Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Olivier Tkaczuk (F4BXV), who writes:
Hello, my name is Olivier TKACZUK 36 years F4BXV and I live in the north of France.
Just to present my last Sony SRF-M95 AM/MW bought on eBay for 13 euros.
[I regularly receive] Absolute Radio in England…and also Radio Nacional de España.
[H]ere is an internal photo:
Thank you for your website it gives me taste on the radio.73’s Olivier F4BXV
Many thanks, Olivier! I’ve always loved this über-compact AM/FM radios. They remind me of the small radios I used to sneak into school when I was a kid! Sounds like the SRF-M95 is a capable little receiver as well–thanks for sharing the photos.
Glad you’re enjoying the SWLing Post!
A nice “pop the hood” view. I like to see how they fit a bushel of apples in a quart container. Like to see more under the hood view of newer and classic radio reviews.
Another amazing AM ultra light performer, the Sangean DT-120 or DT-180
I have the DT-120 in my pocket and it has got many hours of use. Travelling in outback Australia in April/May I was very impressed with it’s performance on AM. Camped at the Devils Marbels 412km north of Alice Springs, I could receive it’s 783khz AM signal OK, weak obviously but definitely listenable. Of course the signal from Radio National at Tennant Creek on 684 AM was stronger, since it’s only 100km to the north of Devils Marbles.
Very happy with the little Sangean. It’s by far and away the pocket radio with the best DX reception I’ve ever owned, but the Tecsun R-209 and the Sangean SR-35 are probably the two best AM DX pocket radios with a speaker.
One day I will pick up a Sangean DT-250, but it’s probably not much better than the Sangean DT-210 I already have, which is another good choice with a speaker.
The headphone-only Sangean DT-160 is another excellent AM performer for it’s size, and great on FM as well. It’s easy on batteries, too.
These are amazing ultra-ultralight toys. Even on MW I am astonished how they get such performance out of a tine ferrite antenna.
For years, Sony has been producing essentially the same product in analog (SRF-M8x) and digital (SRF-M9x) versions. These might be totally out of production as I see opportunist prices from unknown dealers now upon a search in Amazon. If buying one from Japan, be also aware that while they (at least the later models) could be soft-switched to 10 KHz steps on MW, they will not retain that setting and even when reconfigured they still do not cover the expanded AM band.
For a while, too; Sony’s totally-owned AIWA brand (not to be confused with the AIWA of old; or the new startup producing the phenomenal EXOS-9 bluetooth speaker) had a parallel product line.