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Radio Shack 20-228 Owner's Manual

Manual is about: All-Band Shortwave Receiver with Radio Data System

Summary of 20-228

  • Page 1

    Cat. No. 20-228 owner’s manual all-band shortwave receiver please read before using this equipment. With radio data system dx-398.

  • Page 2: Features

    2 features your radioshack dx-398 all-band shortwave receiver with radio data system brings you the voices of the world. In the 14 international short- wave (sw) bands, you can hear news broadcasts and other programs from sources around the world, such as the british broadcasting corporation, ra- di...

  • Page 3

    3 auto tuning system (ats) — the re- ceiver finds the stations with strong signals and stores them in memory in order by signal strength. Rotary tuning dial — lets you manu- ally tune desired frequencies. You can select a higher tuning increment for faster tuning or a lower one for fine tun- ing, or...

  • Page 4

    4 your receiver is preset to cover the following bands: band (meters) frequency range (mhz) 120 ................................ 2.300–2.495 90 .................................. 3.200–3.400 75 .................................. 3.900–4.000 60 .................................. 4.750–5.060 49 .........

  • Page 5: Contents

    5 contents preparation ........................................................................................................... 7 connecting to power ....................................................................................... 7 installing internal batteries ..............................

  • Page 6

    6 memory functions ............................................................................................. 27 storing fm, mw, or lw frequencies in memory ........................................... 27 automatic storage ..............................................................................

  • Page 7: Preparation

    7 preparation connecting to power you can power the receiver from inter- nal batteries, standard ac power, or your vehicle’s battery. Installing internal batteries you can use four aa batteries (not supplied) to power the receiver. For the best performance and longest life, we recommend alkaline bat...

  • Page 8

    8 • when you finish using the ac adapter, unplug it from the ac out- let first, then disconnect it from the receiver. Follow these steps to use ac power. 1. Set the adapter’s voltage switch to 6v. 2. Line up the 5.5 mm outer diam- eter/2.1 mm inner diameter barrel plug with the adapter’s socket so i...

  • Page 9

    9 2. Insert the adapter’s barrel plug into the receiver’s dc in 6v jack. 3. Push the adapter’s plug into the vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. Adjusting the telescoping antenna for the best reception, adjust the tele- scoping antenna for the desired band. Fm — pull up the antenna base about halfwa...

  • Page 10

    10 connecting headphones for private listening and for stereo sound during fm stereo broadcasts, you can plug optional stereo head- phones with a 1 / 8 -inch (3.5 mm) plug (available at your local radioshack store) into the jack on the left side of the receiver. This automatically dis- connects the ...

  • Page 11

    11 to connect a tape recorder, you need a mono patch cord (not supplied) with a 1 / 8 -inch (3.5 mm) plug on both ends. Your local radioshack store carries a wide selection of mono patch cords. Insert the cord’s plug into the rec line out jack on the left side of the receiver, then connect the other...

  • Page 12

    12 using the memo label you can use the memo label under the receiver’s stand to record helpful infor- mation, such as the memory location numbers of your favorite stations. Setting the mw (am) tuning increment in the united states, the federal com- munications commission (fcc) as- signs frequencies...

  • Page 13: Understanding Your Receiver

    13 understanding your receiver once you understand a few simple terms we use in this manual and familiarize yourself with your receiver’s features, you can start using your receiver to listen to the world! Power — turns the receiver on and off. — turns on the display light for about 12 seconds (if y...

  • Page 14

    14 ats/mw — selects the mw (medium wave) band and lets you select mw stations using your receiver’s automatic tuning system. Meter/sw — selects the sw (shortwave) band, and lets you scan for a shortwave frequency in one of the receiver’s 14 meter bands. Number keys — each key has a single-digit labe...

  • Page 15: Basic Operation

    15 basic operation turning the receiver on and off press power to turn on the receiver, then adjust volume to a comfortable listening level. The display shows the band, frequen- cy, time, and signal strength (with 10 as the strongest signal). When you press power to turn off the receiver, the batter...

  • Page 16

    16 press to lock all the front panel buttons and rotary tuning . Ap- pears. You can still adjust volume , tone , and other controls. To unlock the buttons, press again. Disappears. Setting and viewing the local time your receiver has two clocks. One dis- plays your local time and the other lets you ...

  • Page 17

    17 • if you enter an invalid time, the clock beeps twice and e (error) appears for about 1 second. Repeat steps 3–4 to enter the correct time. 5. Press enter . The time you set appears, and the seconds start counting from 0. Note: the receiver does not dis- play the seconds. Viewing a world time imp...

