Hi all,

I was checking out some Goodwills the other day when I spied something that looked TOO good to be true sitting on the shelf. I quickly grabbed the
the Radio from the shelf. WHOA...it turned out to be a REALISTIC DX 390/SANGAN 818. I was lucky as there was another customer who also noticed the Radio only milliseconds after I did but...I was the quicker! The other guy just cooly sort of hung around to see if I was going to put the item back down on the shelf...ha! NO F%^&en way! I held tight to my prize and walked away. I just can not believe that someone GAVE this Radio away to the Goodwill. This Radio is in PRISTINE/MINT (looking) condition! So...I paid my money and with prize in hand, I visited a friend who has a business next door to this Goodwill. My buddy could not believe the score! I recall seeing these radios in the C.CRANE cat. years ago and I wanted to buy one however, the list price was $220.00 (or thereabouts). Oooh...my DX 390 cost me $4.99 (less my 10% GW discount) UN-real! Now...I still didn't know for sure if this beautiful looking condition Radio worked or not so, I went to the local dollar store and bought some battries (four D's and three AA's). I returned to my car and popped the battries in the Radio and...YES! It works beautifully! So far, I have only listened to the FM and it sounds nice, clean and clear. Even though I do not have the instruction booklet, I figured out how to pre program the FM stations. That being said, I can NOT figure out the AM. I read on the net that the LW (or is it MW) button is for AM. Still, I can not receive any AM whatsoever. If there is someone who could offer assistance on the MYSTERY of the DX 390 AM, I would be most appreciative. I figure I will use this Radio as a emergency WINTER storm radio. Man, gotta LOVE the Goodwill!

Regards,
SixCats!

Emergancy storm radio?????? This thing is meant for hard-core shortwave and AM reception!

hi sixcats nice score on the realistic dx390. get yourself a dipole antenna setup and start listening to the shortwave.i had one of these yrs ago and it was a fine portable.it was also my first receiver with a digital display.i think i have the manual around here somewhere and if i find it ill send it to you.
chris

SixCats!,

The MW button on your DX390 will bring in the AM broadcast band. LW is longwave, 150-400 kHz; it was used for such things as aircraft navigation beacons and weather forecasts years ago (long before today's NOAA weather radio and SAME [specific area message encoding] all-hazard receivers), but now is largely unused. MW stands for mediumwave, another name for AM broadcast.

I don't know why you cannot seem to get anything on AM with that radio. I belong to a local radio club whose former president has a DX-390; his works great, even using a makeshift antenna in an apartment building. Even if you live out in the country, miles away from the nearest AM station, you should be able to hear something on the AM band. I would say your radio's antenna was shielded by all the metal in your car, if you were trying to test the receiver inside the vehicle. I'd try the radio outside the car, away from any metal if possible.

The DX-390 is not an emergency-alert radio, as another poster here has stated. It will receive standard FM, but not the NOAA weather band at 162 MHz (seven channels, with 162.55 MHz being the most popular). If you want a radio that will alert you to approaching storms and other emergencies, there are many makes of receivers built just for this purpose. Midland Electronics of Kansas City, Missouri has a line of these receivers, and they are excellent. I have a Midland 74-210 all-hazard radio which I purchased some five years ago, and believe me, it's been worth every cent of what I paid for it. The weather alert tone drives me nuts sometimes when it goes off several times in one day, as it has the last few days because of flood warnings for a local river, but this is a small price to pay for the information the radio gives me when the signal does sound.

You can get NOAA weather receivers at any department store these days. Today's all-hazard receivers are programmed to alert users to most hazards, including security risks and Amber alerts. All modern NOAA all-hazard receivers are equipped with a feature that will alow you to set the unit to respond to weather warnings for only one specific area, for example the county in which you live. The radio will ignore warnings for all other areas, if programmed correctly.

Hi guys,

Thank you all for your quick replies! OK...tgunner, what I mean by a "storm radio" is a radio for when the power goes out. I realize that the DX 390 is a SW radio (and perhaps I will someday find the time give SW a try) however, living in Maine (where the Winter storms can be crippling and long periods of power loose is a real possibility) my purchase of this (under $5.00) battery operated radio is first and foremost for major Winter storms. Heck, if I get Snow bound, I'll have plenty of time to listen to SW lol. Hi Chris, thank you for your comments about my sweet score! I mean, geeezee, how could I have passed up such a neat Radio for less than five bucks! Oooooh Chris, if you should have a DX 390 manual your not needing, I would GREATLY appreciate your sending it along! Thank you for your kind offer!
Jeffhs, thank you for all the information you provided on the DX 390. As far as not receiving AM, I just don't know. In fact, I do live in the Country a great distance from most Radio broadcast towers. Tomorrow, when I drive into the City, I will take the DX with me and see if I can't get MW/AM reception. Also thank you for the information on the STORM radios. Perhaps I should consider one of those Radios as well.

Regards,
SixCats!

I have a 390

there should be 4 aa batterys in the radio for running the clock and preset memorys - might not work right without them.

there is a switch to change the tuning steps(in the batery compartment)- or something like that - I have not had any caffiene yet.

I have a sony an1 active antenna that I use with my 67 ford galaxy 390 - no wait my realistic 390 - works great.

when I am awake and can find the wall wart for my 390
I will post some more info

it does work a bit differently than other radios.

Hi Markdi,

Yikes! Coffee for sure! Thanks for any help you may provide.

Regards,
SixCats!

