Drake Sw8 World Band Shortwave Receiver Manual
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FM / AIRANTENNA 2 ANTENNA 1 EXT DC INPUT MASTER POWER SHORTWAVE ANTENNA SELECTFM / AIR ANTENNA SELECTLINE AUDIO OUTEXTERNAL SPEAKERAIR SQUELCH 9VDC/ 1Amp + 50 300 GND50050 4 EXT WHIP 1 2 WHIP MADE IN U.S.A./ 8ON OFF CAUTION: BALANCED OUTPUT. DO NOT GROUND. BATTERY COMPARTMENT Installation, continued 5 LOW IMPEDANCE ANTENNAHIGH IMPEDANCE ANTENNA ORBUILT-IN TELESCOPING WHIP ANTENNA 50 OHM COAXIAL CABLE PL-259 CONNECTOR PLUG INTO 120VAC, 60Hz AC POWERTO TAPE RECORDER INPUT FIGURE 3 - INSTALLATION DIAGRAM - NOTE - CHECK INTERNAL BATTERIES PERIODICALLY IF INSTALLED EXTERNAL SPEAKER DO NOT GROUND NOTE: Grounding of either speaker output wire will limit maximum available audio output and damage the SW8. TV/FM SPLITTER OR AC ADAPTOR 750 MS8 Speaker
TONE
VOLUME
POWER
pushH LTUNINGBAND
SSB 5
BW 6
SCAN
MEM
LAMP 9
STORE
VFO
SKIPCLEAR
BEEPTIMER
CLOCK AGC 8 AM
SYNC 4
DEL 0ATT 7 BCB 1
AIR 2
SW 3
F
AGC S AM SYNC
METER TIMER
+60
+40
+20
9
7
5
3
1
KHz
SWM E M
6.0
SW8 World Band
Shortwave Receiver
6 Front Panel Description
8 5 1 Pivot Point of
Telescoping
Whip Antenna
7 6 4 3 2
1)Display - The backlit, liquid crystal display provides
the current status of the SW8 such as frequency,
mode, bandwidth, etc. Refer to the FRONT PANEL
DISPLAY section of this manual for a full description.
2)TUNING (VFO) - The dial and the
and
buttons are the primary tuning controls of the SW8.
Clockwise rotation of the dial increases frequency and
counterclockwise rotation decreases frequency. The
dial also incorporates variable speed tuning. The faster
the dial is rotated, the faster the tuning speed.
The
button increases and the button decreases
the frequency by fixed steps (10 kHz or
9 kHz, selectable on the AM broadcast band, 5 kHz on
the Shortwave band, 100 kHz on the FM broadcast
band and 25 kHz on the Aircraft band) with each
depression. Pressing and holding either button will
allow continuous stepping up or down as long as the
button is depressed.
3)Program Buttons -
F (Function) - Pressing this button accesses the
secondary functions, printed in orange, on the program
buttons. Press the
F button first to display
F , then press the desired function button. With
the SW8 not in the SCAN mode, pressing and holding
the
F button locks all keypad entries, display
settings and tuning knob entries.
BCB 1 BCB - Press to select between the AM or FM
broadcast band. Repeated pressings toggle between
AM and FM. The secondary function of this button is
the digit ‘1’.
AIR 2 AIR - Press to select the Aircraft band. The
secondary function of this button is the digit ‘2’.
SW 3 SW - Press to select the Shortwave band. The
secondary function of this button is the digit ‘3’.
AM
SYNC 4 AM SYNC - Press to select the AM mode of
operation. Successive depressions toggles the synchro-
nous detector on and off. Press
AM
SYNC 4 to turn the
synchronous detector off before selecting SSB modes.
The ‘AM/AM SYNC’ modes are not accessed in the FM
band. The AM SYNC mode is not accessible in the
Aircraft band. The secondary function of this button is
the digit ‘4’.
SSB 5 SSB - Press to select the SSB mode of operation
(SYNC must be turned off). Successive depressions
select alternately the ‘LSB’ or ‘USB’ modes as dis-
played. The SSB mode of operation is not accessed in
either the FM or Aircraft band modes. The secondary
function of this button is the digit ‘5’.
