Messages

1

General Radio Discussion / Re: Newbie Questions

« on: September 14, 2015, 2145 UTC »

Hey, ff! Expecting a crystal oscillator any day now, thanks again.
Yes, I do feel like an investment in a tabletop is in my future...

Spkeaing of thanks, appreicate it JC! And that helps a lot Boombox, I think I'm starting to put it all together.

2

General Radio Discussion / Newbie Questions

« on: September 13, 2015, 1703 UTC »

Hello out there, I hope I'm posting this in the appropriate part of the forum. I'm pretty brand new to this radio business, and I was hoping someone could field some questions I had.

I just bought a Tecsun PL-880, and I've not been having much luck in tuning in to any stations over the weekend so far (I'm in Southern California). I hit someone around 6950 kHz, but then they switched frequencies and didn't quite catch where to. I am still getting used to this piece of equipment, and some of its functions are quite mysterious to me, and I haven't been able to Google a good answer. Shortwave listening seems to be divided into three modes: default, USB, and LSB. What do these things mean? I see a lot of transmissions are done through USB, but I haven't had much luck with it personally. In the HFU wiki, a search for USB forwards me to SSB. Are these things equivalent?

I've been kindly pointed to the direction of GlobalTuners.com by atrainradio. This has introduced me to a whole new category of buttons to press, such as WFM, NFM, and CW. I'm currently listening to a very clear sounding station in Australia. The station is displayed in mHz, while there are several options to the right in kHz: 3,6,15,50, and 230. It is currently on 230, and if switched to any different mode the transmission suddenly becomes unlistenable. What do these numbers mean exactly?

Sorry if these things are clearly answered in a different part of the site!