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Originally Posted by electronjohn
Very nice Heathkit you have there! Yup...a wire out to the garage should suffice. Try to attach a ground to a water pipe...and be sure that it's iron or copper and that you attach the ground prior to the water meter. If that's not possible, the attachment screw for an outlet plate can work...or use an old 3-prong plug and attach your ground to the round grounding pin.
If you're not familiar with shortwave...daytime reception is generally found on the higher frequency bands, IE 10, 15 and 20 meters. 40 works during the daytime as well...just shorter distances. Great nighttime band, of course. And 80 meters is pretty much limited to nighttime. And, with lower atmospheric noise...this is a good time of the year to explore the bands. 10 meters is particularly hot right now with the upswing in the sunspot cycle.
If you run across "Donald Duck"-sounding transmissions...that's SSB (single sideband) Best way to tune SSB on your rig is to activate the BFO, reduce the RF gain somewhat, increase the AF gain (volume), and then use the BFO control to get intelligible audio. You can find hams using ordinary AM on all the bands...but the bulk of AM work is done around 3800-3900 kHz on what's known as 75 meters. (Just another term for the upper end of the 80 meter band)
Have fun!! I have a HR-10B myself and it's an enjoyable hamband receiver to use.
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Thanks for the info.
It will be my first time listening to Ham on the lower bands, after recapping . I pick up Ham on my modern Grecom 600 scanner on 145.450000, VHF, FM but I don't think that is a exciting as listening to someone way across the other side of the world.
I also have the Heathkit GR-64 and plan on using them both, make myself a little Ham Radio listening area, and just enjoy looking at my vintage Heathkits all lit up.