Short Waves for Beginners

Radio Record, Volume VII, Issue 8, 1 September 1933, Page 26

Short Waves for Beginners

TPHERD isa wonderful variety of entertainment to be had from short wave, but experience is necessary hefore the best results can be obtained. Do not expect to tune in stations just as. you do on the broadcast band-tun-ing on short-wave is a much more delicate operation. There are two golden rules for short-wave listening, and these are, firstly, to tune slowly, and secondly, to listen to everything. All short-wave signals are weak till they have been carefully tuned in, but it is surprising to find that excellent clear speech and music may be coaxed out of what appeared at first to be a faint little chirp. Don’t be disappointed if, on first trying out your short-wave set, all the stations you can hear are transmitting morse. There are quite a number of very powerful CO.W. stations using morse all day and all night-in fact, they occupy the greatest part of the short-wave spectrum-but once you find the broadcast and amateur bands you will hear plenty to interest you. When. listening on . the — broadcast band, the receiver should never be permitted to oscillate, but on short-waves, however, it is advisable to search with the set just on the verge of oscillation. For this reason smooth control of reaction is most important. Keep the reaction control set so that the receiver is just at oscillating point, and as you find a carrier wave reduce reaction so that you are just below the point of oscillation, By tuning with the set oscillating, you not only annoy neighbouring listeners, but you defeat your own purpose, for the receiver is then not nearly as sensitive as it is when it is just.on the threshold of. oscillation. If ‘you are worried by "hand capacity" troubles+those annoying effects that cause the disappearance of a signal:as soon as you remove your hands from the dial-try leaving off the earth lead or alternatively tuning it with a .0005 mfd. series condenser.