Red Wave Radio

Please forgive me if these questions seem way too easy...but  I'm a newbie at
SWLing...

I noticed in the owner's book for my Grundig YB400PE there is a list of bands
and the frequencies contained in those bands.

In the manual for the Sangean 818, there is a different listing of bands with
some varying frequencies.

Is there some "standard, official" listing of the various SW bands and their
frequencies, or is this something left up to each manufacturer???

Secondly, I read somewhere on how to make a very basic wire antenna extension
for the whip antenna on the radio, using alligator clips.  Could someone just
tell me what type of wire to use, where/whether it should be stripped, etc.

Thanks for your patience.

Linda
Pennsylvania

Linda -- The Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) define the shortwave broadcast bands.
These can be seen at URL:
http://www.hamuniverse.com/swguide.html

Includes the the WARC-92 agreements and broadcast band expansions used on a
non-interfering basis.

For the antenna extension -- you can use any type of wire. I prefer standard
lamp cord -- just zip apart the two wires and use one of them for the
extension -- no need to strip the entire wire. Just strip off a half inch of
insulation or so to attach to the alligator clip.

Reason I like lamp cord is it has stranded wire -- very flexible and doesn't
get all tangled into knots -- rolls up easily for storage. No need to get
the larger gauge -- small gauge lamp cord will work fine --  Number 18 AWG
or smaller. Wire gauge sizes at URL:
http://home.mchsi.com/~gweidner/extension-cords.pdf

--
Incognito By Necessity (:-(

If you can't convince them, confuse them.
- - -Harry S Truman

Quote:> Please forgive me if these questions seem way too easy...but  I'm a newbie
at
> SWLing...

> I noticed in the owner's book for my Grundig YB400PE there is a list of
bands
> and the frequencies contained in those bands.

> In the manual for the Sangean 818, there is a different listing of bands
with
> some varying frequencies.

> Is there some "standard, official" listing of the various SW bands and
their
> frequencies, or is this something left up to each manufacturer???

> Secondly, I read somewhere on how to make a very basic wire antenna
extension
> for the whip antenna on the radio, using alligator clips.  Could someone
just
> tell me what type of wire to use, where/whether it should be stripped,
etc.

> Thanks for your patience.

> Linda
> Pennsylvania

You might consider getting a portable "reel" antenna.
23 ft, plugs into the radio or attaches to the whip.
A clip at the far end can be used to attach it to a window
frame, etc.
Sangean ANT-60
$12.95 plus shipping at
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3184.html
(possibly slow to ship, people have different experiences buying from
Universal. I've had good service from them)
$14.99 plus shipping at http://www.amazon.com
(ships fast, but last year it was about $13.50 there)
This type antenna improves weaker stations to some
degree, and it's tremedously handy for travelling.
There are tons of antenna ideas you can make for yourself.
And I have a feeling you're about to see quite a few posted
here : )

Quote:> Please forgive me if these questions seem way too easy...but  I'm a newbie at
> SWLing...

> I noticed in the owner's book for my Grundig YB400PE there is a list of bands
> and the frequencies contained in those bands.

> In the manual for the Sangean 818, there is a different listing of bands with
> some varying frequencies.

> Is there some "standard, official" listing of the various SW bands and their
> frequencies, or is this something left up to each manufacturer???

> Secondly, I read somewhere on how to make a very basic wire antenna extension
> for the whip antenna on the radio, using alligator clips.  Could someone just
> tell me what type of wire to use, where/whether it should be stripped, etc.

> Thanks for your patience.

> Linda
> Pennsylvania

Hi Linda:
I agree with everyone, but ..
IF you really love to camp, you have unlimited space for lonnnng beverage type
antennas.
- Just take a spool of Radio Shack insulated, stranded wire & unreel 100 feet
in a convenient direction..
THEN
Hook one end ou to your SWR,
Turn it on & Voila !!
MANY MANY stations...

You might also get " Passport To Worldband Radio"
That has frequencies galore listed in it.
& You'll be surprised at what you can pick up off the whip once you're away
from Civilization..

But Wait!! Theres More ! !

If you get up with the dawn, whilst firing up your small camping stove to make
Coffee,
you can pick up all sorts of AM Stations wavering off in the distance.. really
neat stuff you can do whilst camping / Out in the RF Free country

- So enjoy  !

