Jeff wrote:
Well, I just bought my first SW receiver and I have very little
experience with listening to SW.

For a start, I am looking for a few higher-powered and good quality
stations to make sure everything is working properly and to set the
standard (for me) for decent reception. Can someone post a few of the
better stations, frequencies, and best listening times? I am located in
eastern Canada.

Thanks
Google is wonderful, download ShortWaveLog program, it has tons on good
information, you will have to spend a few minutes get it's data from
various sources but well worth the time and effort.

I'll just list a few reliabe stationd
tat are usually heard without a problem on the East Coast of NA.
Hours are Local EST)

BBC 5975 khz. (evenings)
WBCQ Maine)
5110 khz (Evenings)
7415 khz) Late Afternoons & eves)
9330 khz. (eves

R. Havana Cuba
6000 khz (eves)

Also if you Gogle Primetime Shortwave they have
a regularly updated list of stations to download.

Hint : Depending on your receiver you can put your favorite frequencies
in memory so you can check them regularly.

Remember propagation may prevent you from receiving stations at some
times.

Charlie
Essex, Maryland

Jeff:

Check http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/ for a comprehensive schedule (based on UTC, coordinated universal time).

Try WWV and WWVH:
5000 / 10000 / 15000 / 20000 khz. Lower frequencies at night, higher frequencies during the day.

Next I'd recommend learning what the broadcast bands are, and try scanning through them. On this Wikipedia page, see the section labeled ITU Frequency Allocation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave

Good luck and let us know what you find. I'm also curious about which radio you have.