Radio Shack DX-399 User manual

C at. No . 20-229
OWNER'S MANUAL
Please read before using this equ i pment.
DX-399
Shortwave Receiver
®
RadioShack@

FEATURES
Your RadioSh ac k DX-399 Shortwave Receiver brin gs the voices of
the wo rld to yo u. You can hear news broadcasts and other pro-
grams from
so urces around the wo rld, su ch as Radio Cairo, Israel
Radio, British Broadcasting Company, and Radio Moscow.You can
get emergency information firsthand
by listening to amateur radio
broadcasts. In the longwave (L
W) band, you so metimes h ea r hurri-
ca ne reports, shi p- to-shore ca ll s, and other marine and aeronauti-
ca l services. You can tune to local broadcasts in the FM and
medium-wave (MW) bands. (In the United States, we commonly
ca ll the MW band the AM band.)
Your receive
r' s ot her featuresinclude:
Co ntinu ous SW C ove ra ge (from 1.7 11 MHz to 29 .999 MHz)-al-
lowsyou to scan the entire
SW band.
Digi ta l Sy nth es iz ed R ece i ve r - ens ur es accurate, dr i ft - fr ee tun-
ing.
Fa
st -Respon se Dis pla y - lets you quickly and easily view the
time, band and frequency, and other indicators.
Dual Tim e Cl oc k - you ca n se t a primary clock to your local time
and a secondary clock to anoth
er time zone, so you ca n quickly
ch ec k the time in anotherpart of the wo rld.
Au to Tunin g S ys tem (ATS) - automatically tunes to the stations
with the strongest signals and stores them in memory locations ac-
cording to each stat
io n's signal strength.
Sc
an Tuning - lets you quicklyfind stations.
Mem
ory Tunin g - you can store up to 54 frequencies in memory
so you can quickly selectyourfavorite stations.
© 1999
Ta n dy Corporation.
All Righ ts Rese rve d.
Ra dioShack is a registe red trademarkused by Ta n dy Corporati on .
2

Dir ect -A ccess Tunin g - you can use the keypad to manually en-
t er a frequency.
Co ntr ol L oc k - preven ts you fr om accidenta ll y changing a setting.
Ti
mer Alarm s - l et you set the buzzerto sound or the receiver to
tum on to wake you up at a ti
me you set.
Sle ep Timer - lets you set the receiver to t um o ff after a preset
length of time soyou can fa ll asleep asyou listen to it.
MW 9 kH
z/ 10 kHz St ep Se tt ing - lets you choose the correctAM
t
un ing increment forwhichever part of the wo rld yo u are in.
AM
Ext ernal Ant e nn a J ac k - lets you connect an external anten-
na (not supp li ed) to improve SW/MW/LW reception.
Memo Pad - lets you record helpful information such as the mem-
ory location numbers of yourfavori te stations.
S
te reo He adph o ne s Ja ck - you can listen to broadcasts with op-
tional stereo headphones.
We recommend you record the DX-399's serial number here. The
numberisinside the DX-399's battery compartment.
Serial Number ~~~~~~~-
3

CONTENTS
A Quick L oo k at the DX-3 99 ...................................................... 6
Preparation ................................................................................. 9
About this Manual ............................ .. .......... . .......... . ........ . .... 9
Connecting to Pow
er ........................................ .... ............ ..... 9
Using Standard AC Pow er .... .. .... .. .... .. .... .. .... .............. . 10
Using DC Pow
er .................................... .. .... .. .... .. .... .... . 11
Installing Batteries .................... .. .......... .. .... ...... .... .. ..... 12
Connecting Headphones .. .. .... .. .... .. ........ .. .... .. .................... . 13
Using the FM Mono/Stereo Switch .............................. 14
Listening Safely .........................
.. ... .. ... .. ....... .... ........... 14
Traffic Safety ..
.. ... .. ... .. ... .... .. .. ... .... . .... . .... . .......... . .......... 14
Using the Clock .. .... .. .... .. .... .. .... ...... .... .. .... .. .... .. ........ .. .... .. ... 15
Setting the Local Time .............................................. ... 15
Setting the Dual Time
.................................................. 15
Setting Zero Seconds
.................................................. 16
Connecting an External Antenna
.. .... .. ................................ 16
Setting the
MW (AM) Tuning Increment .... .......................... 17
Using the Folding Stand ...................................................... 18
Using the Memo Label ........................................................ 18
Operation .................................................................................. 19
Turning the Recei ver On and Off .. .... .. ................................ 19
Adjusting the Antenna
.. ...................................................... . 19
Tuning .
.. .... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. ....... .. .............. .. ............................... 19
Se lecting the Band ...................................................... . 19
Automatic Tuning System (ATS) ..........
.. .... .. .... .... .... .... 20
Direct-Access Tuning ................ .. .... .... .... .. ........ .. ......... 21
Manual Tuning ........................... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. ... .. ........... 22
Scan Tuning the FM/MW/LW Bands .. .......................... 22
Li stening to the SW Meter Band .. ................................ 22
Fine Tuning .... .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .... . .... .. .... . ...................................... 23
Using the AM SENS DX/LOCAL Switch .. .... .. .... .......... 23
4

