Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
This is the highest price ever sought by an RF-9000 seller. [The last RF-9000] went for around $9,000-10,000.
[…]The RF-9000, as many veterans of SWL know, was produced by Panasonic as a kind of showpiece.
From information available, only some hundreds were ever made. The price new, as detailed in the Osterman book, was about $3800.
Note Dan’s RF-9000 at the far end of the SWL Fest’s Listening Lounge table.
Those who attended this year’s SWL Fest got a rare opportunity to lay hands on this technology showpiece (at least the technology as it was back when it was being made between 1982 and 1985).
And, Dan, thanks for lugging your RF-9000 to the SWL Fest! It was indeed a treat to operate the RF-9000. I must say that the RF-9000’s audio fidelity is outstanding–beautifully balanced! What an amazing radio.
Still–this eBay seller is asking too much at $20,000 US (and $300 shipping). This might well be a collector that has no intention of letting the RF-9000 go. I could understand that! Thanks again, Dan!
RTL-SDR dongles for $310 with a Buy-It-Now option have appeared in the past. These normally sell for $24.95 with antenna.
Free shipping though, hihi.
I actually just bought a RF-9000 from a Spanish Ebay seller. It might show up in the ‘completed auctions’, not sure. I made an offer of 2,000 Euros and he accepted. Of course I am like most of you who might have seen one in a magazine or book for over 20 years, but never dreamed of actually owning one.
My unit had a few imperfections like a couple of dings and the grille was not 100% with some slight discoloration but I cleaned it up nicely and got some Testors paint to fill in the dings. It came with the cover but with no documentation. Everything works perfectly and there are no dirty or inoperable switches or buttons. Even the lights all work which is a relief.
I can only really compare it to the Sony ICF-2010 and the Satellit 700, both of which I have owned at one time. I still have the Sony. The Panasonic is on a much different level as far as ease of use. And the tuning is super fast with absolutely no audio lag between channels if that is the right description. It is really smooth sailing all the way across the dial and you can go straight from FM into the LW band which is pretty cool.
Another nice feature is the band selection buttons actually have the corresponding frequencies also so there is no guesswork. The odd thing about the unit is that all of those cool buttons that you see pertain mainly to the clock and timer functions.
The shortwave side is fairly stripped down with just a 3-way bandwidth selector, a switch for a noise blanker, a RF gain knob, and a 4 position switch for USB, LSB, etc. That is pretty much it for tuning and knob twiddling and I would had preferred to have a few more knobs for antenna trim and other features to eek out faint signals. I guess I was expecting more I don’t know?
I personally find it to be the best radio I have ever used as far as audio and ease of use. I did some side by side tests against the ICF-2010 for sensitivity and it is about a wash. But for 1/10 the price the Sony wins all day long and you cant beat the sync detector! I find myself amazed that I would ever own a RF-9000 and consider it a great investment. I think this seller is dreaming if he thinks he can get that price for it though.
Hello
I have a mint RF-9000 and box and manual for sale if someone is interested.
Thank you,
Al.
Dear Sir,
Interested if still available ?
With best regards from Paris,
Gael
While it’s obviously a later receiver, I’m surprised that style-wise, it looks more lie the Panasonic RF-1600 than the “military” styled receivers that came later in the Panasonic line. The 1600 looks more like a stereo system, when I found one last June (for five dollars at a garage sale), I originally thought it was jut an am/fm portable, until I saw the world time calculator on the back. The turret dial only shows one band at a time.
This one, like the 1600, is bare metal, nice and heavy. I almost feel like I didn’t get a real multiband portable, it doesn’t look exotic enough.
Though, this 9000 makes up for it with the lcd readouts and the two meters.
Michael
Did anyone else notice the same seller has a Sony ICF-SW77 for a $2,250 Buy-It-Now price?
Ugh…
That is insane!
I’m guessing this person waits for someone who hasn’t done their price research and buys a listing for a friend. Sad.
I buy a tuner dongle dvt $ 10 for sdr and save money
Following up on this — I requested additional photos, and a video, from the seller, showing the RF-9000 operating. He provided some still shots but no video. Also, the still shots showed up as being posted seemingly on Ebay/China, which makes me wonder where the radio is actually located as it is being auctioned.
Must be in a shortwave bubble.