Hello Everyone,

I am new to SW listening.

The few times I have heard SW, I assumed that the BBC was the only
broadcasting station.

My dad used his SONY ICF-2002, to pick up the BBC news in the mornings.

(So.. I never used to trouble the controls)

Much later, the AC adpter got damaged & he stopped listening to the
BBC. (I believe he mentioned the SONY ate batteries)

It gathered dust for a while, & then I tried using it with an
adjustable, DC voltage adapter & realised there was nothing wrong with
the radio itself.

Since then, I learnt:

1. The BBC isn't the only broadcast station on SW.

2. Signal reception would be improved if I learnt how to build a better
antenna.

3. I should really return the radio w/DC adapter to my dad so he could
listen to the BBC again.


So I bought a Kaito KA1102 portable radio last November 2005.

Initially I was thrilled.

Then after the excitement of owning my own wore off (i.e. about a month
of SW listening), I suddenly noticed that whether operated on battery
or Adapter:

1. A high pitched whistle on the local FM station.


2. A warbling, high pitched whistle on the SW bands.

NOTE:
I am resident in South America.

Within my neighbourhood, two people use broadcasting radio sets to
contact their inland business operations & two taxi service bases
operate near my home.


The whistle is sometimes so loud that it overpowers the voice tones of
the announcers... which is very annoying.


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.


I would really like to understand what causes this problem in my KAITO
KA1102 and what I should do to correct it. (i.e. Preferably before I
return the SONY to my dad)


I believe that if I can resolve this problem I will have a great
portable radio.

My dad's SONY ICF-2002 has been around for years, and except for the
adapter issue and some whip antenna wiggle, gives no trouble today.

Your suggestions on my KAITO 1102, (i.e. besides shipping it back to
the Manufacturer's) would be most helpful.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

On 9 Jan 2006 07:31:55 -0800, wrote:

Hello Everyone,

I am new to SW listening.

The few times I have heard SW, I assumed that the BBC was the only
broadcasting station.

My dad used his SONY ICF-2002, to pick up the BBC news in the mornings.

(So.. I never used to trouble the controls)

Much later, the AC adpter got damaged & he stopped listening to the
BBC. (I believe he mentioned the SONY ate batteries)

It gathered dust for a while, & then I tried using it with an
adjustable, DC voltage adapter & realised there was nothing wrong with
the radio itself.

Since then, I learnt:

1. The BBC isn't the only broadcast station on SW.

2. Signal reception would be improved if I learnt how to build a better
antenna.

3. I should really return the radio w/DC adapter to my dad so he could
listen to the BBC again.


So I bought a Kaito KA1102 portable radio last November 2005.

Initially I was thrilled.

Then after the excitement of owning my own wore off (i.e. about a month
of SW listening), I suddenly noticed that whether operated on battery
or Adapter:

1. A high pitched whistle on the local FM station.


2. A warbling, high pitched whistle on the SW bands.

NOTE:
I am resident in South America.

Within my neighbourhood, two people use broadcasting radio sets to
contact their inland business operations & two taxi service bases
operate near my home.


The whistle is sometimes so loud that it overpowers the voice tones of
the announcers... which is very annoying.


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.


I would really like to understand what causes this problem in my KAITO
KA1102 and what I should do to correct it. (i.e. Preferably before I
return the SONY to my dad)


I believe that if I can resolve this problem I will have a great
portable radio.

My dad's SONY ICF-2002 has been around for years, and except for the
adapter issue and some whip antenna wiggle, gives no trouble today.

Your suggestions on my KAITO 1102, (i.e. besides shipping it back to
the Manufacturer's) would be most helpful.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Make sure the SSB is OFF. Try Narrow Bandwidth.

On 9 Jan 2006 07:31:55 -0800, wrote:

Hello Everyone,

...........


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Have you tried the radio several miles away from your house? If there
is no whistle away from home, then at least you know it is a noise
generated in your neighborhood.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.

If there is no whistle when you turn the radio on, but then after a
short while it comes back, it sounds like the problem may be with the
radio.



Also, have you tried the radio with and without batteries? That would
tell you whether it is something coming over your AC power lines.