BW 6 BW - The bandwidth setting can be programmed
to be automatic with mode selection or manual. The
default setting is for automatic selection. Press to
select the desired bandwidth: 6.0 kHz, 4.0 kHz or
2.3 kHz. This function has no action in the FM mode.
The 6.0 kHz bandwidth is automatically selected in the
AM mode. The 2.3 kHz bandwidth is the default for
the SSB modes. All three bandwidths are selectable by
successive depressions of this button for the AM
broadcast, Shortwave and Aircraft bands. To disable
the automatic bandwidth selection with mode, start in
the POWER OFF mode and press and hold the
BW 6
button while pressing the POWER button to put the
SW8 in the POWER ‘ON’ mode. To enable the
automatic bandwidth selection with mode operation,
repeat the same procedure. The secondary function
for this button is the digit ‘6’.
LSB
ATT 7 ATT - Press to turn on the built-in 20 dB attenua- tor to reduce the received signal strength in the AM broadcast and Shortwave bands as required. The attenuator is not active in the FM and Aircraft bands. Successive depressions of the button toggles the attenuator on and off. The secondary function of this button is the digit ‘7’. AGC 8 AGC - Press to select either the Slow or Fast AGC setting for the AM broadcast, Shortwave and Aircraft bands. The AGC is not selectable in the FM mode. The secondary function of this button is the digit ‘8’. LAMP 9 LAMP - Press to turn the display backlighting on or off. With internal battery operation, the backlighting automatically turns off after a short delay following a function change or retuning of the receiver to prolong battery life. Also, the receiver senses Battery or AC operation, and allows the lamp to remain lit if on AC. The secondary function of this button is the digit `9. DEL 0 DEL - Press and hold for three seconds to delete a selected memory channel. Audible beep indicates that the selected memory channel has been deleted. The secondary function of this button is the digit ‘0’. SKIP SKIP - In the memory mode, press to skip the current memory channel for a Scan operation. An ‘S’ will be displayed to the right of the selected memory channel number. When an ‘S’ is displayed next to a selected memory channel number, press this button to restore the memory channel for scan operation. The secondary function of this button is the decimal point (‘.’) which is used when entering a frequency. CLEAR BEEP CLEAR/BEEP - The ‘beep’ tone is provided to indicate that entries have been accepted or to notify of error. Press this button to enable or disable the beep. Pressing the F button first, clears an incorrectly entered frequency or other value. SCAN MEM SCAN/MEM - To recall a memory channel at any time, press the ‘MEM’ button and within three seconds of the button depression, enter a two-digit number between ‘00’ and ‘69’. With ‘MEM’ displayed, other adjacent memory channels can be recalled by use of the / buttons. The Tuning wheel may be used to tune from the recalled frequency of the selected memory channel. Please note that digit entries are interpreted as frequency entries if the ‘MEM’ channel number is not flashing. Pressing the F button first, starts scanning of the current block of 10 channels. The receiver will stop at each programmed channel for 5 seconds, then increment to the next memory channel. Channels programmed for SKIP will not be scanned. Press this button to stop the scan operation. Front Panel Description, continued 7 STORE VFOSTORE/VFO - Press to place receiver in the normal variable frequency tuning mode (VFO). Select desired frequency, mode, attenuator, Synchronous detector, AGC, bandwidth, etc. Pressing the F button first, followed by depression of the STORE VFObutton, switches the keypad to the numeric mode. The ‘MEM’ symbol will flash in the display. Enter a two digit number between 00 and 69 for the desired memory channel. An audible beep will indicate that the memory channel has been stored with the newly entered settings. TIMER CLOCKTIMER/CLOCK - Pressing this button once will display the current time of the current clock. After three seconds, the display will revert to the current frequency. Pressing and releasing this button while the time is displayed will toggle the time display between the two clocks (local or alternate). The timer will operate accord- ing to the last displayed clock time. See the SETTING THE 24 HOUR CLOCKS section of this manual. Pressing the F button first, followed by the TIMER button, will activate the timer mode. If the Timer has been activated, the ‘TIMER’ symbol will be displayed even after the receiver is turned off. Receiver will automatically turn on and off as programmed. See the “SETTING TIMER ON/ OFF TIMES” section of this manual. 4) VOLUME/POWER - Push in on this control to turn the receiver On or Off. With receiver power on, adjust this control clockwise to increase the audio level from the receiver’s speaker. Be certain to leave the volume setting at the desired level for TIMER use. The POWER switch may be disabled by the rear panel MASTER POWER switch. See the Rear Panel Description section of this manual. 5) TONE - This control is used to modify the tonal quality of the audio. Counterclockwise rotation increases the bass response. Flat response occurs at the 12 O’Clock setting. Clockwise rotation increases the treble response. 6) SPEAKER - This is the opening for the internal speaker of the SW8. 7) HEADPHONE JACK - This connector accepts a 1/8 stereo/mono headphone connector. Stereo reception is possible only in the FM mode. All speaker outputs are automatically switched off when using the headphones. 8) WHIP ANTENNA - The receiver has a built-in tele- scoping antenna that can be used on all bands. Note that the pivot point section of the antenna must be exposed out of its nesting tube to permit vertical extension of the antenna. Extend the telescoping sections and position the antenna for best signal reception. Be sure the correspond- ing rear panel antenna select switch is set to the WHIP position for WHIP antenna reception.
