Tag Archives: Marwan Baayoun

Marwan discovers vintage radios in the family

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan, who writes:

Hello Thomas,

I hope this email finds you well and you will enjoy the photos I am attaching.

Two weekends ago my wife and I and went to see our grand daughter who lives and hour and a half away. On our way back we decided to drop by my sister in law’s house. I had not seen my sister in law since she moved in with her new boyfriend.

It was a beautiful day and we joined them on their outside porch. The first thing that caught my eye when we arrived were the two 1950’s Fords, and a double rear wheels motorcycle he was working on in his shack. They were beautiful, polished and spot less machines.

I made a comment on how her boyfriend must like to collect old vehicles. My wife said, well you need to take a walk inside the house and see what else he has got in there. My goodness. I really thought I was at some museum of old antique items.

There were too many things to list here so I am going to limit it to the radios he had. One of the rooms he has is filled with old radios, and an old TV. On top of the TV there were three shelves with various old radios that I had to take photos of.

On the other side of the room he had a Crosley Super II. It is not working but still had the speaker(s) on the inside. Gary had ran a cable from an old receiver he had to the speaker(s). He played music from his receiver to the Crosley and oh my.

The crisp sound that came out of that cabinet was amazing. I could not believe how crisp the sound was, made me wished I had a Crosley like that one. The sound filled the room, it was so magical to listen to it.

I was so exited and grateful we passed by their house and wanted to share some of the photos I took with you and your subscribers.

Cheers,

Marwan

Thank you for sharing these, Marwan. I hope that he restores that Crosley Super II. That is certainly a magnificent console radio! He’s got some beautiful radios in his collection!

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Marwan admires his cousin’s Crosley receiver/phonograph console

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan, who writes:

Happy Holidays Thomas And To All Subscribers To SWLing Post Website!

Last October I visited a relative in California. My cousin Imad is into collecting various antiques items. One of the items that welcomed us at front door and that caught my eyes is this old radio turntable combo system. With his permission I took a few photos and I told him I liked to share it with other SWLing Post subscribers. It looks like it is a shortwave radio made by Crosley. It had various European and Asian cities preset on the dial as well as Police.

I hope someone has owned one of these in the past and can share memories of it.

Cheers, And Happy Holidays!!

Marwan

Happy Holidays to you too, Marwan! What a beautiful console radio! I’m willing to best some here int he SWLing Post community know this very model! Thank you for sharing!

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Marwan discovers this Philco console at a family home

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan Baayoun, who writes:

Hello Thomas,

I hope this email finds you and yours well and in good health.

Before our trip to Turkey next Sunday, my wife and I went to see our three month and only grand kid we have. In her play room I noticed that our son in law has an antique radio that his father gave it to him. Upon close look up, I noticed it has shortwave and police bands on line-up. I thought I’d take a few photos and share them with you all. The radio was working but recently some of the tubes inside went out and they need to be replaced.

Below are the pictures I took. Oh, and I decided to take with me my Tecsun PL-880. I so want to take either my Sony SW-2010 or the ICF-SW77, but I don’t want to risk not seeing them in case they get confiscated. The next top model that I have and that I can alway replace is the 880 and I figured it is the one that’s going to accompany me on out trip.

Cheers and I hope the photos are of interest.

Marwan

Thank you for sharing this, Marwan! Those Philco console radios are simply stunning–I love the craftsmanship of the body. I’m not familiar enough with Philcos of this era to identify it, but perhaps someone here in the SWLing Post community can! I certainly hope your son-in-law can have it repaired–this radio would have amazing audio.

And, yes! I think the PL-880 would make for a great travel companion on your upcoming trip!

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Reunited with an old friend…

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marwan Baayoun, who writes in response to our recent post about radio regrets:

For me, my biggest regret was when in November 2018 I sold my well-protected Sony ICF-SW77.

I bought it brand new over the phone from Universal Radio. My ICF-SW77 was my side kick and went with me everywhere. I remember working the second shift at a publishing company, I would always eat my lunch outside while listening to any international broadcasters I could catch like the BBC, Radio Havana Cuba, Deutsche Welle, or the VOA.

I remember how my co-workers reworded the saying “Life Without A Wife, Is Like A Kitchen Without A Knife” to “Life Without A Wife, Is Like Marwan Without His Shortwave Radio.”

When I got married, my best friend invited us to visit with his wife and children at their house in Upstate New York. He even bought one of the tickets as his way in helping me paying for the fares. I remember the night we arrived at his house me pulling my ICF-SW77 and tuning it to the BBC World Service because we all wanted to get the latest on a sad piece of news that was just breaking that made us, and almost everyone in North America and around the world, stare at TV sets hoping for the best. Then Tom Brokaw came on to announced something that we, and others who were listening to the BBC World Service, had already knew 15 minutes earlier: the sad news the Lady Dianna did not survive the car crash.

My friend was impressed with what shortwave radios could bring to the table.

In the last month I went on a binge and bought a used Realistic DX-440 (love this radio BTW, very nice), and all new XHDATA D-808, Tecsun PL-880, and Tecsun PL-680. I also bought but then returned a Sangean ATS-909X.

To close on a happy note, today I received an almost brand new Sony ICF-SW77 that I bought from a very kind gentleman on eBay–he was willing to accept my fifty dollars less than his asking price offer.

My happiness is beyond expression. I would have never thought I would be able to re-unite again with one of these radios in a condition that is identical to the one I sold. He kept it very well. I tried to find a scratch or a piece of dust on this radio but couldn’t. Not only that, it also came with it the original box, very well kept manual and “Catch the Waves” booklet, (I gave mine to the gentleman who bought my radio, so it was sweet that they were replaced with this purchase). My new ICF-SW77 seller just did not have the power adapter that came with this radio, which is fine with me. I can always find a third party power adapter to buy.

I feel so lucky I am once again an owner of one of these awesome radios.

What an amazing story, Marwan, and I’m so glad you’ve been reunited with an IC-SW77!

Radio love is a funny thing and hard to compare with any fondness one might have of other consumer electronics. For example, I’ve never lamented over the loss of a laptop, iPhone, or iPod–but, like you, I have indeed regretted parting with radios. I know many of you feel the same way.

To me, radios feel much more like companions who share the world with you–through travels and over the air.

I’m happy to hear you’ve got your companion back, Marwan!

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