Bob
k5qwg


Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Almost sounds to me like electrical noise/interference coming from somewhere
nearby. I've had this problem as well. I tried not using the AC adapter that
came with it, that helped somewhat. If I'm running appliances within 20 feet
of my KA-1102 (like the dishwasher, computer, modem, etc.) I hear the
buzzing you're describing.

My Christmas tree's lights made for a nice rhythmic buzz over the holidays.
Had to turn them off each time I wanted to listen to my radio.

I would try taking the radio to an electrically-quiet area (like an empty
beach, hilltop, or somewhere like that) and then see if you can hear these
noises.

Good luck!

Jackie

Bob Miller wrote:
On 9 Jan 2006 07:31:55 -0800, wrote:

Hello Everyone,

...........


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Have you tried the radio several miles away from your house? If there
is no whistle away from home, then at least you know it is a noise
generated in your neighborhood.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.

If there is no whistle when you turn the radio on, but then after a
short while it comes back, it sounds like the problem may be with the
radio.



Also, have you tried the radio with and without batteries? That would
tell you whether it is something coming over your AC power lines.

Bob
k5qwg


Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Thank you for responding Bob,

Your suggestion (i.e. operating the radio with and without batteries),
is well documented within the radio community.

Before writing to rec.radio.shortwave, I tried it with no change in
reception.

Over the weekend, I will try operating the radio several miles away
from my neighbourhood to rule out spurious signals specific to my area.

BTW...
Is trying different SW antennas using the KAITO 1102's external antenna
jack capable of damaging anything?

Prior to encountering my KAITO's problem, I have separately tried the
following:

1. Winding the included external antenna around different forms (i.e.
metal & PVC)

2. Connecting a 75 ohm coaxial cable via a plug similar to the antenna
plug.

3. Using a TV signal booster + some coaxial cable connectors + 15 ft of
cable in the hope that it would improve reception. (that was only
mildly successful, but the radio functioned w/o issue even after that)

4. Using longer lengths of non-coaxial wire.

I also tried wrapping sections of the whip antenna with aluminium foil.


The hurtful thing is... the 1st month after removing my KAITO 1102 from
the packaging, it intially worked without this noise.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Buzzygirl wrote:
Almost sounds to me like electrical noise/interference coming from somewhere
nearby. I've had this problem as well. I tried not using the AC adapter that
came with it, that helped somewhat. If I'm running appliances within 20 feet
of my KA-1102 (like the dishwasher, computer, modem, etc.) I hear the
buzzing you're describing.

My Christmas tree's lights made for a nice rhythmic buzz over the holidays.
Had to turn them off each time I wanted to listen to my radio.

I would try taking the radio to an electrically-quiet area (like an empty
beach, hilltop, or somewhere like that) and then see if you can hear these
noises.

Good luck!

Jackie

Hello Jackie,

Your post is very comforting (i.e. Suggesting that there is nothing
wrong with my radio), and it also gave me an idea.

I will try another AC-DC Adapter, and I'll also try turning off the
building's MAIN electrical switch. (i.e. That'll make for an
electrically-quiet area)

I also hope for both our sakes, a knowledgeable SW radio group member
can suggest a workaround that doesn't require us to go to such drastic
extremes.

Thanks for responding.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Noise on FM is kind of strange due to the capture ratio of the radio,
i.e. it should be reject noise. I'd expect the noise source to be very
close. FM radios aren't hard to find. Try a second radio in the same
location and see if you get the same noise.

wrote:
Hello Everyone,

I am new to SW listening.

The few times I have heard SW, I assumed that the BBC was the only
broadcasting station.

My dad used his SONY ICF-2002, to pick up the BBC news in the mornings.

(So.. I never used to trouble the controls)

Much later, the AC adpter got damaged & he stopped listening to the
BBC. (I believe he mentioned the SONY ate batteries)

It gathered dust for a while, & then I tried using it with an
adjustable, DC voltage adapter & realised there was nothing wrong with
the radio itself.

