Sony Pre-Ultra Light Radios?

Thanks, RTC:

There has been much to-do about the Sony SRF-39 "Ultralight" over the years.
The latest was a newspaper article on the clear case FP jail version...

the article inferred that maybe this version was more durable,i.e. the variable cap
was not subject to the dreaded "Rice Krispie" snap crackle and pop defect on AM
due to use of poor (cheap) paper dielectric material.

Unfortunately that has not been seen here...brand new FP versions have it,as well
as new vintage Malaysia-built SRF-39's which are supposed to be good.
It appears the defect is found in all these caps,whether they're in a 39,49,59,SW-10,11 etc.
Just comes with the territory.

One result of the article was to run the ebay price of the FP version
up from the usual $20 or so to well over $100...they are back to normal now.

But now for a just-discovered secret:it's possible to -maybe- get around the variable
defect by use of a pre-ultralight Sony:

srf-19w

Back around 1987 Sony came out with the SRF 19w and then 21w.

 

srf-21w

If they look similar,they are.Who knows what Sony was
thinking (they did the same thing with the first-generation
SRF-33w and 22w BTW).
But both have performance that is very very close to
the 39 family Ultralights.The variable however appears to be a
different type since these were made in Taiwan.

No snap,crackle or pop was heard on these.

What was heard was excellent sensitivity/selectivity.

Use of a 3 volt supply gives the audio real punch,too.

On FM they do very well,especially on low power
stations.
The 39 family has afc problems with adjacent
stronger stations.
Not these,they slice and dice quite nicely.
Typically they go for $15-30 on ebay.

What to look for:

The top dial cover was hot glued on;if the
pointer sticks check for this.

The off-on switch is a real pain to remove and
put back on...it's like they wanted to make
it as hard as possible!

Tuning is a little "firm" due to use of dial cord...
these may have been the last to use dial cord
since the follow-on SRF-29 had the current
plastic pointer setup.

All things considered they are worth a go.
 

Related articles

AM Broadcast Band Dxing - With A $3.50 Radio!

Brian Gives Us Some Important Details About the Sony SRF-T615

Gary Says Know Your Listening Objectives Before Getting a Tecsun PL-380

Comments

[StarHalo]

Eh, I owned the SRF-39 when it was new; it was entirely decent for a $20 radio, nothing life changing. In the same price range, I'd prefer the Sony ICF-F10 with its speaker and exponentially longer battery life. And I have a feeling prisoners would prefer the clear-case Sangean DT-120 if they knew about it.

[frobisher]

I had a precursor to the ICF-19W. It was yellow and had the same basic control layout, tuner and volume on top, and oversized on/off slider on the front. These pre-ultralights were pretty new at the time (around the mid-Eighties I think) but the cool thing about the one I had was that it was absolutely free with the purchase of a certain pair of running shoes. The shoes were good quality at a fair price, I would have bought them gratis radio or not, so the little Sony truly was something for nothing. I used it for years until it lost audio on one side. It truly is amazing how many decades Sony was at the top of their (and everyone else's) game in consumer electronics, especially portable audio.

[Drive-In-Freak]

Hmmm. I'm lucky enough to still have them both. Would anyone be interested in a side by side daytime DX shootout between the two? I'd like to know myself.
I've had a variety of those type Sonys over the years, and to be honest never really thought that much about them. I've always thought that Sony couldn't make a good FM circuit to save their lives, and that most of the GEs ran circles around them (especially the 7-1600*), but other than that just thought o f them as standard run-of-the-mill radios. Maybe I was missing something.

*http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/general_el_amfm_stereo_headset_radio_7_1600b.html

[herculodge]

I've had average FM on most Sony radios. Let's see the shoot out.

[Drive-In-Freak]

You got it. I'll head out there in a couple of days. I know where there's a park that's a good distance from any powerlines.