Category Archives: Vintage Radio

Now in the shack: A Yaesu Musen FRG-7

Photo sent by Shawn.

In late May, as I was packing for two months of travel in Canada, I received a message from long-time SWLing Post reader, Shawn Aiken. Shawn was seeking the right home for his Yaesu FRG-7 and Hallicrafters S-38 receivers.

I was very interested–especially in the FRG-7. Many SWL friends (Robert Gulley and Mike Hansgen, to name just a couple) love their FRG-7s. I’d been waiting for the right opportunity to snag one at a local hamfest. I’m also a Hallicrafters fan and love the front panel design of the S-38 series: so classy.

I asked Shawn how much he’d like for the receivers–I was very much interested.

Not only would he not accept payment, but he insisted on paying the shipping as well. I felt apprehensive about accepting such a generous gift. Shawn replied:

“Although I understand your reticence, Thomas, just count this as one of the perks of the job that you’ve undertaken and, from what I can tell from a distance, taken on and done well.”

That statement made my day. Thanks, Shawn!

The FRG-7 now sits in my shack and I’m learning my way around its unique tuning mechanism. It’s a beauty, too: I love the utilitarian front panel and dials/controls.

Other than needing a little DeOxit on some of the pots and switches, it works beautifully!

I’ve been so busy since returning from Canada, I haven’t had the FRG-7 on the air much. That’ll all change, though, as my Fall/Winter listening season kicks in. I’m already looking forward to it.

Thanks again, Shawn! I’ll make sure both of these radios have a good home here in my shack!

Readers: Do you have a Yaesu FRG-7? Any tips/tricks? Please comment!

A Good Friend Who’s Always There

1 Reply

This summer has been a tough one for me in many ways, not the least of which is the minimal amount of time I have been able to spend playing radio. I have several commitments involving radio each week/month, but I do not consider that “playing” radio. To me, playing radio is where we get to sit down in front of a radio of any kind and do something with it just for the pure joy of it. The good thing about this hobby is it is always there whenever you are ready. It is like a good friend who is always there. Radio is, in fact, a bit like my dog.

For those who enjoy dogs like I do, one of the most rewarding things is to come home and find your dog waiting for you, tail wagging, and excited to see you. It does not matter how long you have been gone — a short trip elicits the same excitement upon your return as you would get being gone all day. Good dogs require very little maintenance to be happy, and they are ready for love and attention whenever you are available to give these to them.

My radios do not wag their antennas when I walk into the room, but they are there ready to go when I am, and they provide a world of enjoyment when called upon. As I sit here looking at the radios in front of me (only a small portion of the radios I have around the house overall), each one means something special and calls to mind enjoyable times. My 220 rig gets very little use overall, but it always reminds me of an amateur radio friend who was an Elmer to me in the hobby.

As I am typing this my 2-meter APRS channel has come alive with signals from the digipeater in the International Space Station (ARISS) and I am hoping for a contact or two. This past week I made a contact with AF4B in Texas, which was his first ISS contact! What an honor that is for me — whenever I have the privilege of being someone’s first contact in any manner of radio I am thrilled!! It always brings to mind my “firsts” and how exciting were those moments!

As I look at my Uniden Bearcat BC898T I remember going to my first Dayton Hamvention and buying this beautiful analog scanner. One of the fellows there tried to talk me out of it because it was only analog, and some of the local departments had moved to digital. Fortunately there are still many analog signals to catch in my area, and I am interested in more than just Public Service transmissions. I like Marine, Aviation, Railroads, Coast Guard, and a dozen other things which can be picked up by analog scanners. The 898T was my entrance back into the scanning hobby after many, many years away from it. There was a great deal to learn, but this was my re-introduction to scanning.

I have previously talked about my Yaesu-Musen FRG-7, in some ways the ultimate in shortwave radios for nostalgia, quality workmanship, and manual control of a radio. 40+ years old and still a gem!! Oh yes, and then there is my Swan 350, another marvel of a radio from the past. Never known as a top-of-the-line rig by any means, I treasure its heft, its vacuum tube warmth, and its mechanical tuning which turns like tire compared to the optical tuning wheels on modern rigs. In fact, its a lot like me — slow to get going and needs some time to warm up, but gets the job done eventually. (Why does it seem getting up out of bed and getting started each day gets harder and harder . . . I can’t be that old, can I??)

Fall and winter are coming, definitely great times of the year to play radio, and I hope to do just that. A little work on my antennas should get me back up to speed in terms of capabilities, and my hope is life will slow down enough to let me have some fun. I know whenever I have the time my old friends will be there ready and waiting! I hope the coming months are filled with radio fun for each of you! 73, Robert

Robert Gulley, AK3Q, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Robert also blogs at All Things Radio.

eBay find: a LNIB Panasonic RF-4800 receiver

Max’s impressive vintage radio collection

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Max Youle, who writes:

I thought I would send you a link to my radio collection.

Many of these are unique to New Zealand, and could be of interest to your readers.

I saved many of these radios from being trashed, by searching junk sales and second hand stores, over a period of the last 25 years

Click her to view Max’s collection via DropBox.

Wow! That is an impressive collection of radios, Max. It’s interesting to see so many New Zealand brands–I’m glad you’ve rescued these!

Max’s collection is so large I couldn’t possibly share them all here on the SWLing Post, so I asked Max if he could tell us which models are his favorites. Max replied:

My favorite radios would be:

Barlow Wadley XCR-30

1. Barlow Wadley XCR-30 featured here before https://swling.com/blog/2016/02/maxs-barlow-wadley-receiver-is-a-keeper/

Philips D2999

2. Philips D2999 for its good looks, ease of use , sound from the two speakers 3″ and 7″ and sharp MW DX

Sanyo Transworld 17h-815

3. Sanyo Transworld 17h-815 A beautiful looking classic with lots of chrome and a good performer

National Panasonic R-021

4. National Panasonic R-021 because it was my first radio, and a fairly rare collectible (article at the bottom of page) http://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/history/chronicle/1977.html

Its hard to choose a favorite, as every one of my radios has a story ,i.e where I found it, who gave it to me, how much I paid for it, how collectible it is, etc, etc!!