Since then, I learnt:

1. The BBC isn't the only broadcast station on SW.

2. Signal reception would be improved if I learnt how to build a better
antenna.

3. I should really return the radio w/DC adapter to my dad so he could
listen to the BBC again.


So I bought a Kaito KA1102 portable radio last November 2005.

Initially I was thrilled.

Then after the excitement of owning my own wore off (i.e. about a month
of SW listening), I suddenly noticed that whether operated on battery
or Adapter:

1. A high pitched whistle on the local FM station.


2. A warbling, high pitched whistle on the SW bands.

NOTE:
I am resident in South America.

Within my neighbourhood, two people use broadcasting radio sets to
contact their inland business operations & two taxi service bases
operate near my home.


The whistle is sometimes so loud that it overpowers the voice tones of
the announcers... which is very annoying.


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.


I would really like to understand what causes this problem in my KAITO
KA1102 and what I should do to correct it. (i.e. Preferably before I
return the SONY to my dad)


I believe that if I can resolve this problem I will have a great
portable radio.

My dad's SONY ICF-2002 has been around for years, and except for the
adapter issue and some whip antenna wiggle, gives no trouble today.

Your suggestions on my KAITO 1102, (i.e. besides shipping it back to
the Manufacturer's) would be most helpful.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Hello Yerodin,

Did you check the same frenquencies with the Sony radio ? (the previous posts do
not mentioned such try). If you have the whistle on the Sony too, the problem is
not in the radio.

About the antenna, you can give a try to a very simple antenna :
- coax feed line maid out from a piece of TV coax
- two thin wires, one connected to the center line of the coax,
the other connected to the shield.

You extend the two wires in opposite directions and it makes a portable random
dipole. Mine is about 5m fully extended, just because I had this length of wire.
No computation or studies to match specific frequency or having right impedance.
In buildings made of iron structure, I put it on a window with adhesive tape, or
let it hanging outside, trying to keep the two wires apparts.

This greatly improved my reception on all bands. I must say I tried mainly in
the lower bands in frequency (F = 15000 kHz) since I'm mostly listening at
night. MUCH BETTER than the piece of random wire.

I'm interested in your experience since I'm planning to buy this Kaito 1102 some
day as a smaller travelling radio than my current Sangean 909.

Charly

Charly wrote:
Hello Yerodin,

Did you check the same frenquencies with the Sony radio ? (the previous posts do
not mentioned such try). If you have the whistle on the Sony too, the problem is
not in the radio.

About the antenna, you can give a try to a very simple antenna :
- coax feed line maid out from a piece of TV coax
- two thin wires, one connected to the center line of the coax,
the other connected to the shield.

You extend the two wires in opposite directions and it makes a portable random
dipole. Mine is about 5m fully extended, just because I had this length of wire.
No computation or studies to match specific frequency or having right impedance.
In buildings made of iron structure, I put it on a window with adhesive tape, or
let it hanging outside, trying to keep the two wires apparts.

This greatly improved my reception on all bands. I must say I tried mainly in
the lower bands in frequency (F = 15000 kHz) since I'm mostly listening at
night. MUCH BETTER than the piece of random wire.

I'm interested in your experience since I'm planning to buy this Kaito 1102 some
day as a smaller travelling radio than my current Sangean 909.

Charly

Thanks for responding Charly,

I did simultaneously check the same frenquencies with the Sony radio...
and there was no whistle (i.e. mosquito buzzing) noticeable from the
Sony.

I do greatly appreciate the instructions on building the "portable
random dipole", & will save what you said and try it later.

FYI, I have been researching what some radio websites call a
"broomstick antenna".

It basically consists of a length on non-conductive form (e.g.
broomstick or PVC conduit), around which a number of turns of wire are
wound.

Technical information (i.e. that made sense to me) was initially scarce
until I found this gem:

" Wound on a 3 foot length of PVC pipe, the long loopstick antenna was
an experiment to try to improve AM radio reception without using a long
wire or ground. It works fairly well and greatly improved reception of
a weak station 130 miles away.

A longer rod antenna will probably work better if space allows. The
number of turns of wire needed for the loopstick can be worked out from
the single layer, air core inductance formula:

Inductance = (radius^2 * turns^2) / ((9*radius)+(10*length))

where dimensions are in inches and inductance is in microhenrys.