  • Page 18

    18 tuning stations note: “special tuning controls” on page 24 contains more information about using your receiver’s controls. Selecting a band press ats/fm , ats/lw , ats/mw , or meter/sw to select the band. (press ats/mw for am.) to select a smaller band within the sw band, press meter/sw again. Wh...

  • Page 19

    19 if you set step to fast , the tuning in- crements are the same as when you press tuning or . If you select slow , the tuning increments are smaller so you can fine tune the fre- quency. Note: you can tune standard am, up- per sideband (usb), and lower side- band (lsb) frequencies. For more inform...

  • Page 20

    20 notes: • when scanning, the receiver only searches for frequencies with strong signals. To search for sta- tions with weaker signals, use one of the manual tuning methods. • when scanning in a lower band, the receiver searches only within the selected band and stops at the upper and lower limits ...

  • Page 21

    21 note: if you press a number key for a memory location number where there is no station stored, memofree flashes for a few seconds. Then the receiver tunes the station you previously tuned. Dx-398 shortwave pages chart note: all frequencies are in mhz. Page country (stations) memory location 1 2 3...

  • Page 22

    22 page country (stations) memory location 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 england (bbc world service) 11.750 11.835 12.095 15.220 15.400 15.575 17.830 17.840 21.660 10 france (radio france intl.) 11.615 13.625 15.325 15.530 17.620 11 germany (deutsche welle-voice of ger- many) 5.960 6.040 6.085 6.145 6.185 9.5...

  • Page 23

    23 page country (station) memory location 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 s africa (channel africa) 3.220 5.955 9.530 9.675 11.900 15.240 21 sweden (radio sweden) 6.065 6.090 7.115 7.290 11.650 13.740 15.240 22 switzlnd (swiss radio intl.) 6.135 9.885 9.905 13.635 23 taiwan (voice of free china) 5.950 7.130 7....

  • Page 24

    24 adjusting the tone set tone to news to enhance broad- cast voices while listening to talk shows or news programs on sw, mw, and lw frequencies. Set tone to music to enhance treble and bass response when listening to a music program (especially fm pro- grams). Set tone to norm to help reduce in- t...

  • Page 25

    25 am rf gain on the left side of the re- ceiver lets you tune a received signal for the best sw reception. If the signal is weak, turn am rf gain toward +. If the sound is distorted, turn am rf gain toward –. Tuning ssb stations ssb (single sideband) is very popular among amateur radio and business...

  • Page 26

    26 follow these steps to use rds. 1. Turn on the receiver. 2. Tune the receiver to an fm station that transmits rds (and ct) infor- mation. 3. Set time set on the right side of the receiver to auto . 4. Make sure that your local time (as described in “setting and viewing the local time” on page 16) ...

  • Page 27: Memory Functions

    27 memory functions besides tuning to the preprogrammed shortwave stations (see “tuning pre- programmed shortwave stations” on page 20), you can store and then quickly tune up to 94 frequencies in your receiver’s memory locations. The memory locations are grouped into pages (nine memory locations pe...

  • Page 28

    28 3. Repeatedly press page to select the page where you want to store the frequency. 1 or 2 appears under page . Notes: • page flashes only when the receiver is set to sw mode. • if you wait more than 10 sec- onds to press page , page stops flashing. • if you pressed ats/lw in step 1, page does not...

  • Page 29

    29 4. While page and memo flash, repeatedly press tuning or to select the page where you want to store the frequency. The page’s number appears under page and the name of the page’s country appears as you press tuning or . For each page, the number of the first available empty memory location in tha...

  • Page 30

    30 note: if you wait more than 20 seconds to turn manual tuning , the cursor stops flashing. If this happens, start again at step 4. 6. When the character you want appears, press tuning to move to the next position, then rotate manual tuning to select the next character. Note: if you want to correct...

  • Page 31

    31 4. Use the number keys to enter the new memory location number. The receiver beeps. Using priority you can store one mw/lw/fm station as the priority station, then quickly re- call it. 1. Tune to your favorite station. 2. Press m/mem. 3. Press priority to store the sta- tion in the priority locat...

  • Page 32: Timer Functions

    32 timer functions using the timer alarms your receiver has three timer alarms. You can set these alarms to sound (buzzer or radio) at a time you set. Setting an alarm 1. If you want the radio to turn on at the alarm time, tune to the desired station. Then press m/mem . Memo and the memory location ...

