There's a slide switch below the tuning knob that sets the tuning rate for the knob, fast, fine, and lock, you want the fine setting for 1kHz. You can crank the RF gain and use the tuning buttons if you want to scan in chunks. My main complaint with the 818 I had was it was touchy, you could barely brush the switch and you were tuning in chunks.
If you want to switch bands, you have to type in the frequency then hit the band button. They were designed that way in the early runs. Say if you want to listen to NPR on 88.5, you have to type in 8-8-.-5 then hit the FM button. Annoying as all Hell.
I hope that helps. (All knob and switch info taken from a fried 818 next to me.)