Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow, who writes:
[Check out this] YouTube video :
Click here to view on YouTube.
This very interesting near 12 minute video shows Sony manufacturing plants.
At 2:10 you will see the CRF-150 / 160’s being manufactured.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Dave! This is chock-full of Sony nostalgia!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this Sony ICF-6000W he found on eBay:
The seller notes that the condition is “near mint” and the radio works perfectly both electronically and mechanically.
I absolutely love the design of this radio. When this was being produced (assuming sometime in the 1980s), Sony and Panasonic’s aesthetic smacked of utility, simplicity, and had a near military-grade feel. Ever function had a switch or knob.
Neither Dan nor I have ever seen this particular model before. If I had money to burn, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Sony radios of this era tended to have stellar AM/MW performance. I’d love to see how large the ferrite antenna inside might be.
Note that even though this radio may work perfectly–it’s obviously been very well taken care of–you would need to mentally allot funds to have it re-capped at some point soon (Vlado could do this, I’m sure). You wouldn’t want a leaky cap to damage the board or other components inside. With radios pushing 40 years old, you must plan to replace the capacitors.
The price is $399 US with a modest shipping fee. The seller has stellar ratings and there’s a 30 day return window .
Click here to check out this Sony ICF-6000W on eBay.
If you own or have owned an ICF-6000W, we’d love to hear your thoughts about its performance! Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frank Sturzaker, who writes:
I am a new SW listener in the UK and am using an elderly Sony ICF SW100E picked up from selling website here in the UK fairly cheaply as a starter. It gets excellent reviews and seems to do what is required very well. A couple of weeks ago I also picked up a non-working Sony AN-100A external antenna at a charity / thrift store here in the UK. Cheap because not working.
The antenna section simply pulled out of the plastic case so I opened it up to have a poke about inside to try to solve the problem.
The antenna has been “ripped” from however it was mounted and has taken the thin metallic shaped piece / strip that somehow connects it to the circuit board and twisted it. I would guess that this has happened when trying to rotate the extended antenna when the extending sections had become too stiff to rotate – the pieces visible from outside the unit would not rotate inside the fixed section that sits in the unit.
1 – This is what I bought (although the antenna itself was in the correct place in the case):
2 – This is a close up of the base of the antenna when first bought:
3 – The two halves of the case with the antenna in place but about 0.5″ short of where it should be:
4 – A close up of the ‘loose pieces’ from inside the case and the bottom of the antenna – on the right are the pieces that were left on the antenna and on the left is the this metal piece that makes contact with the circuit board from the antenna
5 – Photo of antenna screw hole in rear of case from inside – the broken plastic is obvious round the screw hole:
6 – Photo of underside of circuit board showing the flat metallic area where the metallic strip from the antenna makes contact:
My questions about how it all fits together (as a starter) are:
If someone can help then great. I repeat, I am not an electronics wizard – a master with a soldering wand I am not!!!
I could go at this like a bull at a gate but advice would be appreciated if there is any out there.
Post readers: if you can offer Frank some advice, please comment. Also, if you own an AN-100E and could share some internal photos, that might help him sort out how it was originally attached inside.
In reply to our Caveat Emptor post, many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Zack (N8FNR), who writes:
Attached is a copy of the Sony brochure for the ICF-S5W, a photo of the front and also the inside. This is a fairly old rare radio and some of your readers might enjoy the following.
I just wrote to Dr. Vlado asking if he can restore my fairly rare Sony ICF-S5W. Luckily I have three of them, two of which are dead so I could send all three and he could possibly cannibalize them to make one good working rig. I also have an original copy of the manual.
Few people have heard of the ICF-S5W as it was only made from 1980-81. One of the interesting features of the radio is that the Sony engineers put the 16cm ferrite antenna at an angle as they claimed it improved incoming signals.
Many reviewers at the time claimed that it was better than the GE Superradio of that vintage.
If you would like to know more about this radio below are a few reviews.
Thank you for sharing this, Zack. I was not familiar with the Sony ICF-S5W. I love the simplicity of this radio–and that nearly diagonal ferrite bar? I can’t think of any other radio I’ve seen with that!
And having spare “parts” radios is a solid plan if you have a particular radio you love and want to keep it in working order over the long term.
Any other ICF-S5W owners out there? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William, who asks:
Hello,
Firstly thank you for the blog – I have been reading occasionally for several years – it’s really interesting.
I live in the UK. I own (was given as a gift many years ago) a Sony ICF-SW07 and have been playing with it for the first time in the while.
I’m wondering if you remember it or ever used it, and if you can give me a rough idea if a new radio, such as the latest Tecsun, have considerably better sensitivity – for SW and MW – or not?
Many thanks.
William
Thank you for your question, William!
To my knowledge, I’ve only used a Sony ICF-SW07 once and it was from a hotel room at a radio convention, so not ideal for really gauging anything other than economics and superficial qualities. I do know that my friend held it in high regard. My inclination would be to say that the ICF-SW07 should hold its own and potentially even outperform many modern (late-model) portable receivers.
I do know this, William: in good condition, that ‘SW07 will fetch top dollar. I’m not sure I’d ever let go of it!
SWLing Post readers: If you own the ‘SW07 and would like to share your thoughts with William, please comment!
I’m a child of the 1970s and I’m glad I never knew about the Sony FX-300 “Jackal 300.” It would have been the ultimate unobtainable machine of my dreams…this, even despite the lack of shortwave.
I was browsing eBay yesterday when I saw one of these pop up in the search results.
Somehow, this radio made it past my RADAR. How? I’m guessing it’s because this model was primarily sold in Japan–?
The FX-300 sports:
Other than the Panny RF-2200, I’m not sure if a radio could possibly satisfy more of my design cravings. Here are a few images I’ve unashamedly swiped from eBay:
What a Holy Grail machine, indeed! I love the tactile mechanical switches, analog dials, speaker grills, selection switches, and even (especially) the metal stand off bar at the top to protect those brilliant cassette controls.
I’m very curious if any SWLing Post readers have ever owned (or still own) a Sony FX-300. (Kei Niigata, I’ll be terribly disappointed if I learn you’ve never owned one!)
Please comment!
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!