Memory Tuni ng .... ......... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. ... .. .... .. ............ .. .......... .. 23
Storing Frequencies in Memory
.. .. ............................... 23
Storing/Arranging
SW Frequencies in Memory ............ 24
Recalling a Station in Memory .... .. .. .... .. ........ .. .............. 25
Scanni
ng Stations in Memory ...... .... .. .. ......................... 26
Deleti ng a Station from Memory .............. ...... .... .... ....... 26
Spe cial Fea ture s ....................................................................... 27
Usi ng t he Alarm .................. ...... .... .. .... .... .... .. .... ...... .... .. .... .. . 27
Setti ng the Radio Alarm Time .... .. .. .... .. .... .... .... .. .. .... .... 27
Setti
ng the HWS Alarm Time .................. .. ........ .. ......... 28
S il encing the Alarm ...................................................... 29
Turni
ng the Alarm On or Off ......................................... 29
Usi ng t he Sleep Timer .... .... .. ........ .. ................ .. ................... 30
Usi
ng t he Countdown Timer .......................... .. .......... .. ........ 30
Cancelling the CountDown Timer ............
.. ................... 31
Usi ng t he Display Backlight .. ........ .. .......... .. .... .. ........ .. ......... 31
Locking the Controls ...................... ...... .... .. .... .... .... .. ........ .... 31
Li ste nin g Hint s .......................................................................... 32
Reference Sources ............. .. ......... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. .... 32
Frequency Conversion ............................. .. ... .. ... .. ............ .. . 32
Band A ll ocations .. ... .. ................................ .. ... .. ... .. ... .... . .... . .. 34
Time Standard Frequencies .................... ...... .... .... .... .. . 35
Longwave Band .......... .. ......... .. ... .. ... .. ............ .. .......... .. 35
Listening Guide ........................................ .. ... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. .... 36
Bi rd ies ... .. ... .. ...... .. ... .. .......................................................... 42
AmateurShortwave Bands in the USA ....
.... .... .. .............. .... 43
AmateurShortwave Bands (in MHz) ........................... 43
Tro ubl esh oot in g ........................................................................ 44
Resetting the Radio ..................................
.. .... ...... .... .. .... .. ... 45
Care and Ma in te nan ce ............................................................. 46
The FCC Wan
ts You to Kn ow ................................................... 47
Sp ec i ficat ions ........................................................................... 48
5

A QUICK LOOK AT THE DX-399
Tuning
Indicator
6
Display Backlight
POWER/SLEEP
II Clock/AlarmfTimer
.· Controls
a:!l~Pi:!!.P:I~ )-r =t - FM/LW/MW/SW
·- ·- ·- - Controls
eomm
<:n m ©s
mm mm
Q:>oms
ExteriorAntenna Jack
VOLUME
FM STEREO/MONO
AM SENS DX/LOCALSwitch
Control Lock
DC IN 4.SV Jack
utomaticTuning
System
UNING

