Category Archives: Radios

A source of Sangean shortwave radios in New Zealand

In response to a post last year where we asked about sources of shortwave radios in New Zealand, SWLing Post reader, James Patterson, writes:

I have now found a very good importer of very good quality shortwave portable radios here in New Zealand.

[T]here is an importer of the Sangean ATS 909X portable radios. He has a shop and warehouse. He imports all Sangean radio products, is excellent to deal with and will ship them anywhere in New Zealand.

I have just recently bought the ATS 909X. I must say that I did buy one off him and found the frequency band coverage on that one [unit] was very limited. [This unit] got mixed in with a batch sent to him, but was meant for a different country with government restrictions on band coverage. The one I have now is “full band” and an excellent portable receiver in every way. I’m very pleased to be able to share this with anyone either living here in New Zealand or wanting to come here for a holiday and in need of good quality shortwave radio with very good SSB.

The importer’s internet site is : www.mayogroup.co.nz

The website will give the full details and contacts of the importer, who is a well-known and trusted person to deal with. He does not advertise on sites like TradeMe. However, he does deal through electronics stores such as 100% Appliances here in NZ.

Many thanks, James, for the report on the Mayo Group as an importer of the Sangean ATS-909X. Very encouraging to hear as there are so few local sources of shortwave radio products in New Zealand.

Of course, those living in New Zealand can always purchase shortwave radios through sellers on eBay, but delivery time may be as long as two weeks or more, depending on the parcel service chosen.

This shortwave listener gives the Grundig G2 a positive review

Dave reviews the Kenwood R-1000

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Kenwood R-1000 (Source: Universal Radio)

My buddy, Dave Zantow (N9EWO), has apprised me of a new review he has published of the classic Kenwood R-1000 receiver. Dave comments that he doesn’t normally review discontinued sets anymore, but he made an exception for the R-1000 as it “was so unique/good and still is to this day.”

Click here to read Dave’s full review.

Click here to search for a Kenwood R-1000 on eBay. Kenwood R-1000 owners should note that one Canadian eBay seller lists a re-cap kit for the R-1000 for about $50 shipped.

My new (to me) Sony ICF-2001 shortwave radio

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A few weeks ago, I made an impulse purchase: a Sony ICF-2001.

Perhaps it was the post about John Lennon’s ICF-2001, or perhaps it was the simple fact I couldn’t afford a ‘2001 when I was a kid; either way, I saw what I thought was a fair price and I bit the bullet.

At about 9-10 years old I remember seeing the (above) image of the ICF-2001 in an advertisement and imagining all that I could hear with this amazing–microprocessor-controlled, dual conversion, frequency synthesized general coverage(!)–portable receiver.

At the time, my only shortwave radio was the Zenith Trans Oceanic Royal D7000–a wonderful radio for sure–but the convenience of digital tuning? I could only imagine.

The ICF-2001 had revolutionary featured like direct access keypad tuning and an LCD digital readout. The ICF-2001 covered 150 to 29,999 kHz and, like my Transoceanic, could receive single sideband. It also had six memories that could be assigned to buttons for quick access to my favorite frequencies. Six. Whole. Memories!

Sony-ICF-2001-1

I picked up my used ICF-2001 for $67.00 US shipped. The seller (a fellow ham radio operator) insured that the radio was in excellent mechanical shape, though cosmetically showed some signs of wear. The only thing missing was the ICF-2001’s shoulder strap. That was fine by me, though, because the seller included all original manuals/documentation and a very cool canvas carry bag (below) that fits the ICF-2001 like a glove.

I’ve had the ICF-2001 for a few weeks now and I must say that I’m quite pleased. It’s much larger that most portables currently on the market, but was probably slightly smaller than the venerable ICF-2010.

The audio from the ICF-2001’s built-in speaker is top-notch; with separate treble and bass control, it’s easy to adjust audio to your taste.

