{"id":31166,"date":"2018-03-13T08:48:49","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T12:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=31166"},"modified":"2018-03-13T08:48:49","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T12:48:49","slug":"guest-post-radios-i-have-known-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/guest-post-radios-i-have-known-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Radios I Have Known #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Neil Goldstein, who shares the following guest post which originally appeared on his blog, Fofio<\/a>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Radios I Have Known #2 The old, the new, and the Select-A-Tenna<\/h2>\n

by\u00a0Neil Goldstein<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

L-R: Select-A-Tenna, Tivdio V-115, Sony ICF-5500W<\/p><\/div>\n

After promising this series a year and a half ago, I finally have started digging through the collection, and will start posting about once a week.\u00a0 The radios, and accessories may not have anything in common (as seen in this post), but were all acquired because they were in some way interesting, or sentimental to me.\u00a0 Here’s the first three:<\/p>\n

Select-A-Tenna<\/b>
\nOne of the original air-core tunable AM antennas.\u00a0 You just put this near the radio and peak it for reception.\u00a0 I was watching for one of these in good shape, and not overpriced, and they have been in and out of production over the years.\u00a0 This one is from a later production run as can be seen by the extended AM range (1700).\u00a0 Jay Allen reviewed the S.A.T by comparing the the TERK Air Core antenna not long ago here:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/radiojayallen.com\/select-a-tenna-vs-terk-am-advantage\/<\/a>\u00a0 The TERK reviewed well, and looks more modern, but I wanted the classic cheesy art-deco looking S.A.T.<\/p>\n

Tivdio V-115<\/b>
\nI won’t post a long, boring review here.\u00a0 Many have already reviewed this radio.\u00a0 All I can say is that if you like small, decent-sounding transistor radios, you will not be disappointed.\u00a0 If you are expecting top-shelf performance, and perfect ergonomics, then you you may not be happy,\u00a0but for around $19<\/a>\u00a0you really should be happy with this little gem.\u00a0 A great little radio at a great price and the most impressive thing here is the sound.\u00a0 The radio has a small passive radiator like the Meloson M8, and M7, and really surprises me.\u00a0 It can also be used as an amplified speaker, and has a micro SD slot for using it as a standalone MP3 player.\u00a0 Grab one!<\/p>\n

Sony ICF-5500W<\/b>
\nMost transistor radio collectors know this radio.\u00a0 It’s a classic for sure, but I have to give a little background on why I wanted one.\u00a0 When I was about 12 years old, I had a few analog SW portables, but nothing with direct frequency readout.\u00a0 Panasonic had introduced it’s series of direct-readout radios, the RF-2200, 2800, and 4800, and Sony was competing with the ICF-5900W.\u00a0 Dad acknowledged the quality and technology of these radios, and told me that if I saved most of the money by working for him, he may help me get one.\u00a0 The 2800, and 4800 were way out of reach, but one Sunday in the local paper, a department store in Kingston (Britt’s, which was Newberry’s answer to Macy’s) had the 2200 advertised for $138.88.\u00a0 I had been flip-flopping between the Sony and the Panasonic for weeks, but that was the clincher.<\/p>\n

The radio is still in use.\u00a0 My sister in law has it.\u00a0 I had given it to my late brother Paul at some point and she still uses it as her main radio.<\/p>\n

Why this Sony though?\u00a0 I still want a 5900W.\u00a0 When I saw this one come up at an auction, I recognized the shape it was in.\u00a0 The ICF-5500W was the companion radio to the 5900W.\u00a0 AM\/FM and VHF Hi (with a basic, but functional squelch control).\u00a0 The 5500 and 5900 are a monument to Sony design at the time.\u00a0 The pop-up antenna (which still works flawlessly), The separate Bass, Treble, and Loudness controls, The overall quality of sound and function, all of this is an example of what Sony was producing at the time.\u00a0 I think their modern small electronics are a shadow of what they were capable of years ago.\u00a0 This thing still sounds great and performs well next to my modern DSP radios.\u00a0 I still would love to get a pristine 5900W but they usually fetch premium dollars.\u00a0 Maybe someday.<\/p>\n

Bravo Sony, but where did you go?<\/p>\n

More to come!!<\/p>\n

\n

Thanks for sharing, Neil!\u00a0 I, too, have the Tivdio V-115 and the Sony ICF-5900W.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The ‘5900W is a gem of a solid state receiver. It has brilliant AM broadcast band reception and rich audio. I need to open my ‘5900W and clean all of the contacts since some of the sliders are scratchy. It’ll make for a nice rainy day project!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We look forward to your next installment! Post Readers: be sure to check out Neil’s blog, Fofio!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Neil Goldstein, who shares the following guest post which originally appeared on his blog, Fofio: Radios I Have Known #2 The old, the new, and the Select-A-Tenna by\u00a0Neil Goldstein After promising this series a year and a half ago, I finally have started digging through the collection, and will start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,3607,3194,3,3196,26],"tags":[1183,1245,6887,4481,6208],"class_list":["post-31166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-antennas","category-guest-posts","category-news","category-portable-radio","category-radios","tag-fofio","tag-neil-goldstein","tag-select-a-tenna","tag-sony-icf-5500w","tag-tivdio-v-115"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-86G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4040,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/reunited-a-man-and-a-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":31166,"position":0},"title":"Reunited: a man and a radio","author":"Thomas","date":"August 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"An all-too-familiar story: man finds radio, man loves radio, man loses radio, man regrets...In this case, however, Neil and his radio are reunited.\u00a0 And the new relationship? 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If you would like to add\u00a0your story\u00a0to the mix,\u00a0simply send your story by email! In the meantime,\u00a0many thanks\u00a0to Neil for sharing his personal radio history: Neil Goldstein I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Analog Radio Dial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/swdial.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16013,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/best-solution-to-restore-a-vintage-plastic-radio-chassis\/","url_meta":{"origin":31166,"position":3},"title":"Best solution to restore a vintage plastic radio chassis?","author":"Thomas","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday, I brought home an untested, slightly grimy, Sony ICF-5500W. I purchased it through Goodwill for $20. I crossed my fingers as I put three C cells in the radio and turned it on. Fortunately, I was rewarded with brilliant audio. I tuned the '5500W on AM\/mediumwave and heard CFZM,\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sony-ICF550W-Front","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Sony-ICF550W-Front-702x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Sony-ICF550W-Front-702x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Sony-ICF550W-Front-702x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20577,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/the-sony-icf-5500w-my-morning-companion\/","url_meta":{"origin":31166,"position":4},"title":"The Sony ICF-5500W: My morning companion","author":"Thomas","date":"August 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent this morning doing a lot of work around our property. When it was time for a break, I turned on my trust Sony ICF-5500W and tuned to WTZQ: one of my favorite regional AM braodcasters. Though WTZQ is over 30 miles from my home, any good AM radio,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sony-ICF-550W-RadCom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Sony-ICF-550W-RadCom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Sony-ICF-550W-RadCom.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Sony-ICF-550W-RadCom.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Sony-ICF-550W-RadCom.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30967,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/radio-deal-tivdio-v-115-18-99-us-shipped\/","url_meta":{"origin":31166,"position":5},"title":"Radio Deal: TIVDIO V-115 $18.99 US shipped","author":"Thomas","date":"February 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I just noticed that the price for the TIVDIO V-115 has been lowered to\u00a0$18.99 US shipped on Amazon.com. 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