Herculodge

iPad Is Another Step Toward Internet Mobile Radio

Ante has linked us with this Radio Survivor post that explains how Internet mobile radio is coming, but the iPad isn't quite ready to do it.

Radio Eye Candy: Sony ICF-9090

Brandon has apprised us of some serious radio eye candy: The Sony ICF-9090 selling on Yahoo Japan. I have never sees this model. I assume this is a rare Sony.

Angelo's Thoughts on Aquiring a Boombox

 

 If you are a radio enthusiast and especially if you're a collector--depending on the type of radio collection you have--you might want to consider adding a boombox to round things out.

My own collection ranges from tube radios (probably 1950's), to a GE P780, 1960's multi-bands, 1970's and 80's sets----even newer digitals like the Sony GR7600.  Last year, I picked up a few boomboxes on E-Bay, including this Sanyo. (Also in the photo is a table radio by Lloyds.)

The Sanyo boombox is not "big luggage," but it is solid and heavy.  It has the silver/gray finish plastic that was so popular in the 1980s.  I find the indigo blue frequency dial to be attractive and nicer looking than some of the white or gray dials of the era.  The controls are smooth and they work.  The cassette deck in this one actually still works too!  The twin speakers put out big, surprisingly decent quality sound if you crank them up.  It runs on batteries or AC----I tend to stick with electric as these boomboxes are normally battery hogs.  This one was had on the cheap and as such, has a few dings and scratches.  I need to clean it up a little to make it shine----but I'm very happy with the purchase.  

Right now, it's at my office, but I think I'll bring it home in the Spring to use as my car wash radio.  Then again, I might leave it at the office so that I can play cassettes from time to time----and I'll bring my Quasar boombox home (more on that in a future review). 

In any event, as I said, depending on what you like to collect, I'd recommend bidding on a boombox.  To purists, they sometimes aren't taken seriously.  But they are an important part of radio history.  Mine is pretty basic----but you can find them with equalizers, shortwave, more speakers, more power----much bigger if you so desire.  I wanted a quintessential basic model and I got it with this Sanyo.  

Other players were Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Fisher, Magnavox and countless others.  I'd stay away from the no-name or gimmicky brands such as Yorx, GPX, Lasonic----because back in college, I remember having them or knowing friends who had them, and they were made cheaply and didn't sound as good as the better brands.  Interestingly, on E-Bay, some of the Lasonics are fetching hundreds of dollars----in good condition, well into the hundreds.  They are big and have a lot of bling, but they don't perform like a Sony or Panasonic.  If you actually plan to use the box once in a while, go for something that's proven----even my Sanyo has better electronics than a Yorx or Lasonic.

Looking for the perfect one is half the fun.

Rare 1960 Sony Transistor TFM-121 Radio Bidding on eBay Today

Starting at $10 is this very intriguing, and quite rare, Sony TFM-121. 

Herculodge Reader Calls the Logitech Squeezebox Boom "Radio Nirvana"

In an earlier post, I asked if the Squeezebox Boom was better and more glitch-free than its smaller version, the Squeezebox Radio. Barry answers with an emphatic yes and convinced me that the Boom is the one Internet radio to get. He writes:

I own both the Squeezebox Boom and the Squeezebox Radio and the Boom is a much more refined and "glitch free" product. 

The Squeezebox family is great but the Boom is incredible. The sound on the Boom is better than the radio not only because it is stereo but to me the streams sound less compressed. I hear compression artifacts more on the radio. 

To me, the Boom is the best internet radio available today. The Squeezebox having Mediafly, Pandora & Slacker integration is a plus in additional to the thousands of streams. This is radio nirvana.

Sampo Multiband TV-Cassette-Radio

Angelo has apprised us of this strange radio, a Sampo Multiband with now defunct TV. 

Milwaukee 2790-20 Worksite Radio Video Demonstration

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Every Radiophile Has His Own Rosebud Radio

 

A couple of years ago, Ed once remarked that the love for a good radio was rooted in the "Rosebud" metaphor from Citizen Kane, a radio that represents childhood innocence, wonder, and unconditional love. I always thought he was on to something. Here Ed talks about his first radio:

I think my radiophilia or addiction or whatever you want to call it to radios began with a 6-transistor "Eldorado" AM/SW pocket radio I got for my 10th birthday in 1960 (on top in picture). I had a crystal radio before that, but the Eldorado's shortwave band introduced me to the mysterious invisible world of ham radio and shortwave stations. Who knew that stuff was going on just a few million cycles up from the Top 40 stuff? I enjoyed that radio for 7 months until January 27 (exactly 49 years ago today!). I had the the job of picking up my kid brother from Kindergarden. Everything was covered with a foot of snow from a snowstorm the night before, and somewhere along the route from home to the school my radio fell out of my coat pocket!--into the snow somewhere. I was traumatized, and that might explain a lot of the current obsession to heal the pain of that long-ago loss.

About 45 years later I was able to find another "Eldorado" radio on eBay. "The City of Gold" indeed. I think everyone involved in radio or collecting can recall their first radio, and they probably still have it, or have replaced it, like I have. ....Rosebud!

Content Eclipses the Gadget: The New Apple Tablet

Wired News reports that the most revolutionary thing about the new Apple Tablet is the content, which eclipses the significance of the gadget itself. 

Encouraging Review of the Logitech Squeezebox Boom

Chris Boylan has mostly good things to say about the Logitech Squeezebox Boom, which costs $285 on Amazon. I could be wrong, but my impression is that the Boom has fewer glitches than its little brother, the $171 single-speaker Squeezebox. If anyone can affirm or correct my assumption, please let us know.