11) SW METER - Indicates the Shortwave
band designators that define a range of frequencies for
each band as follows:
Shortwave Band Designators
120 METER: 2300 - 2500 kHz
90 METER: 3200 - 3400 kHz
75 METER: 3900 - 4000 kHz
60 METER: 4750 - 5060 kHz
49 METER: 5800 - 6200 kHz
41 METER: 7100 - 7600 kHz
31 METER: 9500 - 9900 kHz
25 METER: 11600 - 12100 kHz
22 METER: 13570 - 13870 kHz
19 METER: 15100 - 15800 kHz
16 METER: 17480 - 17900 kHz
13 METER: 21450 - 21850 kHz
11 METER: 25600 - 26100 kHz
12) AIR - Indicates that the Aircraft band (118 - 137
MHz) has been selected.
13) 7-Digit Readout - This display indicates the
operating frequency of the receiver. The frequency is
displayed in kHz for the AM broadcast and Shortwave
bands. The FM and Aircraft band frequencies are
displayed in ‘MHz’. In the clock mode, these digits
indicate time in 24 hour format i.e. HH:MM. In the
TIMER mode, indicates time in 24 hour format i.e.
HH:MM. L Indicates that Local Time is being dis-
played in the clock mode. If the L is not illuminated,
alternate time is displayed in the clock display mode.
14) SCAN
S - Indicates that the receiver is in the
memory channel SCAN mode and displays the number
of the currently scanned channel, from 00 to 69. In the
MEMORY mode, the S illuminates to indicate that a
particular memory channel will be skipped over when
the SCAN operation is activated.
15) 6.0 4.0 2.3 - Indicates which IF filter is selected.
There is no indication in the FM mode.
16) ST - Indicates that a stereo FM broadcast
station is tuned in when stereo headphones are
plugged into the receiver’s headphone jack. 1) Bar Graph - This bar graph display indicates the
relative received signal level in S-units and dB above S9.
Each S-unit between S1 and S9 equals an approximately
5 dB change in received signal strength. Each S-unit
above S9 equals an approximately 10 dB change in
received signal strength.
2) TIMER - This annunciator indicates the state of the
Timer as either Active or Inactive. Refer to the
CLOCK AND TIMER FUNCTIONS section of this
manual.
3) LOCK - When illuminated, this annunciator
indicates that the Main tuning wheel and keypad are
not active.
4) F Indicates that the
F button has been pressed
on the keypad to enable the alternate functions
(printed in orange) of the keypad buttons to be active.
5) MEM
- This annunciator indicates current
memory location from 00 to 69. MEM will light when
the receiver enters the memory mode. Refer to the
MEMORY FUNCTIONS section of this manual.
6) BATT - When operating on internal batteries,
BATT blinks to indicate a low charge on batteries.
ATT Indicates that the built-in attenuator is acti-
vated.
7) AGC SF - Indicates the AGC setting, Slow or Fast.
8) AM SYNC - Indicates that the AM mode of recep-
tion is on. If SYNC is also illuminated, then the
synchronous AM mode of detection is on.
9) USB - Indicates that the Upper sideband mode of
detection is on.
