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