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Old 10-15-2009, 10:13 PM
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drh4683 drh4683 is offline
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Picked up a Panasonic RF-2200

I have good memories of this radio when I was a kid. I remember when I was in about 3rd grade my best friend got an RF-2200 as a gift from his grandfather. Used of course but it wasnt that old at the time. He had this radio on his desk in his room and we used to play around with it all the time. He never really cared about it, but I was always interested in using it everytime I went over to his house. It was both this radio and a 1966 Courier 23 tube type CB base station he had that his mom got for him at the resale shop. That was alot of fun, I remember it quite well. We brought that thing everywhere.
I never had cool stuff like that as a kid. My parents never cared for my interest in radio and electronics so I didn't get this type of thing until I was old enough to find it on my own. Gifts that were engineering and electronics related always came from other people in the family, mom and dad were against the idea of someone giving a "used" item as a gift like an old tube radio which to this day I don't understand.

Enough past memories though..... So I finally found one of these RF-2200's and its just like how I remember it. I am very impressed with the reception quality and the radio has a reputation as being one of the best AM DXing radios ever. The tuning is excellent and I like the hairline pointer that is almost directly over the tuning scale with no gap for sharp precise indication. The analog scale is spot on accurate. The flip up and rotating AM ferrite antenna is a real nice feature. A very high end quality made unit. I am listening to WCBS 880, New York with excellent clarity as I type this. Its one of those stations thats difficult to pick up and not any radio can do the job, so I enjoy receiving it if I can. Another DXing favorite is CHWO, AM 740 from Toronto which plays 1950's/60's adult standards like Perry Como and Ray Conniff. This radio is a great performer with great sound having seperate bass and treble controls.

Just like I remember my friends did, the tuning meter sticks sometimes which is rather annoying. I would like to find a replacement if it exists but I doubt it. Must be a design flaw as the meter on this same radio 16+ years ago was doing the same thing. Its radios like this are why I like analog so much! No digital junk inside! A nice large PC board full of transistors and capacitors!

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Last edited by drh4683; 10-15-2009 at 10:19 PM.
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Old 10-16-2009, 01:38 AM
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FINE portable... I have had mine since it was new, and it is still a fine performer even though it once took a tumble off the top of the refrigerator and broke one segment of the antenna.

Is that a Tek 310 in the background?

jr
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Old 10-16-2009, 07:34 PM
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Nice. I'd like to find one of these high-end Panasonics one day. I've had a few 70's Panasonic portables and all of them DX pretty well.
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Old 10-16-2009, 09:25 PM
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thanks.

Yes, that is indeed a tek 310A in the background. Its a great little scope after putting in some filter caps. It displayed a nice sine wave with no input when I first got it
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Old 10-18-2009, 09:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drh4683 View Post

I am listening to WCBS 880, New York with excellent clarity as I type this. Its one of those stations thats difficult to pick up and not any radio can do the job, so I enjoy receiving it if I can. Another DXing favorite is CHWO, AM 740 from Toronto which plays 1950's/60's adult standards like Perry Como and Ray Conniff. This radio is a great performer with great sound having seperate bass and treble controls.
Doug, I'm surprised that WCBS-AM would be difficult to receive anywhere in the eastern US at night, with its 50kW signal. I live near Lake Erie and hear WCBS, WABC, WFAN (formerly WNBC), et al. just fine after sunset Eastern time. I can also hear the major Chicago stations here very well after dark. I think the main reason you have trouble hearing WCBS is that it is right next to (on the dial) WBBM-AM 780. The other New York stations (WABC-AM and WFAN) could be difficult to receive in the Chicago area for the same reason: because WLS-AM and WSCR-AM (890 and 670 respectively) are immediately adjacent on your dial to them.

CHWO 740 in Toronto is indeed a great station. I have one of my vintage radios permanently set on that station (dial cord broke some time ago; haven't gotten around to fixing it yet), but I don't mind--my other radios also receive it very well 24 hours daily. The station has the same great music it had before its recent format switch (which I don't think was much of a "switch" at all), and is now known as CFZM "Zoomer Radio" AM 740. With WGN (AM) just 20 kHz down the dial, though, as with WCBS, you may have trouble separating the stations unless your receiver is very selective. If you cannot hear CFZM 740 over the air for any reason, it also streams over the Internet at www.am740.com.
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Old 10-19-2009, 05:08 PM
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We had that same portable in the shop at the jewelry store. It kept us company while on the bench for many years. A fine radio, indeed!
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Old 10-28-2009, 06:56 PM
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great score.
the holy grail of am bcb dxing.
still looking for a few buttons and a whip for mine.
parts are tough on these as they have to be really trashed before they get parted out.
break out the deoxit and clean it up.
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