Teeny Tiny shortwave radio

[mr_fixer]

Ok I'm bored and I haven't seen much happening here in a while. So, I've posted a pic of my tiny Sony ICF-sw20 I've included a pict with a beer can for scale. It has 7 sw bands from 5.90 Mhz to 21.95 Mhz and AM and FM and is a analog receiver. It is tiny but works really well. Anybody have one of these? Logan

[Hemingray]

Looks much like my little Bell & Howell SW radio.

(took with a cellphone camera, excuse the image quality)

[mr_fixer]

Originally Posted by Hemingray

Looks much like my little Bell & Howell SW radio.

(took with a cellphone camera, excuse the image quality)

Yup they look like they are related. I have never seen anything recent marked with the name Bell and Howell. Did you buy it in a store?

[Hemingray]

Originally Posted by mr_fixer

Yup they look like they are related. I have never seen anything recent marked with the name Bell and Howell. Did you buy it in a store?

Thrift store a couple of years ago. set me back $5

[ablethevoice]

Wow that is tiny.

I used to have a Sony ICF7601 but I didn't like its performance. Seemed all it could grab were the strongest SW voices out there. A/B'ing it with my National NC98 was hopeless because the 98 stomped all over the ICF - even with the longwire external ant which normally fed the NC98 connected to the ICF. The longwire just overloaded the ICF's front end so badly all I got was noise.
I will give the 7601 high points on AM performance, but I think the old 98 just needed alignment which is why the AM band was so poor.

[ponderbear]

The only SW radio I've had in that size and class is the ICF-SW100. It pulled in signals every bit as good as the larger 2010. It has SSB and effective sideband synchronization. Plus, a novel memory system in which you could populate "pages" with memories. Each memory could even have a text label. Pretty nifty.

Weak points: way too expensive, drop it once and, thanks to the weight of the battery, the back side hits the pavement and cracks the weak little battery compartment door. Many used SW100s have broken doors, including mine. I got tired of holding it together with rubber bands and sold it a few years ago.

I've wanted a replacement for the 100 ever since. I'm interested to hear the SW20s are good radios.

[Sandy G]

That's it ! Time to get shut of the EK-07 an' the R-390s...(grin)

[radioactive]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

That's it ! Time to get shut of the EK-07 an' the R-390s...(grin)

well you know where to send them

[mr_fixer]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

That's it ! Time to get shut of the EK-07 an' the R-390s...(grin)

Gee Sandy I'll trade for the 390 if you really like my tiny radio.

[wajobu]

I used to have a Panasonic like the OP photo. It was a great little radio and then the switches just gave out after 10 years of faithful service...then I bought my little Sony shortwave about 1992 (about the size of a small paperback book). It travels wherever I do--excellent replacement, and still going strong.

[electronjohn]

I have an ElectroBrand about the same size...saw it at the drugstore, and for $6.99, I had to have it. Surprisingly sensitive, with a digital readout of analog tuning. Tiny tuning knob makes it a little finicky...but it does duty in the bathroom and does it well.

[wa2ise]

I have a sony similar to yours:

It's about 5 inches long. Yours looks to be smaller.

[Sandy G]

Uhh, sorry, fellers...I got a BAD Crick in me Back, & I can't seem to lift th' EK or the 390s into th' Shippin' box...Guess I'll just hafta keep 'em, & y'all keep yer Cute l'il toy radios...(grin)

[mr_fixer]

Ok Unca Sandy, but as soon as your back gets better you just let me know!
I just had a thought! "It happens every once and a while", You know those number stations on Shortwave "ocho, ocho Nueva something or another", I've heard that they are used by spies to receive messages from their base. Well if you were a spy you wouldn't want to drag around a R-390 every where you went. I wonder if Sony and others might have developed these tiny radios for them but sold some of them to the public just because they had too. I found mine at a pawn shop 10 years ago, so maybe that spy was down on his luck and needed some spare cash.

[Sandy G]

Could be...Usually those Numbers Stations bang in loud 'n' clear...Even one of those l'il guys should easily pick 'em up. Kinda funny how after the Soviet Union went out of business, "numbers" activity didn't really go down, if anything, it picked up a bit...