Eton Yb550pe Am Fm Shortwave Radio Operation Manual

							DETAILED OWNERS MANUAL continuedDETAILED OWNERS MANUAL continued
SELECTING AND  USING AN AC ADAPTOR 
Use an adaptor with the following specifications: output of
4.5 volts DC, negative polarity; rated at 100 milliamperes or
greater; coaxial plug tip inner diameter of 3.4 millimeter,
inner diameter of 1.3 millimeters. An appropriate adaptor for
use in North America is available for purchase from Eton
Corporation/Grundig. For details, visit www.etoncorp.com or
contact us via phone. Plug it into the DC socket (15), located
on the left side of the radio.
SIGNAL STRENGTH AND BATTERY STRENGTH
INDICATOR
When the radio is turned off, the upper left corner of the dis
play (1) shows battery strength on the 1–5 scale (30), withthe triangle pointer (23) over the battery symbol (31) on the
far left side of the scale. When the radio is turned on, thepointer is over the antenna symbol (24) and the 15 scaleshows relative signal strength.
IMPORTANT INITIAL SETUP
2.Assure that the radio is unlocked, with the LOCK switch
(18) on right side of the radio in the OFF position. Thisswitch can be used to lock the radio when it is not in useor when traveling.
3. Assure that the DX/LOCAL switch (11), on the left side of
the radio is in the DX position.
2120
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							4BASIC RADIO OPERATION BASIC RADIO OPERATION continued
VOLUME AND TONE  CONTROLS
The volume control (14), labeled VOLUME, is located on the
left side of the radio. The tone control (17), on the right side
of the radio is labeled NEWS/MUSIC. Use the position that
you like best.
SELECTING FM, AM OR SHORTWAVE
Pressing the button labeled ‘FM/AM/SW Band’ (9), allows selec
tion of FM,AM and SW (35). The frequency digits (34) appear in
the lower portion of the display. The local stations of your area
will be heard on AM and FM. International Shortwave stations
from around the world will be heard on SW.
NOTE: When the AM band is selected, the display shows
MW, not AM.
If you live outside of North America, see instructions on 
page 14.
23
TURNING ON AND OFF
The YB 550PE can be turned on by the two methods shown
below. To turn it off, press the ON/OFFTIMER button  (2).
1. BATTERY SAVER / SLEEP TIMER
METHOD:
Perform a quick, short press of the ON/OFFTIMER button 
(2). This causes the radio to shut off automatically after 90
minutes. Note that  (32) appears in the display. To
change the time from 90 minutes to a time of your prefer
ence, use the + and – buttons (7, 8) immediately after press
ing the  button, allowing selection of 1 – 120 minutes of
play time. The number of minutes that you last set are alsoused the next time the radio is turned on.
2. TIMERDEFEAT METHOD:
This method defeats the automatic 90 minute timer and causes
the radio to stay on until deliberately turned off. Hold the 
button down for about 2 seconds, then release. Note that
‘YB550’ appears in the display for about 5 seconds, then theradio turns on.
22
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							BASIC RADIO OPERATION continuedBASIC RADIO OPERATION continued
FOUR WAYS TO TUNE  IN  STATIONS
There are four ways to tune in stations, described in detail
below:
1. REGULAR TUNING (MANUAL TUNING)
Quick, short presses of the +/ buttons enables tuning up or
down frequency.
2. AUTOSCAN TUNING
Pressing the + or – buttons for just over 1 second enables
automatic scantuning. The radio will then automatically stop
on the next station encountered. Use the + button to
autoscan upward in frequency and the – button to autoscan
downward in frequency.
3. DIRECT FREQUENCY ENTRY
When the exact desired frequency is known, it can be entered
via the numeric keypad (10A) and the ‘Enter’ button. Make
sure that the correct band,AM, FM or SW is selected. To enter
a frequency, do the following in a rapid sequence:
a.Press/release the ‘Enter’ (6) button.
b. Enter the frequency using the numeric keypad.
4. FINE TUNING
The FINE TUNING control (16) is located on the right side of
the radio. It tunes in 1 Kilohertz steps in AM and Shortwave
and .05 Megahertz steps in FM. Use it to ‘finetune’ stations