LSB Indicates that the Lower sideband mode of
detection is on.
10) FM - Indicates that the FM mode of detection is
on. This mode is selectable only on the FM broadcast
band (87 - 108 MHz).
8 Front Panel Display
16 15 14 13
BATT AGC SF AM SYNC USB FM
METER TIMER
ON OFF+60
+40
+20
9
7
5
3
1
KHz
MHz
AIRSWM E M
SCANS LOCK
F
6.0 4.0 2.3S T
L
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11
12
Rear Panel Description 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
FM / AIRANTENNA 2
ANTENNA 1
EXT DC
INPUT
MASTER
POWER
SHORTWAVE
ANTENNA
SELECTFM / AIR
ANTENNA
SELECTLINE
AUDIO
OUTEXTERNAL
SPEAKERAIR
SQUELCH
9VDC/
1Amp
+
50
300
GND50050
4EXT WHIP 1 2 WHIP
MADE IN U.S.A./ 8ON OFF
CAUTION:
BALANCED OUTPUT.
DO NOT GROUND.
BATTERY COMPARTMENT
10
1) EXT DC INPUT - Connect the AC Adaptor wall
transformer output cable to this connector. The SW8
requires 9 VDC power at approximately 1 Amp
current. With external DC power applied, the internal
batteries are not used.
2) ANTENNA
1 - This connector is used when
attaching receiving antennas with coaxial feed lines of
50 ohm nominal impedance. Accepts a standard
PL-259 plug. If selected by the ‘Shortwave Antenna
Select’ switch (Item 5), this input operates for the AM
Broadcast and Shortwave (100 kHz to 30 MHz) bands
only.
3) FM/AIR Antenna - This input is designed for either
an unbalanced 75 ohm input connection that is encoun-
tered with coaxial feeds, for example, or, for a two
terminal balanced antenna feed with 300 ohm nominal
impedance. Connect to the FM connection of a TV/FM
outdoor antenna feed (splitter), if available. Folded
dipoles or coaxial antennas will also provide good
results with this input for reception of the FM broad-
cast and Aircraft bands. Depending upon the particular
type of antenna feed, connect to one of the ‘FM/AIR’
terminals and the ‘GND’ terminal for an unbalanced 75
ohm input, or, connect to the two ‘300 ohm’ terminals
for a balanced 300 ohm input. If selected by the ‘FM/
AIR Antenna Select’ switch (Item 6), this input operates
for the FM broadcast (87-108 MHz) and the Aircraft
(118-137 MHz) bands only.
4) ANTENNA 2 - This connector can be used to
attach either a low impedance (50 ohm nominal) or
high impedance (500 ohm nominal) antenna. Use the
‘GND’ and ‘50 ohm’ terminals for a 50 ohm antenna;
use the ‘GND’ and ‘500 ohm’ terminals for a 500 ohm
antenna. If selected by the ‘Shortwave Antenna Select’
switch (Item 5), this input operates for the AM Broad-
cast and Shortwave (100 kHz to 30 MHz) bands only.5) SHORTWAVE ANTENNA SELECT - This switch
selects one of three possible antennas to be used for
the 100 kHz to 30 MHz antenna input. The WHIP
antenna is built-in to the receiver and is located at the
upper left-hand corner of the receiver’s front panel.
‘ANTENNA 1’ and ‘ANTENNA 2’ are described in
Items 2 and 4 on this page.
6) FM/AIR ANTENNA SELECT - This switch allows
selection of either the built-in WHIP antenna, or the
external 75 ohm antenna or 300 ohm antenna connect-
ed at the ‘FM/AIR’ terminals (Item 3) for the 87-108
MHz and 118-137 MHz frequency ranges.
7) LINE AUDIO OUT - This RCA connector provides
a constant low level audio source that is independent of
the front panel volume and tone control settings. It is
designed to interface to a tape recorder, CW/RTTY
demodulators, amplifiers, etc.
8) EXTERNAL SPEAKER - This connector accepts a
standard 1/4 diameter, 2-circuit, (monaural) phone
plug for connection of an external 4/8 ohm speaker.
DO NOT GROUND!
NOTE: Grounding of either speaker output wire will
limit maximum available audio output and damage the
SW8.