t!) -lights the displ ay for about 20 seconds.
POWER/•SLEEP -turns the DX-399 and the sleep ti mer on and off.
FINE -reduces the tuning step interva l.
FM /1 ,?J /2 f?J J •ATS -selects the FM band; toggles between two
clock settings; Automatic Tuning System tunes to the strongestfre-
quenci
es in the FM band.
LW /ilt:l •ATS- selects the LW band; displays the alarm time; Auto-
matic Tuning System tunes to the strongest frequencies in the LW
band.
MW / 'Stu HWS •ATS -selects the MW band (AM broadcasts) ; dis-
plays the Humane Waking System ti me ; Automatic Tuning System
tunes to the strongest frequencies in the MW band.
SW / METER - se lects the SW band; selects the countdown timer
function; allows you to enterwavelength.
TUNING /\ v /MANUAUAUTO -tunes up or down.
ENTER/DISPLAY -stores and di sp lays settings.
•TIME SET /M (Memory) - sets the time and enters a frequency in
memory.
FREQ/11m -displaysthe currentfrequencyand selects 11m wave-
length.
C/ 13m -clears an entry and se lects 13m wavelength.
./16m/ O"SET / M.SCAN -enters a decimal; se lects 16mwavelength;
sets zero second; scans through stations in the memorybank.
7

0/ 19m / P1 / P2 -enters O; selects 19m wavelength; selects memory
ba nk location.
•O-W -locks t he DX-399's controls so you do not accidentally
change any settin gs .
FM STEREO/MONO -toggles between stereo and monaural recep-
tion.
AM SENS DX/LOCAL -reduces interference between stations.
8

PREPARATION
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
This Ow ner's Manual describes how to set up and use the DX-399,
and also provides tips and information about listening
to a receiver.
Some of the DX-399's controls perform multiple functions (such as
./ 1 6m /O" SET/M. SCA N). The first time the Ow ner's Manual mentions
controls with multiple functions, a ll functions will be included. Each
time thereafter, the control will be named by the function being de-
sc
ri bed.
F
or exampl e, in the "Setting Zero Seconds" section, the Owner's
Man ua l li sts the control as ./ 16m/ O" S ET /M . SCA N. In the "Using the
FM Mono/Stereo Sw itch" section (later in the manual), the control is
l is ted as M. SCA N.
CONNECTING TO POWER
You can pow er the receiverfrom standard AC power, your vehicle's
ba ttery (with an optional DC adapter), or internal batteries (not sup-
pl ied).
The supplied univer sa l adapter uses the most popular European
AC adapt
er plug and aut om at ica ll y converts voltage from the local
current to 4.5V DC .
N
ote : Connecting an adapter automatically disco nn ects internal
ba tte ri es.
9

Us ing Sta nd ard AC Po wer
You can powerthe receiver from sta nd a rd AC po werusi ng the sup-
pl ied universal adapter.
Cautions:
You must use a Class 2 po wer source that supplies
4.5 Vol ts DC and delivers at least 200 mA . Its center
tip must be
set to negative and its plug must fi t the
DX-399's DC
IN 4. 5V jack. The supp li ed adapter meets these
specifications. Using an adapter that does
no t meet these
specifications could damage the DX-399 orthe adapter.
-Always unplug the adapter from the AC outlet
fi rst, then unplug
it from the receiver.
Insert the adapte r' s barrel plug into the receiver's DC IN 4. 5V jack,
then plug the adapter into a standard AC ou
tl e t.
DC IN 4. 5V Jack
10

Using DC Power
You can pow er the receiver from your vehicle's battery with an op-
tional DC adapter.
Cautions:
~ You must use a po wer source that supp li es 4.5 Volts
ffi DC and de li vers at least 200 mA . Its center tip must
be set to negative and its plug must fit the DX-399's
DC IN 4. 5V jack. The recommended adapter meets these spec-
ifications. Using an adapter thatdoes not meetthese specifica-
tions could damage the DX-399 or the adapter.
• Always plug the adapter into the receiver beforeyou pl ug it into
your vehicle's cigarette-lighter socket, and un plug the adapter
from the vehicle's cigarette-lighter socket before you unplug it
from the receiver.
Fo ll ow these steps to use DC po wer.
1. Set t
he adapter's volt-
age switch to 4.SV.
2. Insert the adapter's bar-
rel pl ug into the
receiver's
DC IN 4. 5V
jack.
3. Insert the adapter's large
plug into the vehicle's
cigarette-lighter socket.
11

Insta lling Ba tt eries
You can pow er t he receiver with three AA batteries (not supplied).
For the best performance
and longest life, we recommend Ra -
dioShack al
ka li ne batteries.
Cautions:
• Use on lyf resh batteries of the requ i red size a nd recommended
type.
• Do not mix old and new batteri es, different types of batteries
(standard, alkaline,
or rechargeable), or rechargeable batteries
of different capaciti es.
Fo ll ow these steps to install batteries.
1. Slide the battery compartment cover in the directi
on of the
arrow to remove it.
2. Place the batteries in the compartment as indicated by the
polarity symbol
s(+ and-) marked on the back of the receiver.
3. Replace the cover.
12