to your liking, or use it as you would a tuning knob.
Shortwave enables listening to stations from around the
25
SETTING UP AM AND FM 
OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA
You can skip this section if you are in North America and just
purchased the YB 550PE. It is already setup in the factory for
use in North America. If you travel to other world regions,
make the changes below as necessary. Outside of North
America, AM stations (MW in the YB 550PE’s display) are
spaced at 9 KHz. The FM frequency range may be like that
used in Japan, 76108 MHz. To make these changes please
see the instructions titled SYSTEM SET CODE TABLE, on 
pages 4142.
24
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							5 USING SHORTWAVE 
USING SHORTWAVE continued
SELECTING A SHORTWAVE METER BAND
All 14 of the international broadcast bands can be
accessed.The bands are numbered 120, 90, 75, 60, 49, 31, 25,
22, 19, 16, 15, 13 and 11 meters. See the section below titled
SHORTWAVE BAND CHART OF AUTOSCANNING RANGESwhich shows the full frequency range of each band used by
the radio’s autoscan system.
There are two ways to access a band, each method placing
the tuner at the beginning of the band that has beenaccessed.
1. Each successive quick, short press of the button labeled
SHORTWAVE METER BAND (10) places the radio at the
beginning of a band.While pressing the button, the bandnumber shows in the upper right corner of the display(37) and disappears a few seconds after it is released,
causing the clock to reappear in the corner. Start tuning
only after the clock reappears.
2. Perform one quick, short press of the button labeled
SHORTWAVE METER BAND, immediately followed by
quick, short presses of either the + or – tuning
buttons.The band number appears in the upper right cor
ner of the display. After the band of choice is selected,start tuning after the clock reappears in the upper right
corner.
27
world. If you are completely new to shortwave, or just need a
refresher on shortwave basics, please see the SHORTWAVE
LISTENING GUIDE that accompanies this product. To get you
started, some basics are noted below
•  Night shortwave reception is almost always better than
daytime shortwave.
•  During daytime the most active shortwave bands are 13,
15, 16, 19, and 22 meters, 16 and 19 usually best. At
night, the most active bands are 25, 31, 41 and 49
meters, 31 and 49 usually best
•  Around sunset and sunrise, both the day and night bands
may be good, sometimes exceptionally good. Listening at
these times can often be quite rewarding
•  Signal strengths are often stronger when holding the
radio and being very close to a window
26
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							USING SHORTWAVE continued6CLOCK AND ALARM  FEATURES
29
AUTOSCAN TUNING WHILE IN SHORTWAVE
In shortwave, autoscan tuning only autoscans in the short
wave frequency ranges noted below in the SHORTWAVE
BAND CHART OF AUTOSCANNING RANGES. To tune short
wave frequencies that are inbetween these ranges, or out
side of these ranges, use one of the other tuning methods.
SHORTWAVE BAND CHART 
OF AUTOSCANING  RANGES 
BAND (meters}  FREQUENCY RANGE (kilohertz)
120  2250  2550
90  3150  3450
75  3850  4050
60  4700  5100
49  5800  6300
41  7100  7500
31  9400  1000
25  11500  12150
22  13500  13900
19  15000  15900
16  17450  18000
15  18850  19100
13  21450  21950
11  25600  26100
28
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
SETTING THE  CLOCK
The factory default has set the clock to function as a 24 hour
format clock. If you prefer a 12 hour, AM/PM clock format,
see the section titled CHANGING THE CLOCK FORMAT, onpage 39.
To set the clock:
1.Turn the radio off. The clock digits appear in the lower
portion of the display (28).
2. Press/release the button labeled ‘Time Set’ (5). The clock’s
digits flash in the display.
3.Within 5 seconds, set the hour using the + button and the
minutes using the – button. Make sure that AM or PM(29) appear in the display appropriately for the time of
day if your clock is set up in the 12 hr. AM/PM format.
4.Within 5 seconds of finishing, press/release the ‘Time Set’
button twice.
  
