Thanks for all these suggestions, guys. And fyi I am not an
international wimins, I am a displaced American living in Canada and
dying, dying, dying with the awful radio stations up here. My husband
is from France and he too is dying with the radio. I work for a US
company out of my home, which is why I am not interested in using my
computer as a stereo receiver. I am, however, very interested in in the
Sony ICF-SW7600GR. We will only be looking to pick up major NY and
major France stations, no obscure stuff. As we are pretty clueless to
doing this, is it a big deal to FIND the channels we want once we turn
on the radio? I mean, do we just have to scan at will to find them, or
is there a code for each station?
Amy

In article . com,
"Amy" wrote:

Thanks for all these suggestions, guys. And fyi I am not an
international wimins, I am a displaced American living in Canada and
dying, dying, dying with the awful radio stations up here. My husband
is from France and he too is dying with the radio. I work for a US
company out of my home, which is why I am not interested in using my
computer as a stereo receiver. I am, however, very interested in in
the Sony ICF-SW7600GR. We will only be looking to pick up major NY
and major France stations, no obscure stuff. As we are pretty
clueless to doing this, is it a big deal to FIND the channels we want
once we turn on the radio? I mean, do we just have to scan at will to
find them, or is there a code for each station?

Short wave listening takes more effort than the AM, FM broadcast bands
because stations are on different frequencies at different times. Short
wave broadcasters transmit from different parts of the world to
different regions so you will need to either purchase or surf the
Internet for schedules to your area. Even though you can pick up
broadcasts meant for different parts of the world it takes better
equipment and antennas than the portable you are considering.

The Sony ICF-SW7600GR is an excellent portable.

You need to check out the schedules meant for your area so signals are
strong and have the programming you want to hear. You should be able to
get programming in French without a problem at different times of the
day and evening as Radio Canada and of course France broadcast in
French. You also have Canada's domestic service in english on short
wave.

If you find a particular short wave broadcaster you like they usually
have complete frequency and program schedules that you can print out.

Two popular guides to short wave broadcast listening are Passport to
World Band Radio 2006 and World Radio TV Handbook 2006. They are
printed guides and some of the information goes out of date so if you
find a discrepancy goto that broadcasters web site for up dates.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/bk_swl.html

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Amy wrote:
Thanks for all these suggestions, guys. And fyi I am not an
international wimins, I am a displaced American living in Canada and
dying, dying, dying with the awful radio stations up here. My husband
is from France and he too is dying with the radio. I work for a US
company out of my home, which is why I am not interested in using my
computer as a stereo receiver. I am, however, very interested in in the
Sony ICF-SW7600GR. We will only be looking to pick up major NY and
major France stations, no obscure stuff. As we are pretty clueless to
doing this, is it a big deal to FIND the channels we want once we turn
on the radio? I mean, do we just have to scan at will to find them, or
is there a code for each station?
Amy

http://www.passband.com/pdf_files/GettingStarted.pdf

On 25 Apr 2006 13:46:59 -0700, "Amy" wrote:

Thanks for all these suggestions, guys. And fyi I am not an
international wimins, I am a displaced American living in Canada and
dying, dying, dying with the awful radio stations up here. My husband
is from France and he too is dying with the radio. I work for a US
company out of my home, which is why I am not interested in using my
computer as a stereo receiver. I am, however, very interested in in the
Sony ICF-SW7600GR. We will only be looking to pick up major NY and
major France stations, no obscure stuff. As we are pretty clueless to
doing this, is it a big deal to FIND the channels we want once we turn
on the radio? I mean, do we just have to scan at will to find them, or
is there a code for each station?
Amy

http://siriuscanada.ca/

Amy wrote:
We will only be looking to pick up major NY and
major France stations, no obscure stuff.

Just curious...what type of programming are you hoping to receive?

Dear Ms. Amy,

In my opinion the best source for "how to listen to shortwave" is the
book PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO by Larry Magne; it is available very
inexpensively from Amazon.com as well as other dealers. It is published
yearly in October so you might want to wait for the next edition unless
the money involved (less than $20.00) is not a deterrent. I buy it
every year.

