Regular reader and radio collector Gerald Johnson has encouraged me for some time to try some vintage radios. He was kind enough to recommend some Panasonic and Sony models from the 1970s and 1980s and in general told me radios of old were built of a higher quality and commanded a respect today's recommends are unworthy of.
My first foray into buying such a radio on eBay a few months ago failed miserably because I was overwhelmed by the choices and lost focus. As a result, I bought a lot of table radios, none of which had telescopic antennas and which were limited in that respect.
But Gerald's words stuck with me and I remained drawn to two vintage radios, the Panasonic RF-1150 and the Sony ICF-5900. Their military ruggedness appealed to me. I suspected I would wait and find a mint one. Another reader, alert to my obsessions, alerted me to a mint 5900 a few days ago.
The radio arrived today in mint condition as the seller promised. Not familiar with the 5900, I switched from local to DX and got a better AM signal. Better is an understatement. This is the best, most quiet AM I have ever experienced. Let's be clear: The 5900 puts the C.Crane CSW to utter shame on AM sound. Some normally difficult AM stations like 570 and 710 come in quiet and strong in ways I've never heard with the exception of the Panasonic RF-2200. I'm listening to 570 right now. You've got to be kidding. I'd give a slight nod to the 5900 over the Panasonic RF-2200 in AM, but this is subjective and may even be splitting hairs. However, the RF-2200 got some birdy noise on 710, which I minimized by rotating the Gyro AM antenna. Nevertheless, the birdy was still discernible. In contrast, there was no birdy at all on the 5900 even without the Gyro feature. The smaller, more slender 5900 is easy enough to rotate for adjusting the internal AM antenna so that its lack of a Gyro feature does not concern me.
For FM, I'm still trying to figure out the antenna. I can extend it, but I can't angle it the way I can angle the Panasonic RF-2200. The 5900's telescopic antenna goes straight up only as far as I know and fortunately for me I'm getting sterling FM with the antenna the way it is. But there's one exception: the very weak 88.9 KXLU. There was some static. In contrast, the Panasonic RF-2200 has no static. In fact, the 2200 is so good that it beats the 5900 on FM reception in general. Nevertheless, the 5900 FM is outstanding.
Speaker sound: The 5900 sounds amazing, full and clear, but I'd give the nod to the slightly bigger 2200.
The 5900's biggest weakness: The tuning dial is between 1.3 and 1.5 increments inaccurate. For example, 710 AM is found closer to 830 and 89.9 FM is found closer to 91. I don't know if this is a common problem for the 5900 or specific to my radio.
One last point: I tested my 5900 with the provided AC adapter, which may have compromised the signal slightly. Funny, AM didn't seem affected, but FM did, especially when I touched the radio. After I stick some batteries in the 5900, I'll test it again and update the FM performance. Also, some kind reader may inform me if I can angle the telescopic FM antenna or not.
To conclude, as a radio lover I feel gratified that I own and enjoy one of the greatest radios ever made and after toying with the 5900 for a month or so in the kitchen, I'll move it to the workout room. For the long-term, my wife needs presets and accurate tuning so the Boston Acoustics Horizon Solo will return to the kitchen and I will coddle my 5900 in my workout area.
Update: I put 3 D batteries in the 5900 and this improved FM. Like many radios, the 5900 doesn't like the AC adapter.
Second Update: I e-mailed Gerald about the telescopic antenna and he wrote back that it does indeed swivel, contrary to my first impression. He gave me these instructions:
"GENTLY pull up,, from as far down on the fattest part of the antenna as you can grasp. see if you can work it on up. my sense is, the antenna hasnt been fully extended for some time and may need a little GENTLE persuasion. if need be, use a couple small drops of wd40. does the radio lock and pop up when the button is engaged?"
Grabbing at the base did the trick and now my antenna swivels, resulting in improved FM reception.
Also Gerald advised me that over time the tuning loses accuracy because it becomes misaligned. How to fix this I don't know. In any event, I'm grateful for Gerald's advice.
This is an old post, but some info of possible interest:
I own a much-loved 5900 that I bought with money I saved up from my paper route in 1975. (It was a very expensive purchase, especially for a kid, and it drew frowns from my dad, but I was into shortwave listening and wanted a real radio. This was it.) Since then mine travelled the world with me, most notably being my only source of news and entertainment during a year in Latin America. (Thus I experienced the First Gulf War as if it were WWII.)
Anyway, to your concerns: yeah, the 5900's tuning roll is famously is a little off-kilter. Apparently the fix is complicated; some have done it, but I never bothered. The crystal-zero feature on SW allows you hit precise freqs with digital accuracy, but on my radio the roll is fully one full step off on the fine-tune dial. It's also developed significant backlash over the years. I still managed to QSL some hundred stations on it.
I don't get the complaint about the antenna. Mine can be pointed in any direction, though it can't be angled; the friction at the joint is such that it lies horizontally. I have angled it in the past, when required, by leaning it against a wall. Maybe you have a different model year. (They also varied by country; there was a slightly different 5900 that was specific to Japan.)
Which AC adapter you use is important. When I was in college, mine was gnawed in half by a pet gerbil. The factory replacement cost 30$ (food for two weeks) and had to be mail-ordered and waited for, so I replaced it with something I bought in a local electronics store. Terrible! Hum across all the AM bands. (That is, MW and SW). I ordered in the exact replacement, and got my full-battery performance back. If your AC adapter isn't the one that was sold with the radio, with "Sony" and the polarity symbol on it, that will reduce performance significantly.
The 5900 was considered a marvel of miniaturisation in its day; a better set than many big serious bank-breaking boxes meant for sophisticated outdoor arrays. The military look was very popular in electronics back then. I loved everything about it: the look, the ruggedness, the functionality, and especially the performance. That was the last portable radio that really sounded good. (Half of it is speaker.) I remember marvelling that the FM, though mono, sounded better than most stereo sets I'd heard.
I abused the hell out of mine; worst example was using it as my bathroom radio for several _years_. (I know; it hurts to think about it.) The light doesn't work anymore; I've had it apart a few times, fixing small issues; there's that backlash... But frankly, it's still better than anything I've seen since. Imagine that.
Memories!
Robin
Reflections of an Old-Timey Hermit
Posted by: RK Henderson | February 24, 2015 at 11:56 AM