						

							CLOCK AND ALARM  FEATURES continuedCLOCK AND ALARM  FEATURES continued
USING THE SNOOZE FEATURE
When the alarm activates and turns the radio on, the 
symbol appears flashing in the display. While it is flashing,
press/release the SNOOZE/LIGHT button (22). The radio will
turn off and then turn on again in 10 minutes. This process
can be repeated 3 times.
ACTIVATING AND  DEACTIVATING THE ALARM
For the alarm to function, it must be activated by pressing the
button labeled ALARM (3). The  symbol (27) appears in
the display. To deactivate the alarm, press/release the ALARM
button again, causing the  symbol to disappear from the
display.
Note that once the alarm turns on the radio and the above
pictured alarm symbol is flashing, except for the
SNOOZE/LIGHT button, the radio’s controls will not functionuntil the ON/OFFTIMER button is pressed.
3130
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
SETTING THE ALARM
After setting the alarm time, be sure to read the next section
titled ACTIVATING AND  DEACTIVATING THE ALARM. The
alarm will wake you to the last radio station tuned, unless set
for Favorite Station WakeUp. See Below. The radio will play
for 30 minutes, until you turn it off or until you press the
SNOOZE/LIGHT button (see USING THE SNOOZE FEATURE,below).
1.Turn the radio off. The alarm clock digits (26) appear in
the upper right corner of the display.
2. Press/release the button labeled ‘Time Set’ twice. The
alarm clock’s digits flash in the display.
3. Within 5 seconds, set the hour using the + button and the
minutes using the – button. Make sure that AM or PM(25) appear in the display appropriately for the time of
day if your clock is set up in the 12 hr. AM/PM format.
4.Within 5 seconds of finishing, press the ‘Time Set’ button
once.
FAVORITE STATION WAKEUP
Use system set code 01. See pages 4142.
  
						