9) AIR SQUELCH - This control is operational only for
the Aircraft band. The control allows muting of the
receivers audio when no signals are present. Adjust
the control until background noise just disappears
when no signal is being received.
10) MASTER POWER - This is a master power switch
which protects against accidental activation of front
panel power control. If the receiver is operated on
batteries and is not to be used for an extended period
of time, set this switch to the OFF position. For
normal usage of on/off power control from the front
panel, set the MASTER POWER switch to the ON
position.
4/75
TONE
VOLUME
POWER
pushH LTUNINGBAND
SSB 5
BW 6
SCAN
MEM
LAMP 9
STORE
VFO
SKIPCLEAR
BEEPTIMER
CLOCK AGC 8 AM
SYNC 4
DEL 0ATT 7 BCB 1
AIR 2
SW 3
F
AGC S AM SYNC
METER TIMER
+60
+40
+20
9
7
5
3
1
KHz
SWM E M
6.0
SW8 World Band
Shortwave Receiver
LSB
GENERAL OPERATING INFORMATION
The SW8 has been designed for ease of use. Please
take a few moments to read through this section and
familiarize yourself with general operating information.
MICROPROCESSOR RESET
A power-up reset routine will be activated anytime
after the SW8 COMPLETELY loses power, either
internal batteries or external DC input. This will be
observed by the front panel display illuminating all
annunciators for 3 seconds, followed by the clock
display. However, short term power failures of up to
30 minutes are masked by an internal back-up capaci-
tor. This will allow ample time for battery replacement
without loss of the internal clock. Note: Any
programmmed memory locations will NOT be lost
under a power-up reset due to the memory design of
the SW8.
BEEP TONES
The SW8 responds to all key depressions with an
audible beep unless the beep has been disabled by the
CLEAR
BEEP button. No beep is generated under any
condition for depressions of the TUNING keys. Beep
tones indicate the following:
One short tone for a key depression.
One long, high tone when storing a memory channel.
One long, low tone for any illegal key depression.
GETTING STARTED
Please refer to the front panel illustrations and set the
controls as shown.
1) Install 6 “D” batteries or connect AC adaptor.
2) Fully extend whip antenna, adjust to a vertical
position and engage in holder, or connect an external
antenna to appropriate rear panel terminals. Set rear
panel ANTENNA SELECT switch(es) to appropriate
position(s).3) Press POWER and adjust VOLUME to comfortable
level. (NOTE: Be sure the MASTER POWER switch
on the rear panel is in the ON position.)
4) Select the desired band by pressing one of the
BCB 1 , AIR 2 , or SW 3 buttons.
5) Enter the desired frequency by using one of several
methods covered below.
DIRECT FREQUENCY ENTRY
Direct entry of a desired frequency is possible using the
orange numeric keys 0-9 and decimal key. While
entering a frequency, if an incorrect frequency is
entered, pressing the
CLEAR
BEEP button will clear the entry
in progress and return the SW8 to its previous settings.
** The second depression of the decimal
SKIP button
acts as an ‘ENTER’ and causes immediate response to
the entered frequency. If you do not press the decimal
SKIP button a second time at the end, the SW8 will
automatically enter the frequency after a slight delay.
Press the
F button to shift keyboard to numeric
entry.
Enter frequency as follows:
A) Shortwave and AM broadcast enter in kHz (kilo-
hertz). A maximum of 6 digits may be entered.
Example:
700 kHz
Press
FATT 7DEL 0DEL 0 SKIP SKIP
29660 kHz
Press
FAIR 2LAMP 9BW 6BW 6DEL 0 SKIP SKIP
10 Getting Started
Power/Volume Tuning KnobTuning Keys Numeric KeypadTone Whip Antenna
** **
Getting Started, continued 11
SHORTWAVE ‘METER’ BAND DESIGNATOR
ENTRY
To facilitate tuning to particular sections of the short-
wave band that contain many worldwide broadcasts of
news, information and music, the SW8 permits entry of
the ‘METER’ band designator. In some cases, the
worldwide broadcast station may not announce its
exact operating frequency, but will announce the
‘METER’ band in which it is operating or to which band
it will move to improve worldwide reception at a
particular time of day. By entering this ‘METER’ band
number, the SW8 automatically tunes to the low
frequency end of the corresponding ‘METER’ band.