  • Page 33

    33 turning a timer alarm on or off to turn off the alarm so it does not sound again, press timer 1 , timer 2 , or timer 3 . Then press c while flashes. If you want to turn on a timer alarm again, press timer 1, timer 2, or tim- er 3 . Then press enter while and 1 , 2 , or 3 flash. Timer recording yo...

  • Page 34: Listening Hints

    34 listening hints shortwave listening is a hobby with thousands of participants worldwide. It requires no special knowledge or skills, but your enjoyment increases as you gain experience and develop spe- cial listening techniques. The information in this section can help you make the most of your d...

  • Page 35

    35 amateur radio operators use the fol- lowing bands. Portions of these bands are set aside for continuous wave (cw) morse code communication or for single sideband (ssb) voice com- munication, as shown below. 160 meters: 1,800–2,000 khz: ssb 80 meters: 3,500–3,800 khz: cw 3,800–4,000 khz: ssb 40 me...

  • Page 36

    36 aircraft frequencies aircraft on international routes some- times use sw. Most transmissions are in ssb, although you can still hear some mw transmissions. Here are some bands where you might hear air- craft communications. 4,650–4,750 khz 6,545–6,765 khz 8,815–9,040 khz 11,175–11,400 khz 13,200–...

  • Page 37: Listening Guide

    37 listening guide the following list contains some of the more frequently heard stations. All stations broadcast in english unless otherwise specified. You can hear these stations throughout north america. However, reception varies based on the season, time of day, and a number of other conditions....

  • Page 38

    38 khz station location remarks 5,950 guyana broadcasting service georgetown, guyana 5,954 radio casino puerto limon, costa rica 5,960 radio canada international montreal, canada 5,980 radio rsa johannesburg, south africa 6,005 cfcx montreal, canada 6,025 radio malaysia kuala lumpur, malaysia progra...

  • Page 39

    39 khz station location remarks 9,610 radio-tv algeria algiers, algeria programs in arabic 9,620 radio berlin international berlin, germany 9,645 radio norway oslo, norway 9,720 radio iran tehran, iran programs in farsi 9,745 hcjb quito, ecuador 9,770 austrian radio vienna, austria 9,800 radio kiev ...

  • Page 40

    40 khz station location remarks 15,084 voice of iran tehran, iran programs in farsi 15,135 radio moscow moscow, russia 15,165 hcjb quito, ecuador 15,190 oru brussels, belgium 15,205 all india radio new delhi, india 15,260 bbc london, england 15,265 finnish radio helsinki, finland 15,275 radio sweden...

  • Page 41

    41 birdies birdies are the products of internally generated signals that make some frequencies difficult or impossible to receive. If you program a birdie frequency, you hear only noise on that frequency. The most common birdies to watch for on this receiver are: notes: • see “storing sw frequencies...

  • Page 42

    42 amateur shortwave bands (in mhz) 3.500 – 4.000 mhz 80 meters 7.000 – 7.300 mhz 40 meters 10.100 – 10.150 mhz 30 meters 14.0 – 14.350 mhz 20 meters 18.068 – 18.168 mhz 17 meters 21.000 – 21.450 mhz 15 meters 24.890 – 24.990 mhz 12 meters 28.000 – 29.700 mhz 10 meters.

  • Page 43: Troubleshooting

    43 troubleshooting we do not expect you to have any problems with your receiver, but if you have a problem, the information in this chart might help. If the problem persists, take the receiver to your local radioshack store for assistance. Symptom possible cause suggestion weak or intermittent sound...

  • Page 44: Care and Maintenance

    44 care and maintenance your radioshack dx-398 all-band shortwave receiver with radio data system is an example of superior design and craftsmanship. The following suggestions will help you care for your receiver so you can enjoy it for years. Keep the receiver dry. If it gets wet, wipe it dry immed...

  • Page 45

    45 resetting the display if the display shows random charac- ters or does not work properly, you might need to reset it. Important: this procedure clears the set time and resets the receiver’s mi- croprocessor (the component that controls how the receiver operates), but all stations remain stored. R...

  • Page 46: Specifications

    46 specifications circuit: fm ..................................................................................................... Heterodyne lw/mw/sw ........................................................... Dual-conversion heterodyne frequency range: fm ............................................

  • Page 47: Notes

    47 notes.

  • Page 48

    Radioshack a division of tandy corporation fort worth, texas 76102 3818626a 08a00 printed in taiwan limited ninety-day warranty this product is warranted by radioshack against manufacturing defects in material and workman- ship under normal use for ninety (90) days from the date of purchase from rad...