Is Shortwave useful? What can I do with it?
363886
Its useful if you want to hear news and programs from around the world. Its also a necessity for times of trouble, like wars and catastrophes. It also has FM that picks up far more stations than regular radios.
363887
Short wave works ok. Just receives am no ssb. But it is pretty amazing how well it picks up the stations. It really picks up am local broadcast here in the us very good, for its size and cost. I really like mine
363888
The Kaito KA321 will receive several "strong" shortwave signals. It is a little bit hard to tune them in with the dial but with patience and a steady hand you can receive several stations. I can get the voice of Cuba. Always good for a few laughs. But this radio has an excellent receiver for both AM and FM and the FM is in stereo. Pretty cool.
363889
I receive English broadcasts from both China and Cuba - neither are very useful....
363890
In the event of natural disasters and emergency situations, it is likely that there will be independent operators broadcasting what's going on in their areas, or what they might have picked up from other radio operators. Also depending on your locale there are a variety of "alternative" political opinions and/or news being spread. It can be a fun toy, when I was a kid we used to go to Laguna Beach and at night we could pick up Russian fishing trawlers playing music. But realistically this inexpensive item is a decent AM/FM with fairly good sound quality, it's not going to get a lot of SW casts unless they are pretty close by. Quality SW units are going to be at least $50 and up. Also beware the antenna on this thing is flimsy and will not stand up to rough treatment, like perhaps in the hands of child.
363891
Currently, SWRadio is a "hobby" for most. Some listen to keep informed of foreign news/other-side-of-the-story. I, and others, buy SW radios for SHTF, emergency, natural disaster type of settings. Besides the fact it's interesting. Hope this answered you some satisfaction.
244053
I imagine you could, i use mine as a weather station 'forwarder' if you will, and it sends the weather station data to my main router. You will have to fiddle with the settings or flash a different firmware to it. I'ts pretty cheap, and worth experimenting with. good luck
1913516
I couldn't compare the two radios but try a long wire antenna off the Kaito. Also be aware that shortwave reception depends on the bands and what time of day it is. Higher bands are better for the daytime also the lower bands are better for the night. There are several good websites that list broadcast information for shortwave.
1441472
Just plug it in to your tv. Go to your tv settings and change them to antenna. As long as your tv can digitally decode the free airwave channels your good. If your tv doesn't support the HD digital waves you'll have to get a decoder. I'm sure Amazon sells them on here.
1642314
I think you can, I've never tried that low freq. Try turning persist on. It will capture the wave form and hold it on the screen. I'm enjoying my machine and it does everything I need...right now.
567367
only if you use alternate software. look up sdrsharp. i have picked up transmissions from 28 mhz up to 800 mhz but this will work well outside that range i just don't have the antennas to pick up the lower frequiencies. hope this helps
1589119
Unfortunately, as I understand from a press release some time ago, BBC does not broadcast shortwave transmissions to US any more. Moreover, they only do to regions in the world where other ways of broadcasting are scarce (ie, internet, etc.). The links below show shortwave BBCś coverage. I hope it helps. Carlos.http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/frequencies/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/010119_namerica.shtml
1772838
Without a lengthy lesson in antenna technology I'll give you the 'short' answer - no. To receive shortwave properly you need a very long wire antenna up to 100' long - and the radio of course. You can do a folded design, it'll have 100 or more feet of wire for the best reception. There are specialized antennas called Yagi's - they can get very expensive fast and most are capable of transmitting as well as receiving. You might be able to get away with stringing a wire antenna inside your attic. Radio Shack used to sell a good inside/outside wire antenna for shortwave cheaply and it worked well. I have one. Without a lengthy lesson in antenna technology I'll give you the 'short' answer - no. To receive shortwave properly you need a very long wire antenna up to 100' long - and the radio of course. You can do a folded design, it'll have 100 or more feet of wire for the best reception. There are specialized antennas called Yagi's - they can get very expensive fast and most are capable of transmitting as well as receiving. You might be able to get away with stringing a wire antenna inside your attic. Radio Shack used to sell a good inside/outside wire antenna for shortwave cheaply and it worked... » Read More Without a lengthy lesson in antenna technology I'll give you the 'short' answer - no. To receive shortwave properly you need a very long wire antenna up to 100' long - and the radio of course. You can do a folded design, it'll have 100 or more feet of wire for the best reception. There are specialized antennas called Yagi's - they can get very expensive fast and most are capable of transmitting as well as receiving. You might be able to get away with stringing a wire antenna inside your attic. Radio Shack used to sell a good inside/outside wire antenna for shortwave cheaply and it worked well. I have one. « Show Less
1700181
Simple answer is NO. This is not a short wave radio transmiter. It will receive short wave broadcast only. This unit is an FM transmitter and you must have at least a Technician License issued by the FCC to transmit.
759052
Yes to the first question, although I would recommend using it with batteries when listening to SW, as connecting your unit to the wall socket can be noisy. You will likely want to get an external antenna of some sort for better SW reception. But this can be as simple/cheap or as elaborate/complex as you want with this unit.
1965889
I have had my Kaito for several years. The manual is difficult to understand but the actual product has been great for me. As far as the firmware goes I recall seeing that as well at some point in time but there wasn't a version issued that I know about. I don't think there was any need for one. I noticed that you mentioned in your previous review about AM reception being very poor. I have don't use the AM or the shortwave band (very much) but wonder if the optional external antenna would help. Please don't give up too soon. Believe it or not it has a lot of potential.
172438
FM radio circuit is built in to this radio but it won't receive shortwave radio. You'd need a different type of radio for that.
1443318
I am sorry, I have no idea what frequencies that would involve, All I know is that I was pleased that it would pick up both AM and FM here in our little enclave where I have to have a dish to receive both TV and the internetIt is also set up for short wave, I have picked up some Morse Code while I was scanning it's capabilitiesSorry I couldn't be of more help...Cold Flamingo
1414869
This receiver is rather dead on reception of shortwave ! There are many more sensitive receivers you could buy for the same amount spent on this model!
281564
You would most likely have a high SWR and a poor communication experience. An antenna matcher might help some, but only experimentation will tell!
209450
Environment is everything. If you have a lot of metal or tree interference it tends to drag your range to nothing, on any radio. Short antennas work best for these area. I know that's counter intuitive but that's the way it works.
791685
My husband says this was designed as an auxiliary antenna receptable or to clip to the telescoptic antenna on the shortwave, as he did. The shortwave antenna is out to nearly top of ceiling with the antenna clip on it, pulled out and laid out across top of a bookcase. He gets remarkable reception, better than expected with such a small device.