N otes :
• When you press PO WE R/ • SL EEP to turn off the receiver, the
ba ttery power indicator appears on the displayfor about 7 sec·
onds. Fr esh batteries show a po wer level of 9. If the indicator
shows a power level of 3 or below, battery low a flashes.
When E and battery lowa flash, replace all t hr ee batteries.
• To avoid losing the current time and memory settings, be sure
to replace the batteries within 3 minutes
of removing the old
ba tte ri es.
Wa rnin g: Dispose of old batte ri es promptly and prope rl y. Do not
bu m or bury them.
Cautio n: If you do no t plan to use the receiver w it h batteries for a
month or lon ge r, remove the batteries. Batte ri escan leak chemicals
that can destroy electronic parts.
CONNECTING HEADPHONES
For private listening and for stereo so un d during FM stereo broad-
casts, you can co nn ect optional stereo headphones with a 1 /a ·inch
(3.5-m m) plug. Your local RadioShack store se ll s a wide selection
of stereo headphones.
Insert the headphones' plug into the receiver's n jack. This dis-
connects the receiver's inte rn al speaker. Se t FM S TERE O /M ONO to
FM S TERE O. When you tune to a stereo broadcast, ST appears.
For the best reception, press
FINE and then TU NIN G Av until ST
remains steady.
13

Us ing the FM Mono/S te reo Switch
To receive FM stations in stereo, connect stereo headphones
(available at your local RadioShack store) to the 0 jack and slide
FM ST EREO/MONO to ST EREO.
To improve reception for weak FM stereo stations, set FM STERE O/
MONO to MONO. The signal becomes monaural, bu t the sound
might improve.
List e ning Safe ly
To protect yo ur hearing, fo ll ow these guide li nes when you use
headphones.
• Set the volume to the lowestsetting before you begin listening.
After you begin listening, ad just the volume to a comfortable
leve
l.
• Do n ot listen at extremely high volume levels. Extended high·
volumelistening can lead to permanent hearing loss.
• Once you set the volume, do not increase it. Over time, your
ears adapt to the vol
um e level, so a volume level that does no t
cause discomfort might still damage your hearing.
Traffic Safe ty
• Do not use headphones with your receiver when operating a
motorvehicle
or ridi ng a bicycle in or near traffic. Doing so can
create a traffic hazard and could be illegal in some areas.
• If you use headphoneswi th your receiver while riding a bicycle,
be very carefu l. Do not listen to a conti nu ous broadcast. Even
though some earphones/headphones let
yo u hear some out-
side sounds when listening at normal vol um e level s, they still
can present a traffic hazard.
14

USING THE CLOCK
Your receiver has two clocks. We recommend you set the primary
clock for local time and the secondary clock for UTC (Coordinated
Universal Time, formerly called Greenwich Mean time ), because
mostshortwave stations announce broadcasttimesin UTC 24-hour
format.
To
sw itch back and forth between times, press 1 · ~12 €>, then EN -
TE R.
Se tting the Local Time
1. Turn off the receiver so · ~ appears.
2. Hold •T
IME S ET /M for about 3 seconds. <9 SET flashes for
about 1
Oseconds.
3. Wh
il e <9 SET is flashing, enterthe correct time using the num-
ber keypad.
Notes:
-
Do not precede single-digit hours with a 0. For exampl e,
enter 930 for 9:30AM.
-If you make a mistake, press c to erase the l
ast digi t, then
enterthe correct digi t.
4. Press DISPLA Y. The time you set appears.
Se tting the Dual Time
You can program the receiverto store a second time as your home
time (for example)
if you are travelling, or as Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC), or as t he local time whereveryou are.
15

