Eton E100 operation manual Shortwave Listening Guide, Introduction

E100 OPERATION MANUAL

12SHORTWAVE LISTENING GUIDE

UNDERSTANDING SHORTWAVE BANDS:

THE KEY TO ENJOYING YOUR SHORTWAVE RADIO

Introduction

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 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.

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 66-108 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 your tuning buttons (or the tuning knob on an analog radio) 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.

SHORTWAVE LISTENING GUIDE continued

For example,the 19 meter shortwave band encompasses the frequency range of 15100 to 15600 kilohertz. In the chart below 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. Look at your radio’s tuning scale or digital display (or owner’s manual) to determine which frequency designation it uses in shortwave.Most radios use the abbreviationsKHz and MHz. On some shortwaveradios these frequencies will look like 15100 KHz, 15105 KHz or 15110 KHz, but on other radios they might look like this: 15.1 MHz, 15.105 MHz or 15.11 MHz. That’sbecause some radios show frequencies as kilohertz and others show the frequencies as megahertz, as in the accompanying table.The exact frequency ranges for these bands may vary somewhat from one radio model to another.This is perfectly OK. On some radios the bands are clearly marked, on others they are not marked at all. If it is not apparent how to get into a band on your radio,consult the owner’s manual, the etón Corporation web site (www.etoncorp.com)or contact etó Corporation and we’ll show you how this is done for your model.

A HELPFUL ANALOGY: a shortwave band is like a street with many individual addresses on it.

Think of a shortwave band as you would a street with a full range of individual addresses on it, each address is a specific frequency.The 19 meter band could be called 19 Meter Street. As on any street, we have a range of addresses encompassing individual house numbers such as 15100, 15105, 15110, etc., each of these house numbers representing an individual house that you could visit on the street. In the 19 meter shortwave band, these ‘addresses’ or ‘house numbers’ are called frequencies and on each frequency you might visit a different short- wave radio station.

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