Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rolf Snijder, who writes:
This is a simple LED backlight modification for the Sony ICF-SW35.
Simply add a 120K resistor and a bright LED:
Overview of resistor placement. (Click to enlarge)
Detail of Pin 10 (Click to enlarge)
Detail of resistor. (Click to enlarge)
Detail of Pin 10 (Click to enlarge)
Detail of LED placement–replacement of capacitor is not necessary. (Click to enlarge)
When you push the backlight switch, the light stays on.
When radio is turned off, the light goes off–then push light switch and backlight will stay on for 15 seconds or so.
Thanks for sharing this simple mod, Rolf!
As a retired electrical engineer, I appreciate the low current on this LED. The 120K resistor probably has 3 volts or so across it so that LED current is only about 25 micro amps! That’s very low and won’t be much of a current drain at all! Some LEDs won’t give you any light at so low of a current. But the author got some good results here, so Bravo to him!
Love it! I like when users have the fortitude to pop the hood to their radios and figure how they work and install their own “personalizations” to it
Agreed on this! I have done repair on a couple of my Sony’s (particularly the SW1) and while it is not for the faint of heart, when you get everything back together (IF you get everything back together), it feels like nothing else if it works!