why not put another radio and ariel in ?

Phil, what sort of radio signals are you after ? Broadcast band ones or HF ?

Cheers
Jim

if it's a jap import just buy a new radio

I have a Jap Kenwood and the cost of the converter was more than a new
stereo

Kev

You could probably buy a decent radio/CD player for the same price.

Hi Phil.

This is something that I do know a bit about.

Mate, basically, the radio is useless UNLESS it has a frequency switch on
the back which will allow you to switch between the Australian 9k band
separation or the US 10k band.

It is not the frequency band that is the problem as they all work within the
same frequency band (AM that is). It is the frequency increments (steps)
that are the problem.

A Japanese or US radio will jump up in 10k increments. In other words, on
the AM band, it will be 530k, 540k, 550k etc
An Australian radio will jump up in 9k increments. Ie 531k, 540, 549, 558
etc.

So if you wanted to listen to most Australian AM stations then most would be
a little off channel.

I am not 100% sure of the FM frequencies so I won't comment on them.

But as the other guys say, for a measly $100 these days you can purchase a
reasonable quality AM/FM/CD player, but take my advice and spend a bit more
and get an AM/FM/CD/MP3 player. You will never regret it!!

Garry

Dick Smith sell them relatively cheaply in NZ.

They were also available from Dick Smith in Oz before the government
eviscerated the low volume import scheme.

I suspect that places like Jaycar and Altronics will likewise have them.

I don't have web addresses handy but www.google.come.au will help.

When you by one, make sure that you let the sales person know it is to
down-convert a Japanese radio to match Australian stations.

And having said all that, you are still going to end up with a Radio
whose display does not match the actual frequency being tuned, and as a
byproduct of the down-converter will also have some range limitation on
the less strong stations.

Unless the radio currently fitted is more and a bit "special", I'd save
my money and replace it outright as per the other suggestions in this
thread.

Band expanders are available at Dick Smiths. I installed a shitload of em in
NZ when I was there working and they got down to around the $40 mark there.
Search around and see if you ca get one posted to you from zn NZ company.

Try www.rapidradio.co.nz they bought the company that I worked at.