Dan

LOTS of good advice.
One comment: while the official bands are set, any one of the frequencies in
it might be  in use by a station at any time, and stations change their
frequency often to avoid intereference or to take advantage of propogation.
You will also find a lot of stations outside the official bands. The
frequencies posted in manufacturers' manuals are just a guide to help you
identify stations you hear. There are many lists on the internet that are
more current, and of course people here are always ready to help identify
something you can't identify.

You will also find that listening conditions (propogation) changes from
minute to minute and that there are differences between times of day and
various seasons. You may also find that conditions are dismal. You just have
to wait it out.  I hope you enjoy your listening and make many exciting
discoveries.

Strength and Honor

Quote:> You might consider getting a portable "reel" antenna.
> 23 ft, plugs into the radio or attaches to the whip.
> A clip at the far end can be used to attach it to a window
> frame, etc.
> Sangean ANT-60

I bought one of those to go with my DX-398, mostly just to avoid having
to figure out how the external antenna connection was supposed to be
wired.  Unless you have a funky antenna connector on the radio, I'd say
just get a small spool of wire and attach it to the whip antenna.  Most
people probably have something laying around the house that would work
fine.  The fancy, wind-up spool thing really isn't worth the money.

Quote:> $12.95 plus shipping at
> http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3184.html
> (possibly slow to ship, people have different experiences buying from
> Universal. I've had good service from them)

That's where I got my ANT-60. They shipped almost immediately, and that
was during the Christmas season.

  -- Jay

Thanks to all of you for the terrific replies!

I'll reply to them all here in one post:

1)  I do already have the PASSPORT book; but it really didn't answer these two
questions.  A great programming guide and product reveiewer nonetheless.

2)  Yes, we do LOVE to camp!  In fact we are campground hosts at a state park,
and get to stay there for 4 weeks at a time.  But the coffeemaker is
inside...we have a "hybrid travel trailer"  1/2 popup, 1/2 trailer.  But I
still love those campfires.

3)  The Grundig YB400 that I will now be selling came with a reel-type antenna.
 It never did a thing - I could plug it in, extend it, and never tell a
difference.  I think I'll go with the wire-clippy kind.

4)  Thanks for the link to the hamuniverse web site- what a great web site!  I
printed up the list of "official" bands and I think I understand it better now.

Just received my Sangean ATS818ACS yesterday.  I got it from Amazon.com for
$189.00 w/free shipping.  The sound is  better than the YB, and there is
definitely more volume which I needed.  I only need to turn the volume to
less-than-the-halfway point and it's more than loud enough, with very good
sound.  The FM band on the YB sounded great, but I wasn't satisfied with the
rest.

I'll have to figure out how to use the SSB on the radio.  There is also a know
for gain control - what is that actually controlling???  I notice too that
there is NO DX/local switch like there is on the YB.  Much nicer display and
light (the light on the YB is almost useless).

The AM ("MW")  reception is probably the same as the YB, but the annoying hum I
had in the YB is gone!   Yippee!!!

I really think this was the radio for me...now I will be finding a new home for
the YB.

Thanks-Linda

I also found that the Sangean Ant-60 wan't really worth the bother; only a
slight boost in signal noticed.
( the SONY AN-LP1 Is a Very Good travel antenna)
BUT:
Iffen your camping out, go with a 100 + ft roll of whatever wires around....
400 feet should Really help with the very faintest of stations..

One technique that helps with tuning SSB is to choose the direction of
tuning, according to whether it's a USB or LSB signal. If the station is
on USB, start with the tuning a little below the station frequency and
slowly go upward until the audio is intelligible. Do the opposite for
LSB (tune downward, starting from above). For example, if you want to
hear something on 14350-USB, start at about 14345 and fine tune upward.
For a station on 3975-LSB, start around 3980 and slowly tune downward.
If you're not sure whether the signal is USB or LSB, try both
directions.

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While more antenna is a good thing, I find the low RFI in the woods means you can get reasonable results with just about any antenna.  

Low background noise also means active antennas are more useful than they would be at home.  

My current camping antenna is a 3 meter active whip with a 30db preamp.  

I generally use 10db of attenuation when I'm below 9mhz, but it works great!

An advantage to this antenna is I can set it up or take it down in a couple minutes.