Yes indeed, Max! It is difficult to pick a favorite–especially from such a large collection.

Thanks again for taking the time to share these with us!

Click her to view Max’s collection via DropBox.

Patrick comments on his newly-restored Sony CRF-320

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Patrick Mason, who writes from Juneau, Alaska:

I am the owner of the radio that Paul Carlson restored in the video. The serial number is 31358.

I wanted to comment about a statement regarding the receiver’s sensitivity.

After Paul concluded his final tune-up of the radio I can confirm on the shortwave bands, particularly 80 and 40 meters, the sensitivity on AM was better than 0.2 uV/m. That’s outrageous! The VFO is rock solid with no detectable drift whatsoever.

Also, Paul replaced all nylon gears with custom metal gears… they will never fail again.

Anyone considering acquiring this radio, buyer beware! There are many on the WEB who will claim it to be in some ‘totally restored’ condition…when mine arrived from the seller it ‘seemed’ to be ok…..until the counter went fruit loops shortly after unpacking. When Paul got inside the radio it had been ‘tweaked and peeked’….all wrong.

I have a CONSIDERABLE sum invested in this SONY. If I could have known it’s ACTUAL condition BEFORE my purchase, I may have passed….however, I now own what I consider to be the quintessential example of SONY’s best engineering. All I can say, it’s an absolute joy to use

Patrick, you no doubt have a benchmark Sony in that CRF-320.

It’s funny: I was just attending a local hamfest here in North Carolina and a vintage radio vendor pointed out Carlson’s repair video for your CRF-320! He said (and I agree), that your CFR-320 was restored to a level that’s almost in a league of its own. I know you invested a lot in this radio, but you certainly have a fine example now–that is fully-functional–and will most likely outlast us all! Enjoy!

Edward restores a Star-Lite Town & Country FM-820 portable receiver

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Edward Ganshirt, who writes:

This is a “mystery brand” radio that I picked up at a swapfest for a buck, I never heard of a Star-Lite Town & Country FM-820 by the HOKUYO MUSEN KOGYO CO in Japan. This portable behemoth is not “lite”, It is heavy (13 pounds).

The only thing I came up with is Sam’s photofact that refer to radio. (I am not about to buy a service manual for something that is not broken). There is a Chrysler Town & Country station wagon, which is also a behemoth that swamps out all Google searches. This set appears to be made in the mid sixties. I was told that is was on a fishing boat as evidenced by its condition it was very dirty with a lot of corrosion on the bezel and missing a tuning knob.

I fabricated a tuning knob on a lathe, which was a 2-piece affair. The outer knob is tuning and the inner knob is the fine tune. It cleaned up well and I had to repaint the bezel. The auto parts store said that the Chrysler of that area did not use metal flake paints but they matched a touch-up spray can of a Toyota millennium silver.

This radio has 8 push-button bands: long-wave, AM, short-wave 1.6 to 26 MHz, and FM along with tone controls. The sound is surprisingly good it is a 6-cell battery only (no AC). It has reasonably good short-wave drift-free performance. The paint job looks good, there is a rusty chrome bumper next to the push-buttons. I decided to to restore this part. It is ok for your 1960’s Town & Country to have rusty bumpers.

While you would not take your Panasonic RF9000 your Transoceanic or Grundig, This radio is my “beater” to take to the beach.

Does anyone know about the Star-Lite brand?

Thank you, Ed, for sharing this. I am not at all familiar with this make and model of radio. I must say…I’m most impressed that you were able to fabricate a tuning knob! It would have been a challenge to find a replacement knob otherwise.

I bet she plays well, too–looks like a decent ferrite bar inside and a substantial telescoping antenna.

And you’re right, Edward, it is ok for your 1960’s Town & Country to have rusty bumper! Now take that girl to the beach! 🙂

Post readers: please comment if you’re familiar with the Star-Lite brand!

Video: Dan listens to RNZI’s Sunday Night with Grant Walker on a Hammarlund SP-600

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Daniel Hawkins, who writes:

One of my favorite Radio New Zealand International programs is Sunday Night with Grant Walker. This program is heard on RNZ in New Zealand from 8:06-10:00 p.m. and is run at the same time on RNZI. Sunday Night features hit oldies and one interview. Each program highlights oldies from one year. Last Sunday was 1977 and the week before was 1955. My video from last Sunday includes a favorite that I haven’t heard for many years.

The RNZI broadcast of Sunday Night is 0806-1000 UTC Sunday on 9700 kHz. That’s 1:06-3:00 a.m. Sunday, PDT. Definitely a show for night owls. West Coast reception is nearly spectacular for the distance: 6,600 miles from my location in Davis, CA, USA. The radio used for the video is a Hammarlund SP-600 JX-21, built in 1956 or 1957. Yes, the tuning dial is a little off on this band. I’m using the 8 kHz selectivity setting with fully advanced AVC. The antenna is a 106’ outdoor random wire. The speaker is antique as well: a 10” Jensen PM-10C with matching transformer connected to the 600 ohm audio output on the SP-600.

DanH

Click here to view on YouTube.

Wow! Thank you for the program recommendation, Dan! I, too, have an SP-600–there are few valve receivers that can rival it for both audio fidelity and sensitivity. What a beauty of a rig you have there!