Reddit mentions of Sangean ANT-60 Short Wave Antenna

Shortwave broadcasts from NHK and Radio Nikkei in Japanese are easily heard on the US West Coast. Tune in a few hours around sunrise and sunset. These stations can be strong all evening long. Radio Nikkei has no English language broadcasts. NHK English language broadcasts are difficult to find on the West Coast as none are targeted to North America. Here is the current NHK schedule.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/resources/brochure/pdf/rj_frequency.pdf

The only NHK English language broadcast I have heard recently is the Vatican relay 9860 kHz at 0500 UTC ( 9 p.m. PST). Getting this signal right now is pretty much a DX proposition for me.

Shortwave signals can reach inside wooden framed and sided houses pretty well. For other housing construction types, not so well. This is why listening outdoors works better or using an outdoor antenna.

For external antennas a ordinary reel-type random wire works better than a telescopic whip antenna. There are several to choose from. https://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-60-Short-Wave-Antenna/dp/B000023VW2 All of these antennas are about 23 feet long to avoid overloading inexpensive radios and some may be either clipped to a whip antenna or plugged into the 3.5mm antenna jack on the radio.

Better quality shortwave radios like Sangean ATS-909X, Tecsun PL-880 and Eton Grundig Edition Satellite (or Eton Executive Satellit) can handle ransom wire antennas of any length without overloading. All include a 3.5mm (1/8 inch) external antenna jack.

If your radio has a front end that can handle it and you want to move up a step from the reel-up antennas a longer random wire antenna is a good step up. You will need a 3.5mm plug, soldering equipment, wire, insulators and an assortment of hardware store fasteners to put up the antenna. I'm pretty sure a PL-380 will overload on wires much longer than 25 feet, though.

Shortwave radio is great because you can listen to all the HF bands, and with a good antenna, listen to what is being broadcast from around the world if the conditions are right. (The ionosphere plays a big part in wave propagation, so certain bands/frequencies are better at different parts of the day, or sun cycle).

most entry level HF transceivers cost upwards of $800-$1000, so this is a great option if you just want to listen in on what is going on around the world.

The Shortwave portion of this radio is listening somewhere between the AM and FM bands, but it does have specific modes for AM and FM as well. (and it looks like the VHF aircraft bands it picks up is just out of range of the NOAA stations). I've read that this antenna works pretty well for this unit too.

This should help you out. Be careful while hanging it - stay away from power lines.

EDIT USA (.com) link in place of Canada (.ca) link.

Thanks again Stephen. Question about your proposed setup: do I need another adapter to convert my 3.5 mini plug into an RCA male input?

Here is link to antenna I'm using Sangean reel antenna

Honestly if you have some wire around the house start with that. You can start off getting something, and then try to figure out how good or bad it is compared to a more optimal solution. The commercial add-on antennas for shortwave radios, which isn't what you have, tend to be in the 20 foot range, and they get the commercial bands on 3/7 Mhz etc.

I'm adding a link to a commercial shortwave antenna. I don't think you should buy it, especially since jack doesn't work with your sdr, but you'll see it's not particularly elaborate. Some extremely thin wire that rolls out and has a clip to try to get some height on one end, it's not even really designed to be resonant on a particular frequency:

https://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-60-Short-Wave-Antenna/dp/B000023VW2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=tecsun+antenna&qid=1573145462&sr=8-3

I bought some cheap 22 gauge four wire telephone wire at the local hardware store and started with that because I thought the housing might keep the small wire from breaking, and stapled it up around my back porch.

But as you're just getting started, don't overthink it and just start seeing what you get.

Welcome to the hobby! To improve reception, you need to improve your antenna. For short wave listening (SWL), a long wire is a good start. If you radio allows for an external antenna, you might consider something like this.

I use the CC Radio SW with this antenna and I get decent reception from stations all over the world! Night time is the best time to listen.

You mean this? https://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-60-Short-Wave-Antenna/dp/B000023VW2