Introduction to Shortwave, Finding Desired Stations

S350DL OWNER’S MANUAL

19 INTRODUCTION TO SHORTWAVE

Shortwave enables you to hear stations from around the world. Now that you have a shortwave radio, no doubt you’ll want to hear

worldwide stations right away. If you’re new to shortwave, please take some time to learn the basics outlined below. To successfully listen to shortwave stations you must know how to find

them. They are found in the shortwave ‘bands’. If you’re an experienced shortwave listener, you’ll already know what bands are and how to use them, but if you’re new, you’ll need to learn about bands first. After that, you will have excellent success. Please read on.

20 FINDING DESIRED STATIONS

HOW TO IDENTIFY WHAT YOU’RE LISTENING TO AND HOW TO FIND STATIONS THAT YOU WANT TO HEAR

We recommend the use of a comprehensive shortwave directory, especially if you want to hear specific countries or to identify the station you’re listening to. Such a directory will alphabetically list the countries broadcasting on shortwave, showing their language, target area, broadcast time, and frequency that is used. The best shortwave direc-

tory is PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, available in major bookstores. Published by International Broadcasting Services, Ltd., Box 300, Penn’s Park, Pennsylvania 18943 or available at www.passband. com. This publication has separate chapters for Eng- lish and non-English broadcasts, titled World-Wide Broadcasts In English and Voices From Home.

21 WHAT ARE BANDS?

TO FULLY ENJOY SHORTWAVE LISTENING, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT TO LEARN RIGHT AWAY.

If you have ever listened to AM or FM radio, then you already know what a band is. The AM band is a frequency range stretching form 530 to 1600 kilohertz, the FM band is 88-108 megahertz. A band is simply a frequency range where stations are located. When you look for stations in these ‘bands’, you simply tune around with the tuning knob until you find a station you like. Shortwave is similar and the shortwave bands have names like 25 meters,

31 meters, 49 meters, etc. These are abbreviated

25m, 31m and 49m. Just like in AM and FM radio, one simply gets into the shortwave band and tunes around, looking for stations.

For example, the 19 meter shortwave band encom- passes the frequency range of 15100 to 15600 kilohertz. On the next page is a list of the shortwave bands used for international shortwave broadcasts and their corresponding frequency ranges. Since some radios show frequency in megahertz and some in kilohertz, both are shown here. The S350DL shows short