CHAPTER 7 .sx Your first short-wave receiver .sx THERE are various ways in which you can equip yourself for short-wave listening .sx It may be possible for you to borrow a small communication receiver for a while from a friendly local amateur who , with a bit of luck , will teach you how to operate the controls .sx He or she will certainly be able to advise you and give you a head start over those who have to find out for themselves .sx The Radio Society of Great Britain can provide you with a list of clubs in your area who will help the beginner .sx Lots of Scout and Guide groups also have radio activities .sx Such assistance may well be available within your neighbourhood and will almost certainly enable you to visit a working station and see for yourself how it is done !sx .sx For the absolute beginner , the thought of building a short-wave radio may be somewhat daunting .sx Nevertheless , this is how many start , with a considerable degree of success due to the availability of simple kits of parts .sx The kits most suitable for your first venture come with detailed instructions on just what to do and how to do it .sx Even though you may not yet understand the circuitry or recognise all the different electronic components , it is amazing how well a few pictures and step-by-step instructions can help you through the project .sx Most kit suppliers appreciate the need to help the beginner and will do all they can to ensure your success , including a little 'trouble shooting' back at their factory should you experience difficulty in getting your kit up and running .sx For short waves , it is essential that all the wiring and connections in the receiver should be soldered .sx For those who have no previous experience with a miniature soldering iron , a glance through the notes in appendix 1 will soon set your mind at rest .sx Like everything else there is a simple knack for doing it right first time , every time .sx To minimise any difficulty , and to get going as cheaply as possible , it is recommended that you first build a simple kit that will receive amateurs on just one of the bands .sx Such a set can be equally as sensitive as a more advanced , multi - band model but has the great advantage that it does not need the switches and the rather complicated wiring necessary to cover all the short waves from 80 to 10 metres .sx Should you have already progressed through the early construction stages or , perhaps , feel unable to make your own receiver , then you will obviously need to acquire a ready-made commercial set .sx The market for short-wave and amateur band equipment is very well supported by manufacturers all over the world and their range covers just about every conceivable type of listening you may require .sx A strong second-hand market is open to anyone who cares to browse through the small advertisements in the radio magazines and some real bargains can be found .sx Your local club will have surplus equipment sales where members dispose of unwanted items .sx These sales are always the most popular and best attended events on the club calendar .sx The 'gear' is usually auctioned amidst much wit and hilarity .sx Prices are often ridiculously low , with most of the 'lots' changing hands for a tiny fraction of their market value .sx To buy yourself a new or second - hand communication receiver , you will need to decide first how much you can afford to pay and then what it is that you intend to do with it .sx Brand-new sets can cost from a few hundred to many thousands of pounds .sx They can be fairly simple but effective designs for use on amateur bands or an 'all-singing-all-dancing' receiver with lots of push buttons and knobs , and capable of high performance in the hands of an expert .sx It is advisable to choose a fairly simple model to get you started .sx Later , it can be traded in for a more advanced receiver or , as is usually the case , kept for many years as a standby set .sx Rely on the advice of your amateur radio retailer and reveal to him that you are a beginner and need help .sx He will usually do all he can to see that you are properly set-up and will be hoping to retain your custom as you progress in the hobby .sx You will probably become firm friends .sx Even the purchase of your bits and pieces on a Saturday morning tends to become a highly sociable and enjoyable experience .sx Should you live too far from your nearest retail shop , then the phone and mail order will see you through .sx Such is the friendly competition within the amateur radio trade , that retailers have perfected the ability to serve their customers at any distance whilst keeping a very personal relationship .sx After all , they will probably work you on the air before long and will certainly be looking forward to meeting you at one of the exhibitions where they set up their stands .sx When buying a ready-made set you will obviously have some operating instructions , although perhaps this manual may be missing in the case of a second-hand set .sx In any case , it might be helpful if you read the next chapter so that you know which are the right knobs to turn and what to expect when you turn them .sx CHAPTER 8 .sx Operating a short-wave receiver .sx TO get the best reception from a short-wave receiver , the new listener needs to have some idea of the function of each of the basic controls on the front and back panels .sx Sitting in front of a short-wave set for the first time , you may feel a little bewildered by the apparent complexity of the many knobs , switches and push buttons .sx However , they all have a useful function , and you will be amazed at how quickly you become accustomed to using the right ones to tune in and hold the signal you require .sx Most factory-built receivers will come to you with a handbook showing how to connect the set up and operate it .sx