							7 WORKING WITH  MEMORY
WORKING WITH  MEMORY continued
STORING STATIONS INTO MEMORY
In the instructions below, the term ‘preset’ and ‘memory pre
set’ refer to memory locations.
1. Turn on the radio.
2. Select the memory page that you wish to use, using the
procedure titled SELECTING MEMORY PAGES, above. If
you know that it’s already on the correct memory page,
skip this step.
3.Tune to the desired station.
4. Press/release the Mem./Edit button. Note that the ‘PRE
SET’ digits (36) flash in the upper right corner of the dis
play. The memory page number also appears, but does notflash.
5.Within 5 seconds use the numeric keypad to enter the
memory preset number that you wish to store the station
into (in the factory default setting, there are 25 presets
per page). Punch in a number from 1 to 25.
6. Within 5 seconds press the Mem./Edit button, or wait 5
seconds. After a few seconds, the upper right corner’s display returns to the clock.
33
To store frequencies into memory, it must first be learned
how to select memory pages. By factory default, there are 8
pages of memory, each page holding 25 frequencies. This
enables storing of 200 frequencies into memory. This default
can be changed and tailored to your personal need. See the
section CUSTOMIZING MEMORY PAGES on page 37.
SELECTING MEMORY PAGES
1.Press/hold the M.Scan/Page button (4) for about 3 sec
onds. Then release it. Note that the memory page (36) is
flashing in the upper right corner of the display.
2. Within 5 seconds select the desired page with the + and
– buttons. You will see the memory page change with
each press. When the page of your choice is reached, stoppressing.
3. When finished, either press/release the M.Scan/Page but
ton, or wait about 3 seconds, causing the memory page to
be entered. The clock (33) will reappear in the display’s
upper right corner.
32
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							WORKING WITH  MEMORY continuedWORKING WITH  MEMORY continued
MEMORY SEARCH 
Memory Search enables searching through the memory pre
sets within a memory page, as shown below:
1.Press/release the M.Scan/Page button.
2.Use quick, short presses on the + or – buttons to search
through the memory presets.
MEMORY AUTOSCAN 
Memory Autoscan enables scanning through the memory pre
sets within a memory page. The memory being scannedenables listening to the station for about 5 seconds and will
then move on to the next memory automatically. Autoscan
will continue indefinitely on the selected page until deliberately stopped.
1. Press/release the M.Scan/Page button.
2.Press/hold either the + or – button for about 3 seconds.
Then release it. Note that the memory preset number in
the upper right corner of the display flashes and the pre
set being scanned remains for about 5 seconds. It then
moves on to the next memory preset for another 5 sec
onds. To stop memory preset autoscan, press/releaseeither the + or – button.
35
ACCESSING WHAT IS STORED INTO MEMORY
Below, the three ways to access what has been stored into
memory are described: Direct Memory Access, Memory Search
and Memory Autoscan. When the memory page and memory
preset numbers appear in the upper right corner of the dis
play, as it will in the sections below, the radio is in MEMORY
ACCESS MODE. This mode can be exited any time with a
press/release of the M.Scan/Page button.
DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS:To directly access a memory pre
set, the page number and preset number must be entered, asshown below:
1. Press/hold the M.Scan/Page button for about 3
seconds.Then release it. Note that the memory page is
flashing in the upper right corner of the display.
2.Within 5 seconds select the desired page with the + and
– buttons.
3.Within 5 seconds, use the numeric keypad to keyin the
memory preset number that you wish to access. (if it is
under 10, key in 01, 02, etc.). NOTE: Once a page number
has been selected or changed, even if it is not seen on the
screen, a memory preset on that page can be selected by
keying in the memory number with the numeric keypad,
without having to redo steps 1 and 2 above.
34
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							WORKING WITH  MEMORY continuedWORKING WITH  MEMORY continued
DELETING ALL  MEMORY 
CONTENTS OF A PAGE
1. Press/release the M.Scan/Page button.
2. Press/hold the Mem./Edit button for 4 seconds and then
release it. ‘Del’ (38) appears flashing in the display.
3.Within 2 seconds, press/release the Mem./Edit button.
CUSTOMIZING MEMORY PAGES
The number of memory pages can be changed from 8 to 4, 5,
or 20. While this changes the number of frequencies stored
per page, in all cases 200 total frequencies can be stored. To
see the details of these changes and to make these changes
please see the instructions titled SYSTEM SET CODE TABLE,
on Pages 4142.
37
MOVING A STORED FREQUENCY
1.Turn on the radio.
2. Press/hold the M.Scan/Page button for about 3 seconds
and release it.
3.Use the + or – button to select the required memory
page.
4.Press/release the M.Scan/Page button twice.
5.Press/release the Mem./Edit button.
6. Within 5 seconds use the numeric keypad to enter the
memory preset number that you wish to store the station
into.
7. Within 5 seconds press/release the Mem./Edit button.
DELETING A STORED FREQUENCY
1.Press/release the M.Scan/Page button.
2.Use the + or – button to select the memory preset loca
tion of the frequency that you wish to delete.
3.Press/hold the Mem./Edit button for about 2 seconds and
then release it. ‘dEL’ appears flashing in the display.
4. Within 2 seconds, press/release the Mem./Edit button.
36
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL
  
						

							8SYSTEM SET CODE TABLESYSTEM SET CODE TABLE continued
CHANGING THE CLOCK FORMAT
The instructions below serve as an excellent example of how
to change a system set code, in this case changing the clocksystem to a 12 hour format:
1. Turn off the radio.
2.Press/release the ‘Sys. Set’ button. Note that ‘  ‘ appears
in the upper right corner of the display and the clock dig
its disappear.
3.Within 5 seconds, enter 12 with the numeric keypad, then
immediately press/release the button labeled ENTER.
‘12H’ briefly appears in the display.
39
Certain functions can be programmed and changed using
SYSTEM SET CODES. These functions and their descriptions
are noted in the SYSTEM SET CODE TABLE, on Page 41.
CHANGING SYSTEM SET CODES
To enter a system code of your choice, use the procedure
below.
1. Turn off the radio.
2. Press/release the ‘Sys. Set’ button (6). Note that ‘  ‘ (39)
appears in the upper right corner of the display and the
clock digits disappear.
3. Within 5 seconds, enter the desired numeric code with the
numeric key pad, then immediately press/release the but
ton labeled ENTER. The code ICON (40) will briefly appear
in the lower right corner of the display.
38
YB 550PEOPERATION MANUAL