The search for the new station location is thus limited
to a particular smaller section of the entire shortwave
band spectrum. The Shortwave Band Designators and
corresponding frequency range is as follows:
Shortwave Band Designators
120 METER: 2300 - 2500 kHz
90 METER: 3200 - 3400 kHz
75 METER: 3900 - 4000 kHz
60 METER: 4750 - 5060 kHz
49 METER: 5800 - 6200 kHz
41 METER: 7100 - 7600 kHz
31 METER: 9500 - 9900 kHz
25 METER: 11600 - 12100 kHz
22 METER: 13570 - 13870 kHz
19 METER: 15100 - 15800 kHz
16 METER: 17480 - 17900 kHz
13 METER: 21450 - 21850 kHz
11 METER: 25600 - 26100 kHz
Press the
SW 3 button to enter the shortwave band
tuning mode. At this point, you can enter a frequency
with the numeric buttons, or use the Tuning wheel
and’ or
buttons to change frequency.
To enter a shortwave band ‘METER’ designator, press
the
SW 3 button a second time to display a flashing
‘METER’ number entry prompt. Enter one of the
listed two or three digit numbers corresponding to the
desired ‘METER’ band designator using the numeric
buttons. While the METER annunciator is flashing, the
and buttons can also be used to step
quickly from band to band. After selection of the
Meter band, use the Tuning wheel or
and
buttons to change the frequency, or press the F
button followed by the desired numeric frequency
entry.
BCB 1AM
SYNC 4AIR 2SSB 5AGC 8SKIPBCB 1F
14258.1 kHz
Press
OR
FBCB 1AM
SYNC 4AIR 2SSB 5AGC 8BCB 1 *
* When the maximum number of allowed digits is
entered, the decimal point will be automatically placed
between the 1 kHz and .1 kHz digits and need not be
entered.
B) Aircraft and FM broadcast enter in MHz (mega-
hertz). A maximum of 5 digits may be entered for FM.
A maximum of 7 digits may be entered for Aircraft.
Example:
97.7 MHz
Press
F LAMP 9 ATT 7 SKIP ATT 7 SKIP
121.9 MHz
Press
F BCB 1 AIR 2 BCB 1 SKIP LAMP 9 SKIP
** The second depression of the decimal SKIP button
acts as an ‘ENTER’ and causes immediate response to
the entered frequency. If you do not press the decimal
SKIP button a second time at the end, the SW8 will
automatically enter the frequency after a slight delay.
Attempting to enter a frequency outside the tuning
range of the SW8 will cause the ERROR annunciator to
flash along with the error beep to be heard. The SW8
will then return to its previous settings.** **
CARRIER LSB USB interference from adjacent station 12 Getting Started, continued alternate sideband if desired. When AM/SYNC has been activated, moving the main tuning knob will cause the SYNC circuit to momentarily disengage (indicated by ‘SYNC’ flashing), then back on again when tuning has stopped. AM SYNC does not function on the AIR band, and will not operate properly on intermittent transmis- sions such as those encountered on CB radio bands, for example. For those types of transmissions, use the AM mode. Press the AM SYNC 4 button to turn the synchronous detector off before selecting LSB or USB modes. SSB OPERATION Tuning in a single sideband (SSB) signal can be somewhat frustrating for the first time listener. In either of the SW8’s SSB modes, LSB (lower sideband), or USB (upper sideband), the receiver will select the 2.3 kHz bandwidth automatically (the SW8 may be programmed to NOT automatically select a bandwidth. Refer to Automatic Bandwidth Setting With Mode Selection DISABLE (ENABLE) in the Special Use Features and Functions section of this manual). Generally, LSB is used below 10 MHz and USB is used above 10 MHz. When initially tuning in the desired station, tune slowly. If the station is unintelligable, try the other sideband, again tuning slowly. A station tuned in on the wrong sideband is totally unreadable but a station mistuned on the correct sideband may sound like ‘Donald Duck’. Further tuning will result in a more normal voice pitch. FM OPERATION FM reception is perhaps the easiest mode to use on the SW8. The AGC and BANDWIDTH settings are not used in FM. In fact, attempting to activate these buttons will result in an ‘ERROR’ beep. All FM stations in the U. S. end in an odd 100 kHz, i.e., 97.7 MHz, and are spaced 200 kHz apart. The SW8 has the ability to tune in 20 kHz steps to allow tuning in between stations to help elimi- nate interference to weaker stations that could be covered up by stronger adjacent stations. Additionally, when headphones are used, true stereo reception is possible. The front