Category Archives: Vintage Radio

Jack Berg Sales: You too can own a brand new vintage radio!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ron, who shares a link to Jack Berg Sales–a company specializing in New In Box (NIB) vintage electronics.

Ron points to one radio example in the Berg inventory, the Americana 10 Transistor AM Portable Pocket Radio:

The price is a very reasonable at $35.00 US plus $8.00 shipping and handling. Click here to view.

Jack Berg has dozens of other radios and electronics, though. It’s like walking through a vintage vault.

As Ron points out, Berg would probably make much more profit posting these vintage gems on eBay, but fortunately for us they do not.

It doesn’t appear Jack Berg does online ordering, which could make purchasing from outside the US quite complicated. In fact, they request a money order or cashier’s check sent to their office in El Paso, Texas.

(Side note: I honestly can’t think of the last time I purchased something from a company by sending in a money order or cashiers check.)

I suppose it would make sense to contact Jack Berg via email or phone (915-532-4519) to make sure your order can be fulfilled.

Additionally, there is no warranty of any sort.

These are NIB units and are untested. There’s a decent chance some radios may not function without replacing a capacitor or two and using a little DeOxit on switches and pots. For me, it’s worth the risk.

Click here to browse Jack Berg Sales full radio inventory.

Post readers: please comment if you’ve ever purchased from Jack Berg. How was your experience? See any particularly amazing models in the inventory? I bet many of the AM radios have decent ferrite bars inside!

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The Panasonic Radar Matic RF-880

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN), who writes:

Came across this very unusual Panasonic Radar Matic RF-880L radio on eBay:

Click here to view on eBay.

Very interesting model from the mid-60’s that automatically tunes for radio stations; apparently there’s a motor mechanism to accomplish this.

Some other links for this remarkable radio are:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/panasonic_radar_matic_rf_880l.html

Click here to view on YouTube.

I was not aware of this unique Panasonic model, Mario. Thanks for sharing!

Mario points out that the tuning mechanism on this Radar Matic RF-880 does not function. Any eBay bidder would have to be willing to repair this otherwise very clean unit.

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eBay: Jeff spots a vintage Panasonic RF-088

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The Panasonic RF-088

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Jeff McMahon who writes:

“This vintage Panasonic RF-088 8-Channel Preset radio selling on eBay [see above] seems rather rare. In fact, I’ve never seen one.”

Click here to view on eBay.

I haven’t seen one either, Jeff. Appears to be pretty compact. At first, I was curious how an analog radio could have so many presets until I took a peek at the top of the radio.

Each preset is individually tuned. Hard to believe such a compact radio has a total of eight tuning mechanisms! Two presets are designated for FM, two for AM and four presets can be either. Pretty clever! Since it’s a Panasonic, I bet it’s a sensitive little portable.

At $59.80 US shipped, I’m sure someone will snag it.

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eBay seller posting a number of vintage Panasonic portables

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this eBay seller who has recently posted a number of vintage solid state radios from his collection. Many of the radios have BuyItNow prices and auction dates nine days out. Many of these are Panasonic models and only a couple have shortwave.

Still, Dan knew how to tug on my heart strings (and enable me!) by pointing out the Panasonic RF-1170. It has a BuyItNow price of $119.95 plus shipping, I love the bold design from that era of radio–plus I know the ‘1170 has brilliant audio. While the ‘1170 lacks shortwave, it does have AM/MW and a dedicated, rotatable ferrite bar antenna much like my RF-2200.

Please, someone buy it before I do!

National Panasonic RF-1170

Click here to view on eBay.

Here are a few other notable radios from this seller’s offerings. I’ve included links with each image. To see all of this seller’s offerings, check out his eBay store.

National Panasonic RF-951

Click here to view on eBay.

National Panasonic RF-1090

Click here to view on eBay.

National Panasonic RF-100

Click here to view on eBay.

Panasonic RF-3100

Click here to view on eBay.

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Can you identify Elvis’ radio?

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bud Glass, who writes:

I am attempting to find out more information about this particular radio [see above]. The photo is from around 1959–no idea how old the radio is.

Thanks, Bud. I did a little research and it appears this photo was taken of Elvis while he was traveling in Germany. The radio has a familiar design from the era with a large speaker and round, front-facing tuning dial. I can’t make out the manufacturer’s name in the image.

Post readers: Please comment if you can help Bud ID this portable radio!

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Circa 1924 Parisian radio stockings

eBay: Dan discovers a Furuno RV-103SR marine receiver

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The Furuno RV-103SR

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following regarding a Furuno RV-103SR marine receiver he discovered on eBay:

Recently, I came upon two great rarities in the world of receivers.

Furuno is a Japanese company known for maritime equipment, and is featured on one or two pages of the Osterman receiver directory. Two of these rare receivers came up on eBay, both located in an Asian location.

The Furuno RV-103SR and RV-128 are beautiful animals, and both receivers appear(ed) to be in good condition, obviously taken from ships, likely as part of tear downs in a shipyard.

There is very little information online about Furuno. One Japanese blogger did a review of the RV-128. And a guy in Republic of Srpska got to use the RV-128 which was installed on a giant oil tanker, during a trip he made as a navigator way back in 2002 (see the story at http://www.qsl.net/e78cb/mmstory.htm).

Here’s the link for the Japanese blogger (use Google translation to read it) http://blog.livedoor.jp/kerokeronyororo/archives/60986163.html).

In my correspondence with him, Fred Osterman notes that the RV-103SR variant was not known to him, and likely stands for rack mount. And Fred says he never saw these receivers in the flesh, and never saw one offered on the used market, “a rare bird” indeed. For those interested, Furuno equipment is on page 216 of Fred’s massive and excellent receiver book.

The appearance of these beautiful radios, and similar ones, again demonstrates the kind of equipment that is popping up in Ebay and other locations. We have seen numerous JRC marine receivers become available, many of them also former ship receivers. Anyone interested in these should ask the usual questions about condition, ask for photos and videos, to try to ensure that what eventually arrives is not DOA or suffering from various issues.

Click here to view on eBay.

More about Furuno

Furuno, it turns out, and as noted in the Osterman book, was behind the first fish finder ever produced. And the company had a range of transceivers for maritime use.

See the following links on YouTube:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Post Readers: this is what I love about Dan Robinson’s discoveries on eBay: he finds these rare treasures, then provides a little history about their origins, use and current availability. Thank you so much, Dan, for sharing!

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