Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Vance Thompson, who writes:
Thought you might be interested to see that several SRF-39FP radios have been up on eBay recently at a fairly reasonable price.
I picked one up when they first were posted, but the price has gone down the last couple of days and even has a “make offer” option with free shipping.
The description indicates that they are pre-owned by inmates at a Tennessee federal prison. As of this writing, there are 8 left.
The one I got was in pretty good shape cosmetically, all things considered, and works perfectly. Given that a brand new FP version of the SRF-39 is not likely to be seen again at $20, a used one such as this with a bit of history is not a bad deal for those of us that missed out when snagging one new was an option.
Although it makes me wonder what they are being swapped out for and if we might see an increase of these pre-owned ones coming up on eBay now.
Thanks for sharing, Vance! Twenty dollars (or possibly less through a Best Offer) is a fantastic deal, in my opinion, for the elusive SRF-39FP. Click here to read out previous posts about the SRF-39FP. Indeed, I’m mighty tempted to drop $20 on a spare unit myself. (Thanks for enabling me, Vance!)
It appears the seller has a stellar reputation on eBay too.
I know this blog post is a little ancient but I wanted to make a quick comment. After reading your blog article I knew I had to have one of these. So I looked on eBay for a couple of months. I’m guessing that the supply of these is drying up. I did see a few listed for around $40 and they were in rough shape. That was too much for me. Then I noticed that the srf-39 black plastic versions are still plentiful. I found one that looked like it was in good condition and the seller was only asking $13 shipped! It cleaned up nicely and shows little signs of use. It sounds fantastic too. I enjoy sitting on my back porch with a cold drink going up and down the band for hours. I’m picking up stations 500+ miles away at night. This will be going with me on my next camping trip. I’ll load a fresh battery before I leave and not worry about bringing a spare.
The SRF-39FP is really the preferred model, so this is a great price. It is an easier model to tune than the SRF-59. Neither tuning capacitor is particularly rugged though; after a lot of use the thin plastic stator plates begin to break down. Still, these are phenomenal bargains in pocket sized DXing radios!
Made an offer of $18 and it was accepted. Always wanted one but missed out when new. Cheers! Robert
You won’t regret getting one. It’s a phenomenal little AM receiver! $18 is an excellent price!
Cheers,
Thomas
If you have a defunct SRF-59 the 39FP board fits exactly.
However you will have to use the battery tabs off the
59,thumbwheel,etc.