panel S T annunciator will light when a stereo station is tuned in with the stereo head- phones plugged in. The SW8 will automatically switch to stereo and provide left and right audio from the head- phone jack only. If the headphones are removed while listening to a stereo broadcast, the SW8 reverts to monaural audio from the internal or external speaker. AGC OPERATION The SW8 provides the ability to select a Slow or Fast AGC setting. Either of the two settings will permit automatic control of the receiver’s gain thereby produc- ing a constant audio output free of distortion. Generally, the Slow AGC setting is preferred for reception of AM and SSB signals. The Fast AGC setting allows more rapid automatic receiver gain adjustment to quickly fading signal levels. The AGC does not function in the FM mode. Display Resolution 100 Hz 100 Hz 100 Hz 10 kHz 100 Hz Mode Broadcast Band: AM Shortwave Band: AM USB, LSB FM AIRTuning Resolution 100 Hz 100 Hz 50 Hz 20 kHz 100 Hz10 kHz/9 kHz 5 kHz 5 kHz 100 kHz 25 kHz Select LSB to receive this side only FREQUENCY RESOLUTION The SW8 tunes in the following steps: FRONT PANEL LOCK (UNLOCK) All keyboard entries, display settings, and entries from the tuning knob can be locked if desired. First, be sure the SW8 is not in SCAN. Press and hold the F button. The LOCK annunciator will light indicating the front panel controls are locked out. Power ON/OFF will still function as well as volume and tone controls. Press and hold the F button to unlock. AM SYNCHRONOUS OPERATION For general tuning and listening, normal AM is best. If, however, the received signal sounds distorted, or interference from adjacent stations is present, AM synchronous should be engaged. The synchronous detector in your receiver can greatly reduce the severe audio distortion that can occur due to signal fading. The detector also permits selectable tuning to either the upper or lower sideband portion of an AM signal. Since most all AM (LW, MW and SW) broadcasting generally uses double-sideband transmission, detection of either of the two sidebands results in full reception of the trans- mitted information. The selectable sideband tuning and detection not only aids reception by permitting tuning to the stronger or less distorted sideband, but also permits rejection of the sideband nearer to the interfering signal(s). For Example: The synchronous detector will lock to the strongest signal that is within the IF passband when it is activated. Most of the time, the strongest signal will be the carrier of the desired signal. First, be sure the main tuning is set to within 1 kHz of the desired station’s transmitting frequency. Press the AM SYNC 4 button to activate synchro- nous operation. If adjacent channel interference or any other undesired signal is sufficiently strong, the synchro- nous detector may lock to it instead. In that case, press the AM SYNC 4 button to turn the synchronous detector off and repeat the tuning process. For severe cases of fading, set the audio bandwidth to 4 kHz. If interference is present, press the SSB button to select the sideband with the least interference. If the interference is suffi- ciently severe to prevent reception, select a narrower IF bandwidth and retune to the desired signal. After reception is obtained, select a wider bandwidth and/or
RECALLING A MEMORY LOCATION
To select a specific memory channel, press the SCAN
MEM
button and then enter a two digit number of the
desired memory channel to be recalled. Make certain
that the successive button depressions are made within
3 seconds of each other. Other memory channels may
be selected by pressing the
SCAN
MEM button and entering
two digit numbers. If a channel number is selected that
is empty, Error will flash.
The large rotary tuning control may be used to tune
from the frequency that was stored in the selected
memory channel. The `MEM’ symbol turns off, but
the last memory channel number still shows. Pressing
the
SCAN
MEM button, causes the receiver to return to the
last selected memory channel number and the `MEM’
symbol turns on.
DELETING A MEMORY LOCATION
Select the memory channel to be deleted as described
in ‘RECALLING A MEMORY LOCATION’. Press and
hold the
DEL 0 button for three seconds. Beep will be
heard to indicate that the contents stored in the
selected memory channel number have been deleted.
