1 would outperform the YB-400. Out of the
box, if I were to put an E1 next to my YB-400 with the same reel
antenna or a 30ft long wire, would the E1 grab more signals and grab
them more clearly?

As you have undoubtedly read, I don't get even the strongest BBC
signals in the park away from all interference on a good night with the
current YB-400. Do you think I would with the E1?

-P

Without a doubt. The more hostile the environment the more you need a
world class receiver.