Always read and try to understand these instructions before you switch on .sx As you may be starting out with a simple model or your homebrew kit , let us take a look at a typical example .sx Simple receiver .sx First , locate the terminal or sockets that are marked 'Aerial' ( or 'ANT' for antenna) .sx If there are several aerial points , they are likely to be marked 'Dipole' , 'Coax' , 'Balanced' or 'Long Wire' .sx Check your handbook and , using a suitable plug or perhaps one of your crocodile clips , connect up your wire aerial to the terminal marked 'LW' for Long Wire if there is some .sx If you have an earth , it goes to the terminal marked 'Ground' .sx The aerial you used for the crystal set should do fine .sx If the receiver is powered by battery , check that you have a good set of batteries in the holder .sx If operated from the mains , make sure that your plug has a low-rated fuse in it , usually one or three amps .sx Plug in , and you are ready to go .sx Hopefully , you will have a built-in loudspeaker .sx If not , then your head - phones will need connecting or plugging into the socket marked 'Phones' .sx By the way , the earpiece you used for the crystal set is not suitable - use ordinary hi-fi headphones , or communications headphones if you can afford them .sx Some sets made for the international market may have the sockets for aerial and earth marked with the symbols that we met in chapter 4 .sx 1 .sx ON/OFF switch .sx The front panel ON/OFF control may be marked 'Power' .sx It may also be either a straightforward switch , or form part of the volume control and require turning on by rotating the knob clockwise .sx You will feel it click on and , with a bit of luck , the dial lights should come on and the receiver should burst into life .sx 2 .sx Volume controls .sx There are usually two volume controls on a communication receiver .sx They are marked 'RF Gain' and 'AF Gain' .sx RF Gain ( radio frequency gain ) adjusts the level of amplification for the 'front-end' of the circuit .sx The AF Gain ( audio frequency gain ) is the same as the simple volume control you would find on all radios and allows you to set the sound at a comfortable level .sx 3 .sx Tuning control .sx To search across the dial there is the familiar tuning control , that could well have two knobs on the one shaft .sx The rear and larger control enables you to tune rapidly to a required band and the smaller one is geared right down so that the operator can fine tune to an exact frequency and centre on the signal perfectly .sx On a simple homebrew model , you will probably have only one tuning control and one gain control .sx You will need to practise setting them carefully and gently , using just your finger tips and a keen ear .sx Some receivers will put the fine tune or 'brandspread' knob as a separate control .sx It may also be marked 'RIT' which means 'receiver incremental tuning' - a technical way of saying that the control will allow you to tune just a little way either side of the listening frequency .sx 4 .sx Band change .sx The 'band change' control is usually a rotating knob or pointer that switches to different tuned circuits - yes , they are just like the one in your crystal set but in miniature .sx Each of the coils and trimming capacitors is set to cover a part of the short-wave bands when tuned with the main capacitors that are varied when you spin round your tuning control .sx 5 .sx BFO or mode switch .sx Some sets will have a BFO control and this should be switched off to listen in to the normal broadcasting station - you just do not need it .sx However , to resolve a morse transmission the beat frequency oscillator is used to mix together an internal signal with the incoming signal to provide you with a 'beat' note in your loudspeaker .sx If your BFO is variable , you can adjust the tone of the note to suit your preference for a treble or a bass sound .sx For speech , the majority of amateur stations on the short-wave bands use a method or 'mode' of transmission called 'SSB' ( single sideband) .sx Don't worry about what this means exactly at this stage , expect to understand that it is a means of improving the performance of a transmission and also of having many more stations on a crowded band .sx If you are tuning in an SSB station without the BFO switched on , the speech will sound distorted and will sound like a pretty fair impersonation of Donald Duck !sx Switch on the BFO control , fine tune the speech very carefully and you will hear the words loud and clear .sx You may need to turn the RF gain control down for best results .sx The more modern communication receivers have done away with a separate BFO tuning control and have tidied up the selection of 'mode' or method of reception .sx By turning a switch you can choose a variety of modes .sx Your receiver may offer :sx AM - This stands for 'amplitude modulation' , another technical term that describes the type of speech transmission that is used by broadcasting stations on long , medium and short waves but not VHF .sx CW - These initials stand for 'continuous wave' and mean that you are ready to listen to ordinary Morse code .sx The term makes sense when you realise that if the operator of a transmitter holds his key down , the set just sends out a continuous radio wave - no speech , no 'modulation' , just a simple signal that can be keyed into morse characters .sx You will find most CW at the lower frequency end of every amateur band .sx USB - Stands for 'upper sideband' .sx This is the form of SSB , or 'single sideband' speech transmission , normally selected for operating on the 20 , 15 and 10 metre bands .sx It is also is sic !sx used on the new amateur bands of 17 and 12 metres ( 18MHz and 24 MHz ) that are alive with stations enjoying the fun of operating on these excellent long-distance frequencies .sx