Memory Functions 13
MEMORY FUNCTIONS
The SW8 contains 70 memory locations that can be
used to store and recall commonly monitored frequen-
cies. These 70 locations are divided into blocks of 10,
ie. 00-09, 10-19, 20-29, etc. This allows convenient
grouping of frequencies. As an example, 00-09 could
be AM broadcast stations, 10-19 could be FM broad-
cast stations, 20-29 could be various time stations such
as CHU and WWV, etc. With memory locations
programmed, you can use the scan function to auto-
matically monitor desired memory frequencies. The
following operating parameters may be stored in any
memory location:
1) Frequency 2) Mode 3) Bandwidth 4) AGC setting
5) Attenuator 6) Synchronous detector
MEMORY LOCATION PROGRAMMING
First, be sure that the SW8 is in the VFO mode (MEM
or SCAN not displayed). If required, press the
STORE
VFO
button to place unit in the VFO mode.
A) Select the desired frequency, mode, bandwidth, etc.
B) Press the
F button and then the STORE
VFO button
(switches keypad to the numeric mode). ‘MEM’ will
light and the memory channel number will flash.
Within three seconds, enter a two-digit number from
00-69. A confirmation beep is heard.
C) The SW8 will return to the VFO mode and the last
used memory location is displayed in the ‘MEM’
portion of the display.
TONE
VOLUME
POWER
pushH LTUNINGBAND
SSB 5
BW 6
SCAN
MEM
LAMP 9
STORE
VFO
SKIPCLEAR
BEEPTIMER
CLOCK AGC 8 AM
SYNC 4
DEL 0ATT 7 BCB 1
AIR 2
SW 3
F
AGC S AM SYNC
METER TIMER
+60
+40
+20
9
7
5
3
1
KHz
SWM E M
6.0
SW8 World Band
Shortwave Receiver
LSB
14 Scan Functions The SW8 provides a time scan function of programmed memory channels using the F button and SCAN MEM button. Scan will begin and end within a 10 channel block of programmed memory channels as indicated by the most significant digit of the selected memory channel number. The receiver will stop at each programmed memory channel within the block for 5 seconds and then increment to the next memory channel. Memory channels that are programmed to be skipped will not be scanned. The ‘SCAN’ symbol will be displayed for the duration of the scan action. Scanning will continue until the SCAN MEM button is pressed again. Example for SCAN: Suppose that memory channels 30 through 39 are programmed and it is desired to scan these channels. To initiate the scan action, Press the SCAN MEM button followed by the two-digit channel number entry (can enter 30 through 39 for this example). Press the F button followed by SCAN MEM. The receiver will begin scanning from the selected memory channel and continue scanning in sequence: ‘30’ - ‘31’ - ‘32’ - etc. Press the SCAN MEM button to stop the scanning action. Note that if channels 29 and 40 were stored, they would not be included in a scan of the channels starting with a ‘3’ as the most significant digit of the channel number.Block Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6Memory Channel Scan Range 00 - 09 10 - 19 20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60 - 69 MEMORY CHANNEL SKIP A memory channel can be skipped for scan operations. While in the MEMORY mode, press the SKIP button. The display will indicate that the ‘SKIP’ function has been stored for that particular memory channel number. An ‘S’ will be displayed to the right of the memory channel number on the display. Repeat the same sequence as described to remove the ‘SKIP’ function from a memory channel number. Example for MEMORY CHANNEL ‘SKIP’: Refer to the previous example on this page. Suppose it is desired to skip the memory channel number ‘34’ from the scan action: From the normal variable frequency tuning and reception mode (VFO) or from the Memory mode, press the SCAN MEM button followed by the two-digit number ‘34’. Press the SKIP button. An ‘S’ will illuminate to the right of the displayed ‘34’. When the scan action is initiated, all channel numbers 30 through 39, except 34, will be scanned. Note that the memory contents of channel 34 still remain, it is skipped over only in the scan sequence. To allow channel 34 to again be included in the scan sequence, Press the SCAN MEM button followed by the two-digit number ‘34’. Press the SKIP button to remove the ‘SKIP’ function from channel 34 for this example. The ‘S’ indicator in the display will turn off.