The Toshiba RP-2000F, looking for all the world like a "Transformer." With an FM whip that pivots, rotates and spins, appears as though it might be robotic. Stunning purple brushed aluminum face plate make this one of the most beautiful portable multibands ever produced.
As i have posted in this forum before, Toshiba, Sanyo and others were driven to excellence in order to compete with Panasonic and Sony.
This model certainly doesnt disappoint as it stands tall (literally at 10"X8"X3") along side the big two from Japan. It was produced to compete directly with the RF2200 from Panasonic and the ICF 5900 from Sony.
Introduced in 1977, the RP 2000 features standard shortwave bands, FM and AM. It has spread dial crystal marker tuning calibration as does its competitors. The set tunes very accutely on shortwave and falls just short of the Panasonic on AM reception. FM is the strenghth here as that massive FM whip snags signals with ease, surpassing the 5900"S FM efforts and equalling the 2200. As far as presentation, layout and overall beauty, its just stunning.
I have seen but few of these in ten plus years of monitoring Ebay. Of the five or so ive seen in that time, all but one had the japanese FM scale, 88 to 96 mhz only. Condition was also lacking in the ones id seen as some didnt have intact antenna's, etc. I was fortunate to find this pristine model (with full FM scale) at a local garage sale, paying 45.00 dollars for it!
Keep looking, you never know what pristine rarity awaits on someone's garage shelf or attic. And dont overlook other Japanese makes of the late 60's and 70's they are of excellent quality.
Wow, that is a beauty! Great find. Never saw that one before.
Posted by: Ed S | September 26, 2011 at 08:48 PM
There's something about a scrolling film tuning display ...
Posted by: Dan | September 27, 2011 at 05:05 PM
Bought the same in Fiji 1981. FM range 88 to 108
MHz.
Got the handbook around somewhere.
Maurice
Posted by: Maurice | September 22, 2016 at 11:05 PM
I have recently been given this radio by an old work colleague and couldn't agree more with Gerald's review. It really is a thing of beauty and in terms of performance, particularly AM, it wipes the floor with my modern digital display radios.
Does anyone have an scanned copy of the manual for this receiver, as I'm not sure how to use the frequency calibrator?
Cheers Darren
Posted by: Darren Davies | December 28, 2017 at 12:30 AM