Another most useful book which I also buy yearly is the WORLD RADIO-TV
HANDBOOK, also available from Amazon.com and other places. This is
particularly useful for station information, both Medium Wave (the
regular AM band) and Short Wave (and FM and TV to boot).

The most convenient and up-to-date sources for station schedules are on
the web: PrimeTimeShortwave, the ILG, Eibi, and a few others.
RadioIntel.com is an extremely useful site which, among many other
things, has lots of links to useful radio sites.

I do not know where in Canada you are located, but the Sony
ICF-SW7600GR is particularly sensitive on the Medium Wave band. If it
is necessary to "enhance" its MW reception, I have found that a
Select-A-Tenna (available from C. Crane Company and other dealers) is
quite useful, especially if the radio and the Select-A-Tenna are put on
a "lazy susan." This allows the "directional" characteristics of the
radio and the antenna to be maximized. You should be able to hear the
stronger NY radio stations if you live in the east of Canada or its
mid-west.

Radio France (in English) is an easy "catch" though generally only in
the daytime or in the middle of the night.

If you like music, there is no end to it, especially exotic music on
the "tropical bands" (4750 - 5025 kHz) and from some of the African
countries.

I think that, with this radio and the FM transmitter I mentioned to
send the signals to your stereo, you will find an abundance of
stimulating and thought-provoking broadcasts.

I wish you the very best of luck.

Joe

This thread has been an interesting lesson in perspective, huh? When
we the shortwave group heard that Amy loved "foreign radio stations", I
think we all naturally thought that she had in mind the sort of
programming that we in this group tend to enjoy: Radio Netherlands, V.
of Vietnam, Radio Transoxiana...or take your pick.

I don't think that NYC top 40 stations came to mind, although I suppose
that, given the existence of an international boundary between NYC and
her location in Canada, such stations are "foreign radio".

In any case, given the sort of thing that she's wanting to receive,
there are probably better options out there for her than shortwave
radio, even if there is the chance that she might in some odd instances
stumble across a transmission of the type of music that she enjoys.

Also, her interest is exclusively in the music...and, let's face it, if
she has even a remotely discriminating ear, then the type of audio
quality that can be expected with a shortwave transmission is likely
going to disappoint. Sure, we in this group love shortwave, and many
of us enjoy listening to music over this medium, despite its very
audible limitations.

In article . com,
"junius" wrote:

This thread has been an interesting lesson in perspective, huh? When
we the shortwave group heard that Amy loved "foreign radio stations", I
think we all naturally thought that she had in mind the sort of
programming that we in this group tend to enjoy: Radio Netherlands, V.
of Vietnam, Radio Transoxiana...or take your pick.

I don't think that NYC top 40 stations came to mind, although I suppose
that, given the existence of an international boundary between NYC and
her location in Canada, such stations are "foreign radio".

In any case, given the sort of thing that she's wanting to receive,
there are probably better options out there for her than shortwave
radio, even if there is the chance that she might in some odd instances
stumble across a transmission of the type of music that she enjoys.

Also, her interest is exclusively in the music...and, let's face it, if
she has even a remotely discriminating ear, then the type of audio
quality that can be expected with a shortwave transmission is likely
going to disappoint. Sure, we in this group love shortwave, and many
of us enjoy listening to music over this medium, despite its very
audible limitations.

I thought she wanted broadcasts in French for her husband.

"My husband is from France and he too is dying with the radio."

"I am, however, very interested in the Sony ICF-SW7600GR."

"We will only be looking to pick up major NY and major France stations,
no obscure stuff."

Based on these quotes and by golly the fact that she posted in
rec.radio.shortwave, I would make the assumption that she is actually
interested in short wave reception.

Now I know it will be a novel concept to some that posting here
indicates an actual interest in short wave but its true!

You are supposed to post news and information germane to the news
group. This might be a hard fact for the satellite Trolls to swallow
but that is how Usenet is supposed to work.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California