Hobbies And Interests
Power
Make sure your shortwave receiver's battery is fully charged, especially when you're trying to pull in a signal from a distant station. As you progress in shortwave listening a larger plug-in tabletop receiver will eliminate the need to charge batteries.
Sound Quality
Use earbuds or earphones for better sound quality. The speakers built into small battery-operated shortwave receivers are weak and produce tinny audio quality.
Receiver Orientation
Face your receiver in direction of station you're trying to pick up. For example, if you want to listen to a station in Europe, move to the eastern or northeastern side of the room and turn your receiver to face the window. If you're trying to tune in Radio Australia from the continental United States, move to a west-facing window and turn your radio accordingly.
Interference
Move your radio receiver away from TVs, computers, microwave ovens and other powerful sources of electromagnetic waves. These appliances can cause radio interference and either weaken or completely block shortwave reception.
Atmospherics
Become familiar with sunspot activity, thunderstorms and other atmospheric conditions. These phenomena can alternately enhance or degrade shortwave radio reception due to their scattering of radio waves.
Antennas
Consider augmenting your shortwave receiver's existing antenna with an external one. Even a few inches of insulated wire wrapped, or pigtailed, around your radio's telescoping antenna will enhance reception. Ten feet of wire, the first one foot pigtailed around the antenna and the balance strung across the curtain rods above the window, will enable you obtain a clearer, stronger signal from a distant location. Additionally, you can experiment with hanging the wire out a window to form an inverted "L" configuration, highly effective in bringing in distant or weak signals.
Broadcast Schedules
Become familiar with the broadcasting schedules of your favorite stations or ones you would like to tune in. Your ability to receive their transmissions depends on the time of day or night and is determined by the complex interaction between the curvature of the earth, the various reflective qualities of different atmospheric layers and electromagnetic interference.