Found a copy of the owners manual here -

http://www.icanworkthisthing.com/download/docs/Radio%20Shack%20DX390.txt

- Dave

Good catch there, Six Cats! Couldn't pass up your name, but do you have six cats? Well, I have seven cats, used to my 9 until 2004 when Muffin passed away from kidney failure when she was almost 17 and this year, I lost Greystone (my avatar), he was barely 5 years old, again, from kidney failure. I had a close brush with Boo, my 16 year old black cat, they though it was liver failure and possible cancer, but his organs are fine for his age and there is no cancer that is detected so it was diagnosed as an infection of unknown origin. I have a cat turning 19 this month, Pansy, my diluted calico, she had a hyperactive thyroid, we got her on meds but there are times her dose needs adjustment, a week and a half ago, her thyroid was out of whack and she had fluid on the lungs so we had to get that taken care of but now she is doing fine and is active again, she still acts like a kitten.

Sorry for being off the subject, if you go to Radio Shack's website, I do believe they have manuals there you can download if you take a little time to search for it, at least they did the last time I was looking around.

Wish I had your luck or even my fathers, he found a Handspring Visor Deluxe as a St. Vincent Du Paul's for 5 bucks. Then again, he is retired and has more time to do that than I do, I work in accounting for the ground division of a major shipping company so things get busy at times. ;)

Hi all,

UPDATE...Jeffhs, I recently took my DX from my home in the Country to Portland (the Big City) lol. Well, I WAS able to receive AM! YEA!
However, it will not help me much living 45 miles North of Portland as far as AM goes. Oooh well. AVO DREAM...thank you so very much for providing me with the link for the manual! I will check it out for sure! Nowhereman...why yes! I do infact own SIX CATS! I did have seven Cats up until two months ago but...MAMA CAT is now only a memory. I am sorry to hear about your sick Kittys. I hope they will get better soon. I too have lost Kittys due to illness and it's very difficult to loose a pet when you've had a pet live with you for such a long time. Regarding my LUCK (at thrift stores)...one has to visit OFTEN! I BET you'll find a GREAT deal in the future! Thanks again all.

Regards,
SixCats!

Hi all,

I was checking out some Goodwills the other day when I spied something that looked TOO good to be true sitting on the shelf. I quickly grabbed the
the Radio from the shelf. WHOA...it turned out to be a REALISTIC DX 390/SANGAN 818. I was lucky as there was another customer who also noticed the Radio only milliseconds after I did but...I was the quicker! The other guy just cooly sort of hung around to see if I was going to put the item back down on the shelf...ha! NO F%^&en way! I held tight to my prize and walked away. I just can not believe that someone GAVE this Radio away to the Goodwill. This Radio is in PRISTINE/MINT (looking) condition! So...I paid my money and with prize in hand, I visited a friend who has a business next door to this Goodwill. My buddy could not believe the score! I recall seeing these radios in the C.CRANE cat. years ago and I wanted to buy one however, the list price was $220.00 (or thereabouts). Oooh...my DX 390 cost me $4.99 (less my 10% GW discount) UN-real! Now...I still didn't know for sure if this beautiful looking condition Radio worked or not so, I went to the local dollar store and bought some battries (four D's and three AA's). I returned to my car and popped the battries in the Radio and...YES! It works beautifully! So far, I have only listened to the FM and it sounds nice, clean and clear. Even though I do not have the instruction booklet, I figured out how to pre program the FM stations. That being said, I can NOT figure out the AM. I read on the net that the LW (or is it MW) button is for AM. Still, I can not receive any AM whatsoever. If there is someone who could offer assistance on the MYSTERY of the DX 390 AM, I would be most appreciative. I figure I will use this Radio as a emergency WINTER storm radio. Man, gotta LOVE the Goodwill!

Regards,
SixCats! is the rf gain control turned up? it controls the gain on am of the first amp after the antenna.

Hi all,

UPDATE...Jeffhs, I recently took my DX from my home in the Country to Portland (the Big City) lol. Well, I WAS able to receive AM! YEA!
However, it will not help me much living 45 miles North of Portland as far as AM goes. Oooh well. AVO DREAM...thank you so very much for providing me with the link for the manual! I will check it out for sure! Nowhereman...why yes! I do infact own SIX CATS! I did have seven Cats up until two months ago but...MAMA CAT is now only a memory. I am sorry to hear about your sick Kittys. I hope they will get better soon. I too have lost Kittys due to illness and it's very difficult to loose a pet when you've had a pet live with you for such a long time. Regarding my LUCK (at thrift stores)...one has to visit OFTEN! I BET you'll find a GREAT deal in the future! Thanks again all.

Regards,
SixCats!

Sorry to hear about your mama cat, believe me, I know the grief one goes through. We take Pansy in for a checkup and to check her thyroid values tomorrow. She is putting a little weight back on although she doen't mingle as much, I think either the meds have to be adjusted al ittle or maybe she is embarrased at the way she looks with two "holes" on one each side that was shaved so they could drain her fluids. Cats are smart and self conscious, but she is doing quite well otherwise, being active, eating, and so on. She is coming out more though. Pansy will be 19 next Saturday.

As to thrift stores, you're right, visit often seems to be the rule. Again, my father has more time on his hands being retired than I do, working for the ground division for a major shipping company in the accounts payable department (sorry can't help with any packages lost or damaged, I help in the process in paying the bills for the company) plus it being summer, there are many things to do plus a lot of my money is paying off vet bills that Greystone ran up plus Boo ran them up some more (he got sick a week and a half after Greystone passed on but he is doing OK) plus Pansy. Still when things turn colder, I'll have more time for thrift stores I hope.

And I paid about $60 for an Zenith T/O 3000-1 from a thrift store in my town a couple of years ago.

You got a real bargin for that set, I wished I had a set like that.