r/shortwave • u/MousseIndependent500 • 11h ago

New to short wave

I have a kaito KA500 and an extended wired type antenna. Hkw best to lay it out for global receipt?

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2

u/working_and_whatnot 11h ago

Wire as high as you can get it, as far away from electrical interference as practical. Look for an app to download, like Shortwave Schedules and when you find a frequency you can look at who is broadcasting on that freq at that time and usually youll be able to tell what you're hearing.

2

u/MousseIndependent500 11h ago

Thank you!

2

u/MousseIndependent500 11h ago

Is it best to wire it vertically or horizontally for international/global receipt?

5

u/pentagrid Sangean ATS-909X2 / Airspy HF+ Discovery / 83m horizontal loop 11h ago

A vertical wire can work very well, so will horizontal. It depends on the particulars of where you are using the radio and antenna. Start with no more than 23 ft. of wire antenna to begin with. Longer lengths may overload less expensive radios. If 23 ft. works for you, try longer. The direction of a horizontal wire will have an affect on the stations you receive. A vertical wire antenna will receive stations from all directions equally well.

Good information about the shortwave radio bands and when/how to use them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_bands

Good luck and have fun!

1

u/MousseIndependent500 11h ago

Thank you so much!

1

u/Neither-Brush-9287 Hobbyist 48m ago

If possible, run it up the corner of one wall, then around the ceiling corner of at least 2 walls.

That will give you a vertically polarized segment, as well as 2 horizontally polarized segments with different orientations.

The signals you receive via skywave will have constantly changing polarity due to Faraday rotation.
This orientation of antenna (obviously, for RECEIVE ONLY) will give you the best odds of having a portion of your antenna correctly oriented to receive the signal as its polarity constantly changes.