The inductance should be about 230 microhenrys to operate with a
standard AM radio tuning capacitor (33-330 pF). The 3 foot PVC pipe is
wound with approximately 500 evenly spaced turns of #24 copper wire
which forms an inductor of about 170 microhenrys, but I (i.e. the
author) ended up with a little more (213uH) because the winding spacing
wasn't exactly even.

A secondary coil of about 50 turns is wound along the length of the
pipe on top of the primary and then connected to 4 turns of wire wound
directly around the radio. The
windings around the radio are orientated so that the radio's internal
antenna rod passes through the external windings.

A better method of coupling would be to wind a few turns directly
around the internal rod antenna inside the radio itself, but you would
have to open the radio to do that. In operation, the antenna should be
horizontal to the ground and at right angles to the direction of the
radio station of interest.

Tune the radio to a weak station so you can hear a definite amount of
noise, and then tune the antenna capacitor and rotate the antenna for
the best response."


Quoted from Mr. Bill Bowden's web site, on which there is also a
pictu

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...wden/page2.htm


Although I didn't see any reference to using the radio's external
antenna jack, I was grateful for:

1. The entire explanation.

2. The explanation that an antenna tuner, is a a standard AM radio
tuning capacitor. (he included values)

3. The diagram.

4. The formula.

For my dad's radio, I plan on combining this information with data from
these two websites:

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...al/broom3.html

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../bromstik.html



I will build one for myself, whenever I figure out what's the fix for
my KAITO 1102.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie
Yerodin P.

wrote:
Noise on FM is kind of strange due to the capture ratio of the radio,
i.e. it should be reject noise. I'd expect the noise source to be very
close. FM radios aren't hard to find. Try a second radio in the same
location and see if you get the same noise.


wrote:
Hello Everyone,

I am new to SW listening.

The few times I have heard SW, I assumed that the BBC was the only
broadcasting station.

My dad used his SONY ICF-2002, to pick up the BBC news in the mornings.

(So.. I never used to trouble the controls)

Much later, the AC adpter got damaged & he stopped listening to the
BBC. (I believe he mentioned the SONY ate batteries)

It gathered dust for a while, & then I tried using it with an
adjustable, DC voltage adapter & realised there was nothing wrong with
the radio itself.

Since then, I learnt:

1. The BBC isn't the only broadcast station on SW.

2. Signal reception would be improved if I learnt how to build a better
antenna.

3. I should really return the radio w/DC adapter to my dad so he could
listen to the BBC again.


So I bought a Kaito KA1102 portable radio last November 2005.

Initially I was thrilled.

Then after the excitement of owning my own wore off (i.e. about a month
of SW listening), I suddenly noticed that whether operated on battery
or Adapter:

1. A high pitched whistle on the local FM station.


2. A warbling, high pitched whistle on the SW bands.

NOTE:
I am resident in South America.

Within my neighbourhood, two people use broadcasting radio sets to
contact their inland business operations & two taxi service bases
operate near my home.


The whistle is sometimes so loud that it overpowers the voice tones of
the announcers... which is very annoying.


The manual didn't say anything about high pitched whistles, and I have
tried moving to different locations at home (i.e. where I got good
reception before), all to no avail.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen all the time during a sitting, so I just
turn the radio OFF, pause for a bit and then turn it back ON.

That works.... for a short while.


I would really like to understand what causes this problem in my KAITO
KA1102 and what I should do to correct it. (i.e. Preferably before I
return the SONY to my dad)


I believe that if I can resolve this problem I will have a great
portable radio.

My dad's SONY ICF-2002 has been around for years, and except for the
adapter issue and some whip antenna wiggle, gives no trouble today.

Your suggestions on my KAITO 1102, (i.e. besides shipping it back to
the Manufacturer's) would be most helpful.

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie,
Yerodin P.

Hello ,

Thanks for writing in.

I am unsure of what more competent SW radio fans call "noise".

A "whistle, that sounds like a mosquito buzzing in my ear" is something
I can relate to.

What does noise sound like?

Kindest regards,
SW Newbie
Yerodin P.