1. Press 1 ·~12 0 so 2 0 flashes for about 3 seconds.
2. Wh
il e 0 is fl as hi ng , press ENTE R. 2 0 stops flashing.
3. Hold down
•TIME SET for about 3 seconds. <9 SET flashes f or
about 1Oseconds.
4. Wh
il e 0 SET is flashing, ent er the correct time using the num-
ber keypad.
5. Press
ENTER to store the setting. The di sp l ay shows the dual
time you set.
Se tting Zero S eco nd s
To setthe seconds to zero, hold do wn •TIME SET u nt il <9 SET flash-
es, then press O" S
ET /J 16m/M . SCA N when <9 appears. <9 SET- 00
flashesforabout 60 seconds. Press ENTE Rat the desired time f or a
more precise clock setting.
CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA
To improve SW/MW/LW reception,you ca n connect an external an-
tenna (ava
il able at your local RadioShack store) directly to the AM
EXTANTjack. Follow the antenna's supplied instructions to connect
the receiver to the antenna.
N
ote : Connecti ng an external antenna disabl es the built-in ferrite
co re an tenna.
16

SETTING THE MW (AM) TUNING
INCREMENT
In the United Stat es , the Federal Communi ca tions Commission
(FCC) assigns frequenci
es f or stations in the MW band in 10-
k
il ohertz increments. (In the United Stat es , we commonly call the
MW band the AM band.) In Europe and some other parts of the
world, MW frequencies are assigned in 9-kilohertz increments.
The
MW step 9k/1Ok switch is located insi de the battery compart-
ment.
To se t the t un ing increment,follow these steps.
1. Slide the battery
co mpartment cover in the direction of the
ar row to remove it and remove the ba tteri es , if necessary.
2.
If you are in the United States or anywhere else in the Western
Hemisphere,slide the switch to 10k.
If you are in anyotherpart of the world,slide the switch to 9k.
3. Replace t
he batteries and battery compartment cover.
17

USING THE FOLDING STAND
You can position the receiver mo re securely, and possibly improve
the reception, by resting the receiver on its stand. Lift the latch on
the back
of the receiver to open the stand and position the receiver
on a flat surface, as
sho wn. A li st of frequency ranges for the FM/
LW/MW/ SW ba n ds are pr inted on t he stand for yo ur reference.
USING THE MEMO LABEL
Use the memo label un der the receiver's stand to record hel pf ul in-
fo
rm ation, such as the memory location numbers of your favorite
stat
io ns.
18

OPERATION
1\JRNING THE RECEIVER ON AND OFF
To turn on the receiver, press PO WE R. The ba nd and frequency ap-
pear.
To tu rn o ff the receiver, press PO WER again. The battery indicator
appears, showing the battery condition from 9 (fully charged batter-
i
es ) to 1 (low batteri es ).
ADJUSTING THE ANTENNA
For the best reception, ad just t he telescoping antenna based on the
band you are l
is tening to.
FM -Pull up the antenna's base about halfway then fu
ll y extend
the antenna and
ro tate it for the best reception.
SW - Pu ll up the antenna's basethen fully extend the antenna and
point it straight up.
LW and MW (AM) - Rotate t he receiver.The recei ve r uses a built-
in antenna f or these bands.
1\JNING
Selec ting the Band
Press FM / •AT S, LW / •AT S, MW / •AT S(f or AM ). or SW/ METER to select
the des ired band. To se lect a smaller band within the SW band,
press SW/
METER again so m flashes, then ent er the desired meter
band by pressing its labeled met
er button on the keypad.
19

The fo ll owi ng chart shows the tuning interval for each band.
Band TUning Incre ment
FM 0.1 MHz
LW 9 kHz
MW
9or10 kHz
SW
0.005 MHz
Automatic Tuning Sys te m (ATS)
The DX-399 features an Automatic Tuni ng System which scans all
the ava il able stations and stores them in sequence according to
their signal strength for quick
tu ning. The strongest signal station
will be tuned and stored in the fi rst available memory location, and
the second strongest signal will be tuned and stored next,
and so
on
un t il all nine memory loca ti on numbers are occupi ed.
To set your scanner to tune automatically, hold down •AT S for the
desired band (
FM , LW, or MW ) for about 3 seconds. The DX-399
beeps once while T
UN ING and ATS flash. The numbers 1- 9 ap-
pear one at a ti me indicating that t he receiver is scanning. When
automatic
tu ning and memory preset is complete, t he DX-399
beeps.
Notes:
• The DX-399 automatically tu nes and stores up to 18 FM sta-
tions (nine in each
of two memory banks- P1 and P 2), 9 MW,
and 9 LW stations.
• ATS does notwork in the SWband.
• Only 0 , POWER and · o-n controls can fu ncti on during an
ATS.
20