Sound is in stereo. 18 USING SUPPLEMENTARY ANTENNAS SHORTWAVE ANTENNAS. This radio can be used with basic, long wire antennas and other high impedance shortwave antennas (optimally 500 ohm). The length of a long-wire antenna should be anywhere from about 30-100 feet (10- 30 meters). Best performance is from copper wire. The antenna should be above ground, preferably running in a straight line. Non-conductive insulators should be used on both ends of the wire to prevent signal loss. The wire is plugged into the red colored spring socket, AM,SW ANT., on the back of the radio. Connecting a ground wire to the black spring socket, GND, often helps reception, but is not mandatory. The ground wire should be connected to a cold water pipe or a ground rod. If no water pipe or ground rod is available, connect a wire about the same length as the antenna wire and lay it on the ground. NEVER CONNECT THE GROUND WIRE TO A GAS PIPE. AM ANTENNAS: Any high impedance (opti- mally 500 ohm) AM antenna can be used, includ- ing long-wires and tuned loops. A ground wire, as discussed under SHORTWAVE ANTENNAS, is even more helpful during AM reception and often improves reception considerably, even when no supplementary AM antenna is used. FM ANTENNAS: Connect FM antennas to the FM ANT. CABLE FM socket on the back of the radio. These antennas should have an impedance of 75 ohms. Most antennas fed with coaxial cable are 75 ohm antennas. If your coaxial cable has a ‘F’ plug, like that used on North American TV’s and VCR’s, use a F to PAL converter plug to fit the European style PAL socket on the radio. (Radio Shack part number 278-265). 1918 S350DLOPERATIONMANUALS350DLOPERATIONMANUAL 19 INTRODUCTION TO SHORTWAVE Shortwave enables you to hear stations from around the world. Now that you have a short- wave 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 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 short- 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 excel- lent success. Please read on. wave directory 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 This publication has sepa- rate chapters for English and non-English broad- casts, 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 encompasses 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- wave frequencies in kilohertz, abbreviated KHz. 2120 S350DLOPERATIONMANUALS350DLOPERATIONMANUAL 22 SHORTWAVE BANDS BANDMEGAHERTZ(MHz)KILOHERTZ(KHz)S350DL(asonsomeradios)(asonthemodelS350DL)switchsetting 120 meters 2,300-2,500 MHz 2300-2500 KHz SW1 90 meters 3,20-3,40 MHz 3200-3400 KHz SW1 75 meters 3,90-4,00 MHz 3900-4000 KHz SW1 60 meters 4,750-5,060 MHz 4750-5060 KHz SW1 49 meters 5,950-6,20 MHz 5950-6200 KHz SW1 41 meters 7,10-7,60 MHz 7100-7600 KHz SW1 31 meters 9,20-9,90 MHz 9500-9900 KHz SW2 25 meters 11,600-12,200 MHz 11600-12100 KHz SW2 22 meters 13,570-13,870 MHz 13570-13870 KHz SW2 19 meters 15,10-15,80 MHz 15100-15800 KHz SW2 16 meters 17,480-17,90 MHz 17480-17900 KHz SW3 13 meters 21,450-21,850 MHz 21450-21850 KHz SW3 11 meters 25,60-26,10 MHz 25600-26100 KHz SW3 10 meters 26,96...