Would the ICF-2001 out-perform a modern portable receiver? Probably not. Was performance similar to the ICF-2010? No way. The ICF-2001 has a few annoying quirks (like muting between frequencies, no tuning knob, a backlit display that’s rather small and hard to read at certain angles)–items most modern portables have long since addressed.

With that said, the ICF-2001 does have a few features I wish modern receivers would adopt, like, a built-in antenna trimmer.

This morning, on my porch, I listened to several broadcasters across the bands and used the antenna adjustment to tweak the match. The adjustment would sometimes increase reception by three S units. I would love to have a similar feature on, say, my Tecsun PL-680.

I also like the old school power switch–a proper mechanical switch that makes it much more difficult to accidentally turn the radio on while traveling or operating in a portable setting.

Even thought the ICF-2001 was a bit of an impulse purchase, I have no buyer’s remorse at all. She’s a sturdy rig with great audio and, I believe, decent performance on the shortwave and medium wave bands. I can certainly confirm that it would have blown my mind when I was 9 years old!

Besides..if the ICF-2001 is good enough for John Lennon, it’s good enough for me!

Any SWLing Post readers out there still have a Sony ICF-2001?

Paul Litwinovich sheds light on the “Royalty of Radios”

1 Reply

Zenith Model 7G605, the first in the line of Trans-Oceanic radios.
Credit P. Litwinovich collection via WSHU

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Paul, who points out this excellent article about the Zenith Transoceanic by Paul Litwinovich of WSHU. Litwinovich’s article covers a brief history of the Zenith Transoceanic series including photos from his amazing collection (check out his model 7G605 above).

Here’s a short clip from his full article:

“The first version of Zenith Trans-Oceanic line of portable shortwave radios, the 7G605, [above] was released less than two months before the Pearl Harbor attack. It bore the sailboat image, and continued to be known as the “Clipper.” It sold for $75, and was an instant success. It was just the beginning, though, of the series’ long and colorful history. Zenith planned to heavily promote the radio for the coming holiday season. Then, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor came. Most manufacturers halted production of consumer goods for the war effort. Zenith had other plans for their new radio, though. They changed the image on the grill from that of a sailboat to the likeness of the B-17 bomber. The change was implemented in such a hurry, that collectors have reported finding the bomber grill inserted over the top of the sailboat grill.”

Click here to read the full article at WSHU…

By the way, we’ve mentioned Paul before here on the SWLing Post–I would encourage you to bookmark his excellent article thread on WSHU’s website.

Roundup of software defined radios

Wyn compares the SDRplay RSP and Airspy

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After posting about the price reduction in the SDRplay RSP, Wyn Evans commented with his comparison of the SDRplay RSP and Airspy (another popular low-cost wideband SDR). Wyn writes:

I have both and Airspy and the SDRplay RSP. I like them both, but on balance I prefer the RSP. The pluses of the RSP over the Airspy for me are:

1. Sensitivity – At least with my Airspy, I find the sensitivity a bit disappointing. The RSP is on the other hand excellent. I read on another forum one user claiming that the difference between the two was as much as 3 dB. I can’t verify the number, but I would not be surprised if it were about right

2. HF support – Absolutely fantastic, no up-converter needed

3. ZIF or Low IF. In ZIF mode, with calibration, you can get image free reception

4. Programmable filters. You can change the selectivity from as low as 200 KHz to the full bandwidth of 8 MHz, This is a huge plus for DX-ing if you live in an area with very strong local stations

The plus for the Airspy is that there is does cover the gap between 380 MHz and 430 MHz, with the RSP doesn’t. For some people, this is a really big deal.

Both seem to have about the same dynamic range, which isn’t surprising as despite using different tuners, the ADCs seem to be virtually identical.

So in summary, I think both are pretty good products with pluses and minuses, but at this new price point, as long as you don’t need to use 380 – 430 MHz, there is really only one I would choose now.

Many thanks for your comparison, Wyn. As I stated before, my impression of the SDRplay RSP is quite good so far. I live in a very RF quiet area–I am curious if anyone has used the SDRplay in urban areas, near local broadcast